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Is Wii Sports the best selling game ever? photo

24 years is a long time to be number one at anything. World records fall on an almost annual basis and it seems that no one is the king of the pile for very long. The fact that Super Mario Bros. was considered the top selling game of all time for the past 24 years is thus highly impressive and a testament to the greatness of the 8-bit sidescroller's continued awesomeness. However, that title may be about to be ripped away from the game.

Nintendo revealed global lifetime sales for games that shipped over a million copies in the last fiscal year and Wii Sports has moved a whopping 45.7 million copies in its lifetime. From the numbers most people go by that puts it about .7 million copies in front of Super Mario Bros. Both games sold with their respective systems so in this case it is a pretty fair battlefield.

Don't start making your "The End is Extremely Fucking Nigh" signs yet though, as Nintendo has refused to confirm the fact that Wii Sports is now the best selling game ever. When contacted they would not confirm nor deny the idea. It isn't really clear why, but my guess is that sales records for Super Mario Bros.aren't exactly kept that well at the moment, plus you have to count all the VC downloads of the game. So if you're staunchley against the idea of Wii Sports being the best selling game of all time it might be a good idea to turn on your Wii and get downloading. 


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38 comments | showing # 1 to 38
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eternalplayer2345's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 11:08
eternalplayer2345
I don't like to count pack-ins so I believe super mario 3 or pokemon red/blue still hold the honors
Doomsday Forte's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 11:10
Doomsday Forte
I agree with eternalplayer. Pack-ins don't count, as Wii Sports is essentially equivalent to buying a Wii. Though, wasn't SMB3 packed with an NES for a while?

Still...that's a dirty trick. XD They should start selling Game X with bread/milk so it'd be the top-selling game EVAR.
AKK's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 11:11
AKK
Since it's not a pack-in in Japan, I think it can be said to have sold more on a technicality.
eternalplayer2345's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 11:17
eternalplayer2345
My bad not counting console pack-ins, it falls to wii play which was a controller pack-in. It then goes to nintendogs and pokemon but since they are combination of like 3 or 5 games we shouldn't count those either. So New super mario bros looks like the best selling game of all time right now. I'm almost certain that was now a pack-in but if it was it falls all the way down to the nineth best selling game mario kart wii. Which just seems weird to me.
phaymus2's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 11:21
phaymus2
even if it wasnt a pack in which doesnt count....it wouldnt sell that well becuz the game fuckin blows.
Los255's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 11:22
Los255
Hell no. It comes with the Wii and there's nothing you can do about it. That's like cheating. LOL
linuxguy's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 11:35
linuxguy
I am just going to pretend this 'game' doesn't exist
vrplumber's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 11:38
vrplumber
maybe it would be the best-selling game if it actually were a game, which it is not. Never ever! No you cant make me say it!:P
aerofan11's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 11:38
aerofan11
Noooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The casual gamers have won, how did this happen?
I don't hate Wii Sports, I just wish it had more depth, some of the sports were simply swinging your Wii Remote over and over.
Kaspar's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 12:11
Kaspar
R.I.P gaming.
spam's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 12:17
spam
maybe if your just talking consoles but how many people have minesweeper?
must be more than wii sports

you guys are drama queens casual gaming isnt new. it all used to be casual games

the only thing that's new is gaming blogs and comment threads full of wailing

which im part of

fail
TheChemist's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 12:21
TheChemist
Who Cares.
hoppo254's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 12:30
hoppo254
Statisticians
everybodyruns's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 12:31
everybodyruns
Does this make minesweeper the best selling PC game of all time? If it comes with the box, you're buying the box, not the game.
Tanukitsune's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 12:31
Tanukitsune
That doesn't mean it's the best selling game in history, it means the Wii is the best selling system in history... Which isn't much of an improvement...

People who bought the NES WANTED Super Mario Bros., I'm not sure every Wii owner wanted Wii Sports though!
xerdo's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 12:41
xerdo
I don't know, man... Wii Sports is pretty good in my opinion - for a pack in.

It's fun and it's a way to kill time. Not the deepest game out there, but as a collection of tech-demo minigames, it kicks ass.

The successors of the game are the problem.

Well, that and the lack of good games on Wii.
Mr Jonson's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 12:42
Mr Jonson
You've got it all wrong: a good number of people buy the Wii exclusively for Wii Sports, not knowing that, y'know, it plays other games too.
falsoman's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 13:06
falsoman
Not counting pack-ins is kind of a trick situation, since Uncharted, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid 4, Little Big Plannet, Lego Indiana Jones, Fifa, Maden and every other game that has come withint the confines of buying a consol should not count.
Jonathan Holmes's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 13:26
Jonathan Holmes
Pack-in or no, I think the point here is that Wii Sports is the most owned console game ever.
Matthew Blake's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 13:28
Matthew Blake
Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not going to lose sleep over this.
-PL-'s Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 13:57
-PL-
I don't think it's any reason to say "the end is nigh" or anything like that... there are good games being released on other consoles. I bought a Wii/Wii sports, and I haven't played Wii sports since release.
Naim Master's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 14:16
Naim Master
The End is Extremely Fucking Nigh !
pedrovay2003's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 14:21
pedrovay2003
Why are we not counting packins? Wasn't the original Super Mario Bros. the best selling game of all time before Wii Sports? I don't know about you, but I got that game with my NES, as in, in the same box. That seems to count.

Also, I still can't believe people are treating this like it's the "end" of gaming. Yes, because ever since Wii Sports has come out, every single game on ever platform has been a casual game, right?
Jon B's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 15:18
Jon B
No, Minesweeper does not count. Because this is for best selling games, not best pirated games. I don't know anyone personally who went out and bought a copy of Windows...
Dan CiTi's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 15:28
Dan CiTi
I'm looking forward to Wii Sports Resort. Shoot me.
Tanukitsune's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 17:07
Tanukitsune
@Jon B Even if you only count legal copies of Windows, Minesweeper would still be the best selling game of all time!

Or maybe Solitaire?
mrplow8's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 17:45
mrplow8
That's actually a good point. If you're going to count pack-ins, then why wouldn't Minesweeper or Solitaire count?
B-Radicate's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 18:23
B-Radicate
Neither game should actually count the versions packed in with their respective system. Super Mario Bros. should only count standalone copies and VC copies. WiiSports shouldn't count at all since it can't be bought separately.

If a consumer doesn't have the choice NOT to buy the game, then it's not really a choice TO buy the game. They are literally given it.

It's like saying tires are the best selling aspect of a car because you get four of them with each new (and the majority of used) cars purchased. Problem is, you kind of have to buy them. It's a packaged deal.

Alright, that was a little weak in the examples department, but clearly you get my point of view.
Matthew Blake's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 18:59
Matthew Blake
Actually, WiiSports is sold separately in Japan. So, yeah.
Daxelman's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 19:00
Daxelman
Japan didn't have the game packed in.

Still sold like it was packed in with the Wii though...
DinnertimeNinja's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 21:11
DinnertimeNinja
This sales data is stupid.

If the PS2 came with Barbie's Horse Adventures packed in, IT would be the best selling game of all time.

Clearly, this data should AT LEAST come with an asterisk.
Tubatic's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 21:38
Tubatic
Well I dunno. Disputing these sales numbers on quality is like being pissed that Home Alone had a greater gross than Street Fighter the Movie (or some other cinema master piece of equal or greater quality)

I think its just another example of how sales really can't be a reasonable barometer of quality, in anybody's commercially supported entertainment medium.

How much did 50cent BulletProof sell again?
NostalGeek's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/10/2009 22:44
NostalGeek
I don't mind mario being at #2 what irks me a lot is that it's Wii fucking Sports at #1.......
Chronic Logic's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2009 03:39
Chronic Logic
I give Wii Sports 10.0! Editor's Choice Award! 5/5 stars! Two thumbs up!
metromapper's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2009 07:29
metromapper
You might want to clarify, since I assume you are just talking about console games.

If you really mean "the best selling game evar", and you include pack-ins, then Tanukitsune is right with Minesweeper or Solitaire, because Windows 98/XP/Vista has sold hundreds of millions of legit copies.

So packin means anything that has ever been bundled with any console/controller/hardware? That's a bit strict.

But if so, then yeah, SMB3 would be the winner, since Wii Sports, SMB, Tetris, SMWorld, Wii Play, Nintendogs, NSMB, and Wii Fit are all out. And Nintendogs and Pokemon would be out cause like eternalplayer said, there are 3 or 5 versions of each game. Mario Kart Wii is out since it was bundled with wheel hardware. Number 2 would be Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (PS2).
dclark's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2009 07:54
dclark
@metromapper

GT3 was bundled as well. I also agree that when it comes right down to it, clearly solitaire and minesweeper take the cake. They've been on every PC since 1990.
Holyetheline's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2009 11:12
Holyetheline
well it does come boxed with a very successful console...
pedrovay2003's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2009 22:01
pedrovay2003
Wow, a lot of Wii Sports haters here. Unless you live in Japan, it was free. I don't see why people complain so much.
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