Top 5 bestselling PS3, Xbox 360, Wii games revealed for 3rd Quarter
Earlier this year, the companies that compile the sales charts in America, Japan, and the UK joined forces to start keeping track of worldwide software sales. Their latest joint results, which cover the third quarter of the year, show how the Japanese market is declining compared to the rest of the world. They also list the top five bestselling games between July and September, and the results are quite surprising.
Gaming may be a universally adopted hobby that transcends borders, but each territory is different than the rest. So the alliance between the sales chart compilers for the U.S., Japan, and the U.K. means there are some intriguing results which show how the different countries buy and game differently.
NPD, GfK Chart-Track, and Enterbrain have just released their joint worldwide software sales figures for the past three months, which includes a list of the top selling games as well as a report on the state of the software sales market. Courtesy of Kotaku:
Top Five Bestselling Games July – September
1. Madden 09 – 2.994 million
2. Wii Fit – 2.089 million
3. Force Unleashed – 1.738 million
4. Pokemon Platinum – 1.482 million
5. Mario Kart Wii – 1.468 million
Being British, I was completely blown away to see Madden 09 at the top of the chart because American football, and consequently, American football video games, are universally ignored outside of the States. Fortunately, enough Americans love the sport that the game can sell almost three million copies, 2.958 million of which were sold in the U.S.
Wii Fit managed second place despite being overpriced and out of stock everywhere. It’s no wonder Nintendo is making so much money when a lifestyle device for the Wii can sell in those sorts of quantities. The rest of the top five are slightly less surprising.
GameDaily takes a closer look at what the sales report shows in terms of software trends around the world. Overall sales growth is only at 1 percent, but that figure is skewed by the decidedly poor state of the Japanese market. U.K. growth is at 15 percent, and the U.S. is at eight, but a Japanese decline of 21 percent canceled the other territories out.
The Japanese decline is a worry because that territory is rightly regarded as the most mature market and spiritual home of gaming. What has happened during 2008 in Japan is likely to filter through to the rest of us at a later date. But for now, the U.S. and the U.K. games markets are looking decidedly healthy in the face of an economic downturn.
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16 Responses to “Top 5 bestselling PS3, Xbox 360, Wii games revealed for 3rd Quarter”
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November 12th, 2008
They’re all games that are on Nintendo, with two of them being exclusive to Wii.
Can we stop with the “Wii owners just play Wii sport for 5 minutes and then use it as a door stop” arguments.
November 12th, 2008
Less surprising?
Well, Madden really isn’t that big of a surprise. I refuse to even play it any more, but EA bought out the rights to use the current NFL players, so its the only game in town, and while American football may not be so popular outside of the stats, its very popular here.
And who knows? Maybe the London games the NFL has had the last couple of years are inspiring slightly better sales. Hey, any difference at all helps.
What I find shocking is that 3 games on that list are Nintendo exclusives. Two of the three you say are less surprising are out for only a small fraction of the potential buyers as Force Unleashed and Madden, which were made for every console except Sega CD.
I would never expect exclusives to even be near the top 5, just because of the number of people they could sell to.
Certainly we can see Wii owners are buying games, but if a third party wants to be up there with Mario Kart and Pokemon, they had best pull out all the stops and start making good games, not another party game for a quick cash in.
November 12th, 2008
I’m just happy the Force unleashed is up there. What an underrated game.
November 12th, 2008
hey phran… after playing the demo for force unleashed… gotta say… I agree with the critics… the aiming system is buggy… and according to the reviews… it gets repetitive (which I guessed but didnt mind)… so not gonna buy without a discount…
November 12th, 2008
The aiming system is not without its issues. The problem is, the aiming system cant really read your mind as to what you think is the most important item to focus on (I for one would have it focus on people). Its biggest downfall is the lack of MP. This game would be a definite purchase instead of a rent for that reason alone. Bosses are also very difficult in comparison to the rest of the level.
November 12th, 2008
Multiplaform sales wtf is this oh well all those game suck especially Madden.
November 12th, 2008
I am not a fan of Madden and while I am a Star Wars fan, I was not impressed with the demo. All of the mixed reviews that poured in after the games release only confirmed my hesitation. So what did I buy?…. Warhawk. What a pleasant surprise. The game was under $20 used and was a lot of fun.
November 12th, 2008
dave – why did you post all the lopsided articles about how great the ps3’s library is going to do while refusing to post the article that states GeOW II is KILLING LBP in sales….
when one only gives one side a view w/o acknowledging facts that is when one is branded a fanboy.
congrats!! but we knew that already…didn’t we…;)
November 12th, 2008
Forced Unleashed is a great game. I can’t believe your making your asumptions on a Demo guys. I learned not to make that assumption long time ago. A Demo is a Demo and it’s ment to peak intrest, that’s it. Try the real game then come to your conclusion. It was definately underrated. Well it’s all about Gears of War 2 Now. The Best Game of the Year!!
November 12th, 2008
I wouldn’t judge a game from a demo… but a demo and a ton of bad reviews that all pretty much said the same thing – that I would use for judgment. I will buy a cheap used copy maybe one day. It just wasn’t a new game purchase for me. Maybe I’ll be wrong when I finally play it… who knows.
November 12th, 2008
Anyone else played the Left 4 Dead demo?? I’m pissed off because i’ve now got to fork out more $$$ when it comes out! That demo was awesome! The game is going to be fantastic!
November 12th, 2008
Nope, but now you say it, I might give it a bash.
November 12th, 2008
Shame we can’t do a cross platform session with the game Spidey (you on your PC, me on my 360), it could be fun.
I wouldn’t help Ivan though. If he was getting mauled by a zombie i’d unload a clip in his head just for the hell of it.
November 13th, 2008
Force unleashed is not one of the worst SW games, but it is far from the the best.
@ Harry – I’m not that taken with left for dead. I suspect CoD5’s zombie mode will be the one I play
LfD just feels like other source engine fps’s… Always makes it feel like I am just playing a mod
. Just ruins the experience for me.
BUT I will say that the co-op ‘experience’ in itself is very cool (e.g. helping people up, sneaking when you have to etc etc)…
November 13th, 2008
SW,
I am not entirely sold on CoD5, apparently the story isn’t as good as CoD4’s. I may hire it, but I really need to get through Gears 2, Fallout 3 and tie up the loose ends in Fable 2 before the Mrs will let me buy any more games.
The co-op part of left 4 dead was fantastic, it actually forced you to be a team. However, I played it with a bunch of douchebags who did not know how to rescue a player who died, so that wasn’t much fun, but when you’re playing with 3 other people who know what they’re doing it’s a lot of fun.
November 14th, 2008
I never played cod4’s SP. Hated enemy respawners and the ‘none hardcore (e.g. you have a hud etc. Sucks) part of it.
Not playing the sp on cod5 unless its co-op, last nite we played a tank sp level, 4 of us driving around blowing shit up in our tanks
Zombie mode is also awesome. With more maps it could be freaking amazing. The zombies come at you in waves with each wave having more zombies, harder to kill zombies, and worse, faster zombies
You can gain access to new areas by spending points (the map is quite small, giving you only 1-2 areas to access) and get weapons by buying them. There is no buy menu, you simply walk over to them on the wal and buy. New rooms give you access to better weapons but also more ways for zombies to get in
(theres also a ‘random weapon box’ giving you cooler stuff like mg’s, flamethrowers and the ray gun 
)…. As the zombies smash down windows to get in, you can spend points to rebuild barracades etc 
Its really damn cool
Just needs more maps for it 