Top 5 Bestselling Video Games of All Time

The video below claims the top five best selling video games of all time include Mario Kart Wii, Super Mario Bros, Grand Theft Auto V, Wii Sports and Tetris.

The video’s list contains the games that sold the most copies, not the games with the highest dollar figures. Some of these games were originally sold bundled with newly released game consoles, so their numbers may be artificially inflated.

Best Selling Video Game #5: Mario Kart Wii

Over 35,000,000 copies of best selling video game Mario Kart Wii have sold since its release in 2008, making it not only the highest selling game for Wii but also the top selling racing video game in history.

In 2013 a boy of just ten years old took over his great grandmother’s car after she suffered a heart attack. He said he learned to drive by playing Mario Kart Wii. Another fact about the game: all the world record times scored in the game were performed on bikes.

See: 10 Most Expensive Video Games Ever Made

Best Selling Video Game #4: Super Mario Bros

best selling video games super mario brosReleased in 1985, Super Mario Bros sold 40,000,000 copies. The game was developed internally by Nintendo R&D and originally released on Japan’s “Family Computer.” Released on September 13th, 1985, Super Mario Bros for the Nintendo Entertainment System was the single bestselling title for over three decades.

The game originally came on a 256 Kilobit cartridge. 2015’s popular video game “Assassin’s Creed” is 39.96 GB. That’s 40,000,000 times larger than Super Mario Bros. That game sold only 8 million copies, five times less than Super Mario Bros.

Best Selling Video Game #3: Grand Theft Auto V

best selling video games of all time grand theft auto 5Grand Theft Auto V is the first major multi-platform best selling video game on the list. The game sold 11 million copies in its first 24 hours. It eventually topped out at sales of 45,000,000 copies. GTA V was released in 2013 for the PS3 and XBox 360. An enhanced version was released later for the PS4 and the XBox 1.

The game cost $137 million to produce. Lawsuits against the entire GTA franchise have totaled nearly a billion dollars since the game’s first version was released.

See: Why Are Video Games So Expensive?

Best Selling Video Game #2: Wii Sports

best selling video games of all time wii sportsBest selling video game Wii Sports is a mix of five sports simulations intended to demonstrate the Wii remote’s motion sensing capabilities. The game’s five sports are baseball, tennis, bowling, boxing and golf. Over 82 million copies of the game have been sold worldwide.

Computer programmer Mickey Dilorenzo went on a Wii fitness program for six weeks. He reportedly lost nine pounds, plus three inches from his midsection just by adding a half hour of Wii work to his daily schedule.

According to his measurements, the game’s most effective activity was boxing. He says he burned 125 calories in a single 15 minute session.

See: The Terrifying Future of Video Games Taking Your Money

Best Selling Video Game #1: Tetris

best selling video games of all time tetrisThe number one best selling video game of all time is Tetris. The Soviet tile matching video game was originally programmed and designed by Alexi Pagitnov. The name comes from “tetra,” the greek number prefix for “four,” and “is,” from the game of tennis, which is the game creator’s favorite sport.

Since its release, the game has been available on almost every computer OS and video game console. There have also been versions for mobile phones, graphing calculators, and portable media players as well as other devices. Versions of the game were sold for a range of 80’s video game platforms and arcades.

The game has sold over 170 million copies.

Since the creator was a Russian, it wasn’t easy for him to receive proceeds from the game. The Russian government intervened, collecting the royalties themselves. In 1996, Pagitnov managed to relocate to the US, where he founded his own Tetris company and started to profit from the licensing and of the game, as well as the creation of versions for emerging platforms. Today, the company owns all the rights for the name Tetris and routinely shuts down unauthorized clones.

See: How Much Money Has Every Marvel Movie Made?

Bestselling Video Games by Dollar Amounts

best selling video games of all time space invaders

This little video game has raked in about five times more than the top grossing movie of all time: James Cameron’s Avatar.

The above list of best selling video games is skewed heavily toward older games. We wanted to see what the same list would be like if it was based on dollar value instead of units sold. According to GiantBomb.com, the top 5 bestselling video games based on inflation adjusted dollars are:

  1. Space Invaders – $13.93 billion
  2. Pac Man – $12.81 billion
  3. Street Fighter II – $10.61 billion
  4. World of Warcraft $7.82 billion
  5. Crossfire $6.27 billion

As you can see, even using dollars earned instead of copies sold, the list of the five best selling video games of all time is still dominated by the oldies.

Article Source: Highest Grossing Games of All Time – GiantBomb.com