Our little Wii console has finally reached 20 months old! It’s been a long 20 months filled with endless shovelware, low hardware supply, and cheap plastic peripherals, but the waggle machine made it with a staggering 28 million units sold. What kept sales going? Highly polished gems like Carnival Games, Super Mario Galaxy, Wii Fit, etc.. Take a look below for the top ten games with the most sales during the Wii’s first 20 months of life.
(Note: Wii Sports is excluded from this list. 25 million worldwide.)
1) Wii Play – 13.26 Million Worldwide
Does it really count? Yup. No one gets this for the extra remote. I pitched mine and booted up Wii Play for some heated matches of “Hook the Fish”. Two-dimensional fishing not grabbing your attention? How about an intense round of “Find the Mii”? Strap that wrist strap on and get ready to spend hours after hours hunting for your Mii avatar in a crowd! Too much fun. If there has ever been a title that screams ”˜Game of the Year’ it’s Wii Play. *sarcasm*
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2) Super Mario Galaxy ”“ 6.72 Million Worldwide
As I wade through an endless wave of crappy Wii games it’s always encouraging to see a title like Super Mario Galaxy sit at the top of the charts. Not only is Galaxy winner of several 2007 awards, but a revolutionary Miyamoto masterpiece that sets a standard in platforming design. Get it!
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3) Mario Kart Wii ”“ 6.04 Million Worldwide
The latest installment in the Mario Kart series has already climbed over 6 million disks sold despite being released only 3 months ago. Defined as one of Nintendo’s “Bridge games” it’s not difficult to comprehend the massive sales which are fuel by both the new and old kart racers. The included Wii Wheel peripheral assisted with a strong hand in sales as well as a clean, efficient online mode.
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4) Super Smash Brothers Brawl ”“ 5.97 Million Worldwide
What do you get when you take almost every major Nintendo IP, throw them in a fighting game, and add enough retro nostalgia to wet your pants? A big pile of money! Brawl is quickly catching up to the Gamecube best selling title, Super Smash Bros Melee (7Million). Though the online quality still sucks, Brawl has enough replay value to give it some serious legs for future sales.
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5) Mario Party 8 ”“ 5.35 Million Worldwide
For a rushed party game, Mario Party 8 has sold amazingly well. Though the graphical interface, and motion controls are dated, Mario Party’s core gameplay is still deeply built into the game.
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6) Wii Fit – 5.24 Million Worldwide
Nintendo’s next step in world domination has finally hit 5 million units. Wii Fit takes the already revolutionized Wii console to the max with the awesomely precise Balance Board. This is the type of stuff Miyamoto thinks up in his sleep.
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7) The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ”“ 4.90 Million Worldwide
It’s great to see Twilight Princess holding up in the top ten, but shouldn’t sales be higher? Twilight Princess is one beast of a game. Large enough to have a 3 year development cycle, and a full budget. Throw in an additional 1.5 million for the Gamecube version, and it gives the games total sales a brighter look. Honestly, if you’re a Zelda fan without this game”¦get it!
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8) Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games ”“ 4.68 Million Worldwide
Wrap two of the biggest franchises in video game history with Wii sports-like minigames for instant success. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games is a joint project between Sega, and Nintendo which is why the number four has six zeros after it. The final game was average. Nothing great, but a hit nonetheless.
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9) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock ”“ 2.90 Million Worldwide
RedOctane’s first Guitar Hero title on a Nintendo platform has proved the simple fact that Wii owners love peripherals, and rhythm games. Guitar Hero III has had strong sales since day one, and pushed RedOctane to keep the Wii as one of their premier platforms to debut new versions.
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10) Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree ”“ 2.48 Million Worldwide
Squeezing just ahead of Super Paper Mario for the number 10 spot is none other than Big Brain Academy. It’s not your ordinary game, but has proved to be just as successful as the rest of the DS series. Why? Because who doesn’t want to play memory games with the Wii remote? Exactly!
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There you have it. A sales chart made up of almost all first party titles. Nothing surprising, but hopefully charts like the one above will give third parties a much needed kick in the pants to get there act together. Examples can be seen with upcoming games like The Conduit, and Call of Duty World at War which are pushing not only the much needed graphical front, but the over all high quality developer mind set.
What new titles will be in the top 10 when the Wii turns 40 months old?
Sales Numbers via VGChartz
