Nintendo tops US game charts for 2008

By Ellie Gibson Published 16 January, 2009

Plus: GTA more popular on 360 than PS3.

Nintendo "bossed" the American software charts for 2008, with the top four best-selling games all exclusive to the Wii.

Wii Play was the biggest title of the year with 5.28 million copies sold, followed closely by Mario Kart Wii on 5 million. Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros. Brawl came in third and fourth, each racking up sales of more than 4 million.

Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360 was in fifth place, with 3.29 million units shifted. The PS3 version was in eighth place on 1.89 million - the only game for Sony's console in the top ten.

Other big sellers included the 360 version of Call of Duty: World at War (2.75 million), Gears of War 2 (2.31 million) and Madden NFL 09 for 360 (1.87 million). Only one handheld game made it into the chart - Mario Kart DS (1.65 million).

Wii Play was also the best-selling game during December, followed once again by Call of Duty for 360. The rest of the top ten was dominated by Nintendo with Wii Fit, Mario Karts Wii and DS and Animal Crossing, although titles such as Gears of War 2 and Left 4 Dead did get a look-in.

Here are the best-selling games in the US for 2008:

  1. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 5.28 million
  2. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 5.00 million
  3. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) - 4.53 million
  4. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo, Wii) - 4.17 million
  5. Grand Theft Auto IV (Take-Two, Xbox 360) - 3.29 million
  6. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, Xbox 360) - 2.75 million
  7. Gears of War 2 (Microsoft, Xbox 360) - 2.31 million
  8. Grand Theft Auto IV (Take-Two, PS3) - 1.89 million
  9. Madden NFL 09 (EA, Xbox 360) - 1.87 million
  10. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo, NDS) - 1.65 million

Sales for December 2008:

  1. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 1.46 million
  2. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, Xbox 360) - 1.33 million
  3. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) - 999,000
  4. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 979,000
  5. Guitar Hero: World Tour (Activision, Wii) - 850,000
  6. Gears of War 2 Microsoft, Xbox 360) - 745,000
  7. Left 4 Dead (EA, Xbox 360) - 629,000
  8. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo, NDS) - 540,000
  9. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, PS3) - 533,000
  10. Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo, Wii) - 497,000
Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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