# History of video game info **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 4, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503 "2004-05-04T18:53:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503/1 "2004-05-04T18:53:11Z")
Hey all, Doing a bit of research, and I need to find out what the best selling computer games were from 1985 on. THe more info I can get on this, the better. Anyone know a good place to look? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503/2 "2004-05-04T18:58:16Z")
:sniffing: This smells like a homework issue. I suggest you help yourself by visiting a library and finding out what the best reference book and/or directory would be to narrow your search. You need an industry publication. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503/3 "2004-05-04T19:34:11Z")
Check The Underdogs: [www.the-underdogs.org](http://www.the-underdogs.org) ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503/4 "2004-05-04T19:45:59Z")
Not a homework issue- haven’t been in school since I graduated college in 2000. This is actually a professional research project, and I was wondering if folks had any sites they knew of. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503/5 "2004-05-04T19:50:29Z")
If you’re looking for an actual book, the best ones I’ve seen on the subject are _The First Quarter_ and _High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games_ ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503/6 "2004-05-04T23:38:00Z")
I believe The Sims is the best selling video game of all time, with Grand Theft Auto III in second place and Half-Life coming in at #3. Don’t quote me on that. Would be nice to see a list of the top 20 or so from a reputable source. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503/7 "2004-05-05T17:16:08Z")
think it’s a safe bet to guess that the sims, starcraft and half-life are among the top 20… ---
**Author:** ![GreyWanderer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@GreyWanderer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreyWanderer)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503/8 "2004-05-05T18:07:46Z")
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is probably among the top games. I’ve seen so many claims of games being the best selling of all time. I suspect there is some number trickery going on. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503/9 "2004-05-05T19:31:57Z")
IIRC, **Myst** is the top-selling computer game of all time. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503/10 "2004-05-05T19:37:45Z")
1985 was the launch of the Nintendo, so you’ll start from Super Mario Bros. and move on form there… ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503/11 "2004-05-05T19:44:09Z")
But what about **Pong** , then? 😃 I think the OP was asking for computer games, ie, ones that launched on PCs (or Macs, if you’re so inclined to quibble). And re: best selling, my guess is that any game can be the best seller if you narrow the category enough. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503/12 "2004-05-05T19:44:44Z")
Anybody interested in [Computer Space](http://www.cedmagic.com/history/computer-space.html), the first arcade video game (1971)? Or [Magnavox Odyssey](http://www.cedmagic.com/history/magnavox-odyssey.html), the first home video game system (1972)? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503/13 "2004-05-05T20:20:46Z")
[This book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0964384825/qid=1083788250/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-0243781-1768028?v=glance&s=books) is an excellent history of computer and video gaming. FTR, we had an Odyssey system. I still remember having trouble getting the sheets to stick to the TV screen ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503/14 "2004-05-06T01:57:02Z")
> [@dotchan](#): > > computer games, ie, ones that launched on PCs (or **Macs** , if you’re so inclined to quibble). Let’s see, there’s that game with the apple logo. Breakout…Super Breakout…photoshop… ---
**Author:** ![SandWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@SandWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandWriter)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503/15 "2004-05-06T05:19:05Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Let’s see, there’s that game with the apple logo. Breakout…Super Breakout…photoshop… …And you know which ones are good, cause you played them on the windows machines three years ago… MYST is one of the highest selling games of all time. Some say (like me, for one) that MYST drove the home user to get a CD-ROM drive, enabling games to ship on one disk, instead of 13 (or more) floppy’s. MYST sold well on it’s own, than at the end of it’s life, it was licensed for OEMs to include with computers. And it is true that Atari drove 14 semi-trucks full of cartridges down to New Mexico and buried them. > **[Buried Atari Cartridges](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/five-million-et-pieces/)** > > Did Atari bury millions of unsold 'E.T.' game cartridges in a New Mexico landfill? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503/16 "2004-05-06T11:29:28Z")
You might also look for the Game Show Network documentary, “Video Games- A history of a Global Obsession.” They air it frequently [www.gsn.com](http://www.gsn.com) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-video-game-info/243503/17 "2004-05-06T15:14:08Z")
> [@ArrMatey!](#): > > Doing a bit of research, and I need to find out what the best selling computer games were from 1985 on. THe more info I can get on this, the better. Anyone know a good place to look? Thanks in advance. The Monday New York Times publishes charts of the current best-selling magazines, music albums, software programs and the top TV shows. Monday’s paper had the software sales data for March 2004, so this won’t help you. However, the sources mentioned may be able to. The software sales results are from NPD Group/NPD Techword, while results for the other media were from various Nielsen businesses, Publishers Information Bureau, Billboard, Soundscan, etc. So you may want to contact these market research firms to see what data they can provide. It probably will cost you some money, but if it’s for your company, they may be willing to pay.