# What's the most successful video game ever made? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 14, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336 "2008-04-14T18:21:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/1 "2008-04-14T18:21:04Z")
Just curious. Let’s define “success” as either money made, or # of copies sold. Let’s not define “success” as “I really liked that game.” My guess: World of Warcraft. That baby has to be a cash cow. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/2 "2008-04-14T18:23:14Z")
The Sims has to be up there also, with all the expansion packs and whatnot. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/3 "2008-04-14T18:46:28Z")
I’m guessing it’s either between WOW, Starcraft and the Sims (and all it’s bastard offspring). ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/4 "2008-04-14T18:47:16Z")
Pac-Man or Space Invaders. ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/5 "2008-04-14T18:52:01Z")
> **[List of best-selling video games](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games)** > > This is a list of video games that have sold the highest number of software units worldwide. The best-selling video game to date is Minecraft, a sandbox game released by Mojang in May 2009 for a wide range of PC, mobile and console platforms, selling more than 300 million copies across all platforms. Grand Theft Auto V and EA's Tetris are the only other known video games to have sold over 100 million copies. The best-selling game on a single platform is Wii Sports, with nearly 83 million sale... There are a lot of potential number ones Tetris, The Sims, Pokemon, Warcraft . But I’d have to say Mario and his numerous incarnations is the biggest financially and in proliferation. ---
**Author:** ![CatInASuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3be4f8/32.png) [@CatInASuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatInASuit)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/6 "2008-04-14T18:52:52Z")
Top selling console games 1. Pokémon Red, Blue, and Green (Game Boy – 20.08 million approximately, 10.23 million in Japan,[43] 9.85 million in US) 2. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES – 18 million) 3. Nintendogs (DS – 17.79 million) 4. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2 – 17.5 million,may include PC and Xbox versions) 5. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (PS2 – 14.87 million) 6. Pokémon Gold and Silver (Game Boy Color – 14.51 million approximately, 7.6 million in US,[18] 6.91 million in Japan) 7. Grand Theft Auto III (PS2 – 14.5 million,[24] may include PC and Xbox versions) 8. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (DS – 14.17 million) 9. Super Mario Land (Game Boy – 14 million) 10. New Super Mario Bros. (DS – 13.14 million) Top Selling PC Games The Sims (50 million, 70 million including expansions) Lineage 2 (17 million players) The Sims 2 (13 million, 100 million including expansions) The Sims 2: Pets [expansion pack] (5.6 million) The Sims 2: Seasons [expansion pack] (1 million) World of Warcraft (10 million subscribers) World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade [expansion pack] (3.5 million) With thanks to Wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/7 "2008-04-14T19:38:03Z")
I seem to recall reading that, for one year (1981?), Americans spent more on Pac-Man than on movies, books, and pay television _combined_. But, I can’t find the reference now, so I could very well be incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/8 "2008-04-15T04:13:37Z")
What do arcade game revenues count as? I mean, if there are still some Pac-Man cabinets up and running, some of them could be going on 30 years old. That’s a nice head start. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/9 "2008-04-15T05:20:20Z")
I terms of the number of spin-offs, sequels and off-shoots, _Donkey Kong_ would have to be up there, what with all the Mario and Mario-universe games that have since been released. ---
**Author:** ![Pollux\_Oil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/858c86/32.png) [@Pollux\_Oil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pollux_Oil)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/10 "2008-04-15T05:26:14Z")
I was going to come in here and say either Pokemon or WoW, but I see wikipedia has beat me to it. Curse you Wikipedia, foiled again! _shakes fist_ ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/11 "2008-04-15T05:51:39Z")
There are still Pac Man games in arcades. I think it wins, hands down. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/12 "2008-04-15T06:13:12Z")
[QUOTE=Ranchoth] What do arcade game revenues count as? I mean, if there are still some Pac-Man cabinets up and running, some of them could be going on 30 years old. That’s a nice head start. [/QUOTE] Do we include revenues from sales of [_Pac-Man Fever_](http://youtube.com/watch?v=kIhrrk-dmQE) by Buckner & Garcia? ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/13 "2008-04-15T07:20:55Z")
Wow, _Diablo 2_ isn’t anywhere on the list? Nor _Halo_? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/14 "2008-04-15T07:27:57Z")
Who are all these people buying Nintendogs? If not a one Penny Arcade comic on the game, I would have no idea what that was. Yet I can name at least 10 people who own Final Fantasy VII, and that is no-where to be found. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/15 "2008-04-15T08:30:15Z")
Tetris has been converted to run in _everything_. Didn’t make money, but it’s everywhere from cell phones to linux install disks (plays while waiting for compiling to be done) to arcade consoles. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/16 "2008-04-15T08:36:47Z")
In terms of money made from a video game, how can anything compete with World of Warcraft and its expansion? I can see MAYBE an argument for Pacman and Ms Pacman coming close after adjusting for inflation, but there’s no friggin way that I’m gonna accept that Lineage 2 has been more successful than WoW. ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/17 "2008-04-15T13:55:40Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] Who are all these people buying Nintendogs? If not a one Penny Arcade comic on the game, I would have no idea what that was. Yet I can name at least 10 people who own Final Fantasy VII, and that is no-where to be found. [/QUOTE] Yeah… it’s weird. I only became aware of Nintendogs because Famitsu gave it a perfect score. Almost everyone I know has a DS (including some quintessential casual gamers whose collections mostly include casino minigame compilations and games with “Training” in the title), but I’ve never seen anyone playing this game. ETA: I think part of the problem with FF7 is that it’s inexplicably been out of print for years (while FF8, FF9, Chrono Cross, and other PSX Square games can be found anyplace for $15). A lot more people would own FF7 by now if it wasn’t so rare and expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/18 "2008-04-15T15:56:27Z")
E.T. by Atari ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/19 "2008-04-15T16:40:45Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] Who are all these people buying Nintendogs? If not a one Penny Arcade comic on the game, I would have no idea what that was. Yet I can name at least 10 people who own Final Fantasy VII, and that is no-where to be found. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Autumn Almanac] Yeah… it’s weird. I only became aware of Nintendogs because Famitsu gave it a perfect score. Almost everyone I know has a DS (including some quintessential casual gamers whose collections mostly include casino minigame compilations and games with “Training” in the title), but I’ve never seen anyone playing this game. ETA: I think part of the problem with FF7 is that it’s inexplicably been out of print for years (while FF8, FF9, Chrono Cross, and other PSX Square games can be found anyplace for $15). A lot more people would own FF7 by now if it wasn’t so rare and expensive. [/QUOTE] Well, parents all over the Americas, Europe, and Japan bought Nintendogs for their kids. Some adults bought it for themselves (including me, though in my defense it was a used copy). The game is as neutral and accessible as any title can possibly be. Heck, it’s about puppies! It’s a natural bundle title for the DS. Even if the recipient only played it for a few hours on Christmas morning before getting bored, it’s still a sale. FFVII, on the other hand, has a dark tone and a highly involved plot. It’s not exactly parent-friendly. I can’t imagine grandma having bought her grandkids a Playstation 2 and getting them this game to go along with it. (Though if she did, she’d have been the coolest grandma ever.) Another issue is that, as Autumn Almanac mentioned, the game is out of print. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Squinix reissue (remastered FFVII/Advent Children/all the other spinoffs in a multimedia bundle), but until that happens, fans will be stuck hunting for used or pirated copies. Of the people I know who have the game, all of them were lucky enough to have picked it up back in the day and not lost, damaged, or otherwise been forced to part with it. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336/20 "2008-04-15T16:45:31Z")
I actually was coming in here to say what **sublight** said, _Donkey Kong_ was very popular on it’s own, but has also spawned a plethora of related extrememly popular games. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-successful-video-game-ever-made/445336.md?page=2)