I suppose Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 was a lot more awesome after I saw that human bowling video.
If we’re talking individual games, there are a ton to choose from and it’s nearly impossible to measure them all. If we’re talking franchises, the discussion become a lot easier. I don’t have time to do all the research right now, but here are a few names that definitely deserve consideration:
Pac-Man. One of the truly amazing success stories of consumer marketing period, much less video games. This little yellow dude’s been everywhere: adventure games, puzzle games, racing games, and, oh yeah, the occasional maze where he runs around and eats lots of stuff. All kinds of completely unrelated Namco games, from Tekken to Ninja Assault, put him in somewhere. And it’s still going (IIRC, Pac Man World 4 is already in development). Let’s not forget all the books, toys, cereal, TV shows, songs, t-shirts, you name it.
Street Fighter. In terms of popularity, fame, name recognition, and almost unbelievable impact on the entire worldwide videogaming industry, no other fighting game is even close. Of course, you have to include the two spinoff lines, EX and Alpha, both tremendous successes in their own right. Such a huge phenomenon, even Capcom’s other fighting game franchises were quickly shoved out of existence. There are intense Street Fighter 3: Third Strike competitions to this day. Think any other 1999 game is even close?
Super Mario. Even if we exclude the old Donkey Kong and the unrelated spinoffs (Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, etc.), it’s been a pretty phenomenal run for the Italian do-gooder. That he’s been on every Nintendo console ever made is impressive; even Sonic The Hedgehog can’t claim that.
And a relative latecomer, but definitely catching up fast, Dance Dance Revolution. THREE different versions for three different countries, multiple platforms, and still incredibly popular in more places than you’d think possible. Furthermore, with the latest trend toward “active” and “fitness” related video games, it’s only going to get even bigger with time. There have been similar games, but none of them have had the top-down appeal or international corporation-financed marketing juggernaut the original has.
I guess because I’ve seen it available locally for $15, I assumed it wasn’t rare as the indie game stores around here usually jump on the “rare” bandwagon.
I also would have to question Street Fighter’s inclusion on any list of bestselling franchises. Culturally, the games are huge, but saleswise, the Street Fighter series is even more niche than Mortal Kombat nowadays. And the EX series practically killed any chance the game could ever have another 3D version.
Whenever I see a copy of DDR, I immediately think of Fidel Castro playing Dance Dance Counter Revolution in that episode of Robot Chicken. 
Let’s see this list in a couple weeks.
Halo is an incredibly successful franchise, but X-Box has almost no saturation in the Asian markets, so that’s why Halo wouldn’t make such lists.
I agree, somehow I don’t think the GTA Franchise is going to stay around 70 Million given the number of pre-orders for the game and the knock on effect of people buying other games in the series just to see what they are like.
Right up until Sims 3, FF XIII etc. etc
Yeah. I suspect that in five gears GTA: San Andreas will have become the top-selling individual title ever.
I think you’re understimating it.
I don’t think so.
I would be very surprised if GTA IV doesn’t beat Halo 3 for the best opening weekend.
But I don’t think going to sell 10 milllion copies in a couple of weeks, although Rockstar would certainly appreciate that. If only because of the logistics of pressing all 10 million copies and getting them out there.
Expect shortages in week 2.
I’ve been researching this today, which is how I came to this thread.
Most Played: If we’re talking most popular video game, Angry Birds has been downloaded 1 billion times, which totally blows everything else on Earth out of the water, at least as far as what we have numbers for.
Most Sold: If we’re talking most popular video game that people have paid money for, Tetris has sold 108 million copies if you include NES cartridges and mobile downloads. If you include Tetris games bundled with Game Boy, it brings the number to 143 million copies.
[ul]
[li]If for some reason we’re not including mobile downloads and are including bundled games, which would be stupid, then Wii Sports would win at 79.6 million copies.[/li]
[li]If for some reason we’re not including bundled games or mobile downloads, which would also be stupid, Mario Kart Wii would win out at 32.44 million copies.[/li][/ul]
Most Money: If we’re talking about the video game that has made the most money of all the video games, the winner appears to unequivocally be World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft makes billions of dollars a year, and is still going strong.
[ul]
[li]If we’re talking about the video game that has made the most money out of all the video games that requires only a one-time purchase, I don’t have exact numbers, but as near as I can tell it would be Mario Kart Wii, based on its price and the number of copies sold.[/li][/ul]
I think that covers everything.
This. I’m half-convinced the Egyptian played an abacus port of Tetris while they were building the Pyramids.
Ha. Shows what you knew 4 1/2 years ago.
Cite?
Forget the cite. Things people mentioned in this thread four years ago refute this guy’s current information. But I’ll provide them anyway.
Most Played: Variations of Angry Birds have been downloaded 1 billion times, it’s true. But what does that have to do with “most played.” There is literally no way to measure that.
Most Sold: Depends how you count…
Single game on a single platform including titles bundled with hardware (Wii Sports).
Single game on multiple platforms (Possibly Tetris, but few of the games that carry that name are connected by a common developer).
Most Money: If you count subscriptions (and franchises as a whole), sure maybe WoW. But again, it is literally impossible to declare a winner because there’s at least 15 different ways to count this question.
Minecraft has got to be up there.
Side note: I believe that Mega Man, with over 100 titles in the series, holds the record for most prolific video game.
Minecraft’s three edition (original flavor, Xbox 360 Edition, Pocket Edition) have only sold about 13 million copies combined.