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Guitar Hero III top US title by revenue - NPD

Rhythm game minted $830.9 million--but Call of Duty: Black Ops is closing fast with $787.4 million; Wii Fit, Modern Warfare 2, and Rock Band also make top 10.

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Since 1995, the NPD Group has tracked retail sales data in the US market. Today, the industry research firm revealed its all-time top 10 titles by revenue--not unit sales--to financial television network CNBC. Riding high atop the charts was Activision's Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, which has minted $830.9 million since its release in 2007. (The Guitar Hero series has since been put on indefinite hold.)

Four years before it was canceled, the Guitar Hero series was the top franchise in the game industry.
Four years before it was canceled, the Guitar Hero series was the top franchise in the game industry.

Coming up fast in the number two slot is last year's smash hit Call of Duty: Black Ops. Already the number one best seller by units in US history, with 13.7 million units sold, the Treyarch-developed title has made $787.4 million to date. That's just $43.5 million less than Guitar Hero III, the figure for which was inflated by sales of guitar-controller bundles.

Also boosted by bundling was the number three game, Nintendo's Wii Fit, which came with the Wii Balance Board. Fourth place was a stand-alone game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, while fifth belonged to Rock Band, which was available a la carte or bundled with a drum set, microphone, and guitar. The games made $713.6 million and $670.7 million, respectively.

Rounding out the top 10 were Wii Play (sixth), Guitar Hero World Tour (seventh), Wii Fit Plus (eighth), Mario Kart Wii (ninth), and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (10th). NPD did not release sales totals for the bottom half of the top 10 chart.

RANK / TITLE / PUBLISHER / TOTAL SALES
1. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock--Activision--$830.9 million
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops--Activision--$787.4 million
3. Wii Fit--Nintendo--$736.6 million
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2--Activision--$713.6 million
5. Rock Band--MTV Games-- $670.7 million
6. Wii Play--Nintendo
7. Guitar Hero World Tour--Activision
8. Wii Fit Plus--Nintendo
9. Mario Kart Wii--Nintendo
10. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare--Activision

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