NPD: San Andreas caps US best-seller list
By
Tom Magrino
Grand Theft Auto and Madden NFL franchises dominate industry-tracking group's top 10 list of all-time domestic sales leaders through April.
As part of its positive second-quarter earnings announcement earlier today, Take-Two Interactive said that the recently released Grand Theft Auto IV had logged 8.5 million units in worldwide sales, as of May 31. Released on April 29 in North America, the game's $310 million first-day haul shattered records to become "the largest launch in the history of interactive entertainment," as recognized by the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition.
Given the franchise's sales track record, the feat is hardly surprising. As reported by Forbes earlier this week, the Grand Theft Auto franchise leads the list of top 10 best-selling non-PC games ever in the US, according to industry-tracking NPD Group. (NPD classifies PC games as PC software and ranks them separately.) With 9.4 million copies sold domestically, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas tops the list, followed by its predecessors Vice City at No. 4 with 7.3 million and GTAIII at No. 9 with 6.2 million. According to Take-Two, the GTA franchise has sold more than 65 million units globally through 2007.
GTA finds itself in familiar company atop the sales-rankings charts. At the No. 2 slot is Activision's Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, which took the stage on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Wii, PC, Mac, and mobile platforms last year. The last four installments of EA's annual Madden NFL gridiron franchise have been good to the publisher, with the '07 edition hitting slot 3 with 7.7 million units, '06 at No. 5 with 6.7 million, '08 at rank 7 with 6.6 million, and '05 rounding out the top 10 with 6.1 million units.
Activision's other massive hit from last year--the Infinity Ward-developed Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare--landed in the 8th slot with 6.25 million units sold. Earlier this week, the publisher said that the fourth Call of Duty has been answered by 10 million gamers globally. And finally, Bungie's Halo 2 for the original Xbox and PC has logged 6.61 million units sold in the US, scoring slot 6 on the NPD Group's list.
The NPD Group's top 10 best-selling games of all time in the US through the end of April is listed below.
1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas--9.4 million
2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock--8.2 million
3. Madden NFL 07--7.7 million
4. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City--7.3 million
5. Madden NFL 06--6.7 million
6. Halo 2--6.61 million
7. Madden NFL 08--6.6 million
8. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare--6.25 million
9. Grand Theft Auto 3--6.2 million
10. Madden NFL 2005--6.1 million
By
Tom Magrino
Tom Magrino has covered the games industry since 2006. He's been compared to Steve Martin by Ozzy Osbourne and Daniel Craig by Tim Schafer. His voice, heard largely on GameSpot's podcast, recalls that of Kermit the Frog. It ain't easy bein' Magreen.
138 comments
".... Oh - let me guess - then the truth would be out about how bad PC gaming is doing maybe?" Well HumorGuy, go look at a sales chart for any sims game pretty much And I'm sure WoW tops San Andread, and Spore will top that :P
GrgSpunk Couldn't have said it better myself. The consumer decides what products are released onto the market. Well said.
Well, there's your reason why EA hardly ever changes the Madden series: No matter how much you idiots complain about it, you still end up buying it anyway. Why should a company like EA, whose purpose is to make money, listen to your complaints if you buy their products anyways? In the business world, dollar votes speak louder than words. I suggest you morons learn a thing or two about "consumer sovereignty" before you buy a game from a series that you've been complaining about.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - Idiot Gangsters - Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - Idols wanne'bees - Madden NFL - Utter GRAP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! , aint there enough footbal on TV -
You have to sell the game to have someone subscribe... The problem with that is those subscriptions are worldwide, not juse the United States...which is what the NPD tracks.... It also started tracking this much more recently then when the original Mario Bros. came out....or for that matter even after Super Mario Bros. 3.
The article is for US numbers only, thats why its so "american" with GTA and Madden. Also, its why GTA4 and COD4 have less than their worldwide totals.
So let me understand - NPD lists best selling PC games separately - so why not have them in this article for comparison purposes?! .... Oh - let me guess - then the truth would be out about how bad PC gaming is doing maybe?
Damn right San Andreas is number 1. Turf wars, car modding, making CJ fat, and all the rpg like elements are what made that game the best. Vice City probably had the better story...since it was a complete rip off of Scarface, but San Andreas improved the character customization and running through neighborhoods gunning people down never got old.
I have to admit that although GTA IV is a great game in its own right, There is not much of an improvement (tech and specs aside) since Rockstar's proceeding crown jewel, San Andreas. Personally, I would rather play San Andreas' sequel. Even the ancillary characters of the past were more interesting than now. Nico Bellic is just so... meh :|
ya your right this article is bogus since cod4 has sold 10 mil and the new gta has already sold 9 mil. my favorite on this list is vice city.
I dont understand why there are 3 madden NFL games in the top ten??? who the hell buys these games??
LOL NO! [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best_selling_video_games]Click Here[/url]
it's funny Guitar Hero 3, all the Madden games, and San Andreas suck.... so why do they sell the most. (note; I said san andreas not the rest of the GTAs)
Just look at that. Many games out for a couple of years don't do as well as some that came out just last year. Shows you how many people are getting into video gaming.
Call of Duty 4 has only been out for a few months and it is already #8, go COD! MY favorite game of all time is #1. I also have Madden NFL 2005, GTA 3 and Vice City. Getting COD4 in a couple of weeks... 4 Maddens and 3 GTAs, so American.
It isn't fair..COD 4 has been released for 8 months while GTA san andreas is 3 more years...in term of intensity, COD 4 sell far more superior than GTA:SA
Wow, thats amazing. I can't believe there are that many copies sold of GTA San Andreas.
Congrats to Halo 2 for being the only game in there dedicated to one video game console. Thats right, I said console so please don't yell out "it on the pc".
Madden Sucks!!! and yes Halo1 showed us what an FPS should be and Halo2 improved the formula. @hatieshorrer YES Halo3 is overrated. As owner of all 3 games I can say that! It still doesn't mean I'd trade them for anything.
PS3 fans have been telling us for years that Halo is all hype so whats Halo 2 doing on the top ten list of the best saling games in North America of all time.
7 out of 10 are either Madden or GTA. I guess that means someone needs to make a Madden/GTA cross breed game. Imagine running over teams with cars and shooting the kicker before he makes a field goal. Sounds like a dumb idea. As far as Madden goes those are probably the same gamers buying it each year. I also notice these game are available on so many gaming platforms it reaches anyone who wants to play them.This shows that a top notch franchise will sell. That's why these companies bring out the same franchise year after year.
"Nintendo really are hurting the progress of the gaming industry with their petty wii and Mario games" How, by developeing the GOTY?
Agreed. The proposed Electronic Arts takeover of Take-Two Interactive would result in 70% of the top ten all-time best sellers in the United States being owned by a single company. Monopoly indeed.
Wow, I had no idea that Guitar Hero III sold that many copies. I figured it would be around 2-3 million.
I'm happy to say I have never bought a Madden game. What would it take for me to buy one? Take 4 years to create a unique and incredible football experience, then maybe I would buy it.
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