PDA

View Full Version : 20 best selling video game franchises

Jay
10-01-2007, 10:53 PM
EVER. Or..so far anyway.

http://computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=154407

I must say, Madden surprised me...

Thoughts?
Lewiji
10-01-2007, 11:01 PM
Hah, James Bond beat Lara Croft.

<joke about the sexuality of the average gamer>
Midget
10-01-2007, 11:04 PM
gta :D
Splush
10-01-2007, 11:06 PM
My first thought is that Crash Bandicoot seems rather out of his depth in that list.
WraithMaster
10-01-2007, 11:11 PM
Pokémon beat Final Fantasy? /asplode
GRiM
10-01-2007, 11:25 PM
Madden surprised me...


Really? Madden is super popular over in the states.. plus Some UK'ers like me are partial to the NFL... I was playing Madden on the DS earlier, £8 at gamestation? RESULT!
Jay
10-01-2007, 11:32 PM
Well I realised it was popular...but as sports titles do, I always assumed Fifa was more popular.

Whats Lineage anyway?
da-geezer
10-01-2007, 11:41 PM
I was surprised not to see Myst in there. That's a massively popular title, even if it's sequels have rode on the back of the original's reputation.
Splush
10-01-2007, 11:42 PM
Lineage is a MMORPG that loads of Koreans play, and presumably loads of non-Koreans based on the sales. I wonder if revenue from monthly fees is included in the numbers though.

edit: I suppose it's not, as it's based on sales figures.
WraithMaster
11-01-2007, 12:02 AM
Lineage is pretty popular here in the States as well.
poliobear
11-01-2007, 01:04 AM
What about Quake!?
WraithMaster
11-01-2007, 01:34 AM
Hasn't been around nearly long enough I suppose, poliobear. Most of the games on that list can be traced back to 8-bit gaming days.

EDIT: Nevermind, I now feel like a complete jackass cos Tomb Raider and James Bond games are on the list and both are well after Quake was made. Maybe it's lack of popularity or the fact that it was more a "cult" game when it came out.
RevJ42
11-01-2007, 06:50 AM
Unsuprising mostly... except perhaps James Bond, I thought GoldenEye was the only decent Bond Game?? I would have thought MK would be further up, it's had heaps of incarnations.
allfalldown
11-01-2007, 10:31 AM
I'd have thought Tomb Raider would be higher than that. Then again, they seem to have slowed down production in the last few years, and Angel of Darkness sucked.

And yes, Final Fantasy should have been higher than Pokemon. Though I have played Pokemon once or twice and I did quite like it.
eidderf
11-01-2007, 12:29 PM
I'd have thought Tomb Raider would be higher than that. Then again, they seem to have slowed down production in the last few years, and Angel of Darkness sucked.

And yes, Final Fantasy should have been higher than Pokemon. Though I have played Pokemon once or twice and I did quite like it.
Well it shouldn't be higher because it sold less, it's not like there is something to debate. Unless you know something that changes these results.
Aladdin Sane
11-01-2007, 12:52 PM
I knew Pokémon was/is a popular franchise, but the large gap between it and the next on the list (Final Fantasy) surprised me, I must admit.

I would have thought Half Life would have been on there too...
Turkey Sandwich
11-01-2007, 01:27 PM
There's nothing that surprises me that much in there, apart from the obvious missed games, like Quake and such - but of course there are reasons for those absences. Although I haven't even heard of a couple that are on there.
I'm pleased that some of my favourites made the list.
sushi.
11-01-2007, 01:33 PM
Every child with a Gameboy has some sort of Pokemon game. And some of the younger ones, that's really all they play. While it's not spectacularly popular with people of our age group, it's definitely winning in popularity with the kids.
Slurp
11-01-2007, 03:42 PM
I suppose Mario Kart counts as Mario then??
Splush
11-01-2007, 04:46 PM
I suppose Mario Kart counts as Mario then??
And assorted Mario sports games, I assume. And Mario Party 1 to 78.

A lot of people played Quake but I suspect it was also pirated quite a lot, there was no copy protection on the Quake CD and the series was popular among internet-savvy people who knew how to pirate games. In the "hardcore" Quakeworld community for ages and people were always making smaller and smaller .zips of the game including only the files needed to play multiplayer so that they could be shared quickly over IRC and such. I can proudly say I paid for Quake 1, 2 and 3 but I know a lot of people didn't. They probably didn't help themselves by giving away the first quarter of the game, it was probably enough to satisfy a lot of people who didn't want to play multiplayer. The console ports of Quake games probably did badly because consoles weren't really up for it; N64/PS1/Saturn controllers weren't good enough for Quake 1 and 2, and Quake 3 on the Dreamcast presumably suffered from being modem-only at a time when most PC players were moving to broadband.

I just like waffling about Quake, really.
Cerberus
11-01-2007, 04:59 PM
Bah, am I the only one who would have known Pokemon would be higher than FF? Not because I favour one or the other or anything.

Not sure why Crash is there, he hasn't had anything good outside PS1 titles.
Slurp
11-01-2007, 05:33 PM
Well Pokemonsd was bound to have done well, what with it selling over as many copies in its first week as NSMB did in its first three in Japan
Boyinabox
11-01-2007, 06:39 PM
Anyone else surprised at how high Donkey Kong is?
He doesn't deserve to be anywhere near the top twenty, let alone number 7!

And how could Star Wars not be on the top 20?
I've bought about *looks around* 15 that I can remember, I take it thats just me then. :\
eidderf
11-01-2007, 06:44 PM
Anyone else surprised at how high Donkey Kong is?
He doesn't deserve to be anywhere near the top twenty, let alone number 7!

And how could Star Wars not be on the top 20?
I've bought about *looks around* 15 that I can remember, I take it thats just me then. :\
This is not opinion though, it's sales, it's not like the website made up sales figures to favour Donkey Kong.
Bappel
11-01-2007, 06:45 PM
No Warcraft/Starcraft??
Ringodadog
11-01-2007, 07:17 PM
No Age of Empires/Mythology? That surprised me!
Jay
11-01-2007, 07:23 PM
To be fair, thats only 20...most of these "OMG where is [game here]!!1" ones are probably in the top 50 or so...

Wish they posted the top hundred though, its always better when its the top hundred.
Splush
11-01-2007, 07:28 PM
Anyone else surprised at how high Donkey Kong is?
He doesn't deserve to be anywhere near the top twenty, let alone number 7!

And how could Star Wars not be on the top 20?
I've bought about *looks around* 15 that I can remember, I take it thats just me then. :\
Donkey Kong surprised me too, and good point about Star Wars. You'd think Star Wars games would have done at least as well as Bond games.
Slurp
11-01-2007, 07:35 PM
Anyone else surprised at how high Donkey Kong is?
He doesn't deserve to be anywhere near the top twenty, let alone number 7!

And how could Star Wars not be on the top 20?
:\
Tru dat
the last sheika
11-01-2007, 11:38 PM
Unsuprising mostly... except perhaps James Bond, I thought GoldenEye was the only decent Bond Game??
Depends who you ask. IMO, Nightfire was one of the best FPS' of this generation.

There aren't really that many surprises in the list.. Apart from Donkey Kong.
the architect
12-01-2007, 02:05 PM
Well I realised it was popular...but as sports titles do, I always assumed Fifa was more popular.
in the states, not even close. most of my friends buy the new madden game every year and have been doing so since about Madden 98

In contrast, only my soccer buddies and I buy FIFA, but I haven't bought that, even, since 2005 because the 360 versions have been so weak
Splush
12-01-2007, 02:58 PM
Also FIFA has probably had a lot more competition (from ISS/PES) than Madden has.

It's all about the original Madden which came on that Megadrive "double header" cartridge with both Madden and NHL on it. The lack of ambient noise and atmosphere in that game combined with the fact that outside of the field everything is just black empty void makes it feel like you're playing american football against Death in a place beyond space and time to try and save your village, like in The Seventh Seal but it's not chess. Or Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, obviously.