2008 in video games
2008 saw many sequels and prequels in video games. New intellectual properties (IPs) include Army of Two, Dead Space, iRacing, Left 4 Dead, LittleBigPlanet, Mirror's Edge, Race Driver: Grid, Grand Theft Auto IV, Madden NFL 09, NBA Live 09, NBA 2K9, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 and Spore.
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Events
| Month | Date(s) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| June | 28 | Blizzard Entertainment announces Diablo III in Paris, France. |
| July | 29 | Game developers Joseph and Melissa Batten die in a murder-suicide. |
| November | 13 | Zeebo was announced. The console is aiming for developing countries. |
Business
| Month | Date(s) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| July | 15–17 | E3 2008 in Los Angeles, California, United States.[1][2] |
| July 31 – August 3 | QuakeCon 2008 at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas, United States. | |
| October | 2–4 | Nintendo conference held in San Francisco, United States and Tokyo, Japan. |
| December | 1 | National Amusements' Sumner Redstone sells his controlling stake in Midway Games to private investor Mark Thomas, for $100,000 ($0.0012 a share), and assumes $70 million of senior secured and unsecured debt.[3] |
| 9 | Infogrames, Atari's parent company, purchases Cryptic Studios.[4] | |
Open to the public
| Month | Date(s) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| August | 21–24 | Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany. |
| October | 3–5 | E for All at the Los Angeles Convention center in California, United States. |
| 9–12 | Tokyo Game Show at the Makuhari Messe International Convention in Mihama-ku, Chiba, Japan.[5] | |
| Games Convention Asia in Singapore. | ||
| 10–11 | BlizzCon 2008 in Anaheim, California, United States. |
Hardware and software sales
Worldwide
The following are the best-selling games of 2008 in terms of worldwide retail sales. These games sold at least 5 million units worldwide in 2008.
| Rank | Title | Sales | Publisher | Platform(s) | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wii Sports | 22,660,000 | Nintendo | Wii | [lower-alpha 1] |
| 2 | Mario Kart Wii | 13,670,000 | Nintendo | Wii | [7] |
| 3 | Wii Fit | 12,960,000 | Nintendo | Wii | [lower-alpha 2] |
| 4 | Wii Play | 11,680,000 | Nintendo | Wii | [lower-alpha 3] |
| 5 | Grand Theft Auto IV | 10,000,000 | Take-Two Interactive | PS3 / X360 | [8] |
| 6 | Super Smash Bros. Brawl | 8,100,000 | Nintendo | Wii | [7] |
| 7 | Call of Duty: World at War | 5,890,000 | Activision Blizzard | PS3 / X360 / PC | [9] |
| 8 | Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! | 5,110,000 | Nintendo | Nintendo DS | [lower-alpha 4] |
Canada
- Based on figures from the NPD Group:
Video game console sales in Canada (first seven months of 2008)[10]
| Place | Console | Units sold |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wii | 376,000 |
| 2 | PlayStation 3 | 200,000 |
| 3 | Xbox 360 | 154,000 |
Japan
- Based on figures from Enterbrain:
Video game console sales of 2008 in Japan (December 31, 2007 – December 28, 2008)[11][12][13]
| Place | Console | Units sold |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nintendo DS | 4,029,804 |
| 2 | PlayStation Portable | 3,543,171 |
| 3 | Wii | 2,908,342 |
| 4 | PlayStation 3 | 991,303 |
| 5 | PlayStation 2 | 480,664 |
| 6 | Xbox 360 | 317,859 |
| 7 | Other | 9,575 |
Best-selling video games of 2008 in Japan (December 31, 2007 – December 28, 2008)[11][12][13]
| Place | Title | Platform | Publisher | Units sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G | PSP | Capcom | 2,452,111 |
| 2 | Pokémon Platinum | NDS | Pokémon Company | 2,187,337 |
| 3 | Wii Fit | Wii | Nintendo | 2,149,131 |
| 4 | Mario Kart Wii | Wii | Nintendo | 2,003,315 |
| 5 | Super Smash Bros. Brawl | Wii | Nintendo | 1,747,113 |
| 6 | Rhythm Heaven | NDS | Nintendo | 1,350,671 |
| 7 | Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride | NDS | Square Enix | 1,176,082 |
| 8 | Animal Crossing: City Folk | Wii | Nintendo | 895,302 |
| 9 | Kirby Super Star Ultra | NDS | Nintendo | 855,427 |
| 10 | Wii Sports | Wii | Nintendo | 841,736 |
- Based on figures from Dengeki:
Best-selling video games of 2008 in Japan (December 31, 2007 – December 21, 2008)[14][15][16]
| Place | Title | Platform | Publisher | Units sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G | PSP | Capcom | 2,507,400 |
| 2 | Pokémon Platinum | NDS | Pokémon Company | 2,125,348 |
| 3 | Wii Fit | Wii | Nintendo | 2,024,113 |
| 4 | Mario Kart Wii | Wii | Nintendo | 1,973,089 |
| 5 | Super Smash Bros. Brawl | Wii | Nintendo | 1,808,709 |
| 6 | Rhythm Heaven | NDS | Nintendo | 1,320,047 |
| 7 | Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride | NDS | Square Enix | 1,228,014 |
| 8 | Kirby Super Star Ultra | NDS | Nintendo | 724,608 |
| 9 | Animal Crossing: City Folk | Wii | Nintendo | 709,640 |
| 10 | Wii Sports | Wii | Nintendo | 694,765 |
United States
- Based on figures from the NPD Group:
Video game console sales in the US (first six months of 2008)[17]
| Place | Console | Units sold |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wii | 3.5 million |
| 2 | PlayStation 3 | 1.6 million |
| 3 | Xbox 360 | 1.34 million |
Best-selling video games of 2008 in the US[18][19]
| Place | Title | Platform | Publisher | Units sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wii Play | Wii | Nintendo | 5.28 million |
| 2 | Mario Kart Wii | Wii | Nintendo | 5.00 million |
| 3 | Wii Fit | Wii | Nintendo | 4.53 million |
| 4 | Super Smash Bros. Brawl | Wii | Nintendo | 4.17 million |
| 5 | Grand Theft Auto IV | X360 | Rockstar Games | 3.29 million |
| 6 | Call of Duty: World at War | X360 | Activision | 2.75 million |
| 7 | Gears of War 2 | X360 | Microsoft | 2.31 million |
| 8 | Grand Theft Auto IV | PS3 | Rockstar Games | 1.89 million |
| 9 | Madden NFL 09 | X360 | Electronic Arts | 1.87 million |
| 10 | Mario Kart DS | NDS | Nintendo | 1.65 million |
Best-selling video games of 2008 in the US (by platform)[a]
^ a: In the IGN articles used as sources, IGN lists the titles as the "Top 10 Sellers in 2008"; however, the IGN articles were published on December 9–12, 2008, so the articles might not take into account November and December sales figures, as the NPD Group did not release November's console game sales figures until December 11, 2008.[27]
- Based on figures from the NPD Group:
Best-selling console games of all time in the US (as of May 1, 2008)[28]
Note: This list only includes games that were released after NPD started tracking video game sales data.
| Place | Title | Units sold |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas | 9.40 million |
| 2 | Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock | 8.20 million |
| 3 | Madden NFL 07 | 7.70 million |
| 4 | Grand Theft Auto: Vice City | 7.30 million |
| 5 | Madden NFL 06 | 6.70 million |
| 6 | Halo 2 | 6.61 million |
| 7 | Madden NFL 08 | 6.60 million |
| 8 | Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare | 6.25 million |
| 9 | Grand Theft Auto III | 6.20 million |
| 10 | Madden NFL 2005 | 6.10 million |
Other
- Based on figures from Enterbrain, GfK Chart-Track, and the NPD Group, respectively:
Best-selling video games in Japan, United Kingdom, and the United States combined (January–July 2008)[29]
| Place | Title | Units sold in Japan | Units sold in the UK | Units sold in the US | Total units sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Theft Auto IV | – | 1,582,000 | 4,711,000 | 6,293,000 |
| 2 | Super Smash Bros. Brawl | 1,681,000 | 213,000 | 3,539,000 | 5,433,000 |
| 3 | Mario Kart Wii | 1,601,000 | 687,000 | 2,409,000 | 4,697,000 |
| 4 | Wii Fit | 1,547,000 | 624,000 | 1,433,000 | 3,604,000 |
| 5 | Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock | 26,000 | 412,000 | 3,037,000 | 3,475,000 |
Best-selling video games in Japan, United Kingdom, and the United States combined (July–September 2008)[30]
| Place | Title | Units sold in Japan | Units sold in the UK | Units sold in the US | Total units sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madden NFL 09 | 1,000 | 35,000 | 2,958,000 | 2,994,000 |
| 2 | Wii Fit | 346,000 | 460,000 | 1,283,000 | 2,089,000 |
| 3 | Star Wars: The Force Unleashed | – | 321,000 | 1,417,000 | 1,738,000 |
| 4 | Pokémon Platinum | 1,482,000 | – | – | 1,482,000 |
| 5 | Mario Kart Wii | 218,000 | 394,000 | 856,000 | 1,468,000 |
Game releases
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Critically acclaimed titles
Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews.
See also
Notes
- Wii Sports sales in 2008:
- Wii Fit sales in 2008:
- Wii Play sales in 2008:
- Brain Age sales in 2008:
References
- "Attendance and Stats". IGN. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
- Sinclar, Brendan (August 1, 2016). "That time the industry almost killed E3". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- Sakthi Prasad, John Stonestreet (December 1, 2008). "Redstone sells Midway Games to ease debt: report". Reuters. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
- James Brightman (December 9, 2008). "Atari to Acquire Cryptic Studios". GameDaily. Archived from the original on December 12, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
- Le TGS 2008 en octobre
- "IR Library - Earnings Release: FY 2007 (ended March 2008)". Nintendo Co., Ltd. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
- "Financial Results Briefing for the Nine–Month Period Ended December 2008: Supplementary Information" (PDF). Nintendo. January 30, 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
- "Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Reports Record Third Quarter Fiscal 2008 Financial Results". Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. September 4, 2008. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
- "2008 Video Game Software Sales Across Top Global Markets Experience Double-Digit Growth". NPD Group. February 2, 2009. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
- Neil Davidson (August 26, 2008). "Nintendo Wii surpasses mark of one million consoles sold in Canada". The Canadian Press. Yahoo!. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved September 8, 2008.
- "Japanese 2008 Market Report". MCV. January 9, 2009. Archived from the original on August 17, 2011. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
- 2008年国内ゲーム市場規模は約5826億1000万円（エンターブレイン調べ）. Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. January 5, 2009. Archived from the original on January 30, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
- Brian Ashcraft (January 5, 2009). "Last Year, Japanese Game Market Experienced Shrinkage". Kotaku. Archived from the original on January 22, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
- "【3分ランキング号外】2008年ベストヒットゲーム発表！ 1位は『MHP 2nd G』!!" (in Japanese). Dengeki. December 26, 2008. Archived from the original on December 30, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
- Eric Caoili (December 31, 2008). "Monster Hunter, Nintendo Top Japan's 2008 Bestselling Software". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on January 22, 2009. Retrieved January 22, 2009.
- Michael McWhertor (December 30, 2008). "Japan's Best Selling Games Of 2008 Are..." Kotaku. Archived from the original on December 31, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
- Matt Matthews (July 21, 2008). "June NPD In-Depth". Edge. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2008.
- Brendan Sinclair (January 15, 2009). "NPD: 2008 game sales reach $21 billion, Wii Play sells 5.28M". GameSpot. Archived from the original on January 16, 2009. Retrieved January 17, 2009.
- James Brightman (January 15, 2009). "NPD: Nintendo Drives '08 Industry Sales Past $21 Billion". GameDaily. Archived from the original on March 31, 2009. Retrieved January 17, 2009.
- IGN Xbox 360 Team (December 12, 2008). "Xbox 360 2008 Year in Review". IGN. p. 2. Archived from the original on December 31, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
- IGN Xbox 360 Team (December 12, 2008). "Xbox 360 2008 Year in Review". IGN. p. 1. Archived from the original on January 1, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
- IGN Nintendo Team (December 9, 2008). "Nintendo DS Year in Review 2008". IGN. Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
- IGN PC Team (December 11, 2008). "PC Year in Review 2008". IGN. Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
- IGN PlayStation Team (December 10, 2008). "PlayStation (3) 2008 Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on December 31, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
- IGN PlayStation Team (December 10, 2008). "PlayStation (Portable) 2008 Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on January 13, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
- IGN Nintendo Team (December 11, 2008). "Nintendo Wii Year in Review 2008". IGN. Archived from the original on January 2, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
- Tom Magrino (December 11, 2008). "NPD: Wii sales top 2M during $2.9B month". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
- Tom Magrino (June 5, 2008). "NPD: San Andreas caps US best-seller list". GameSpot. Archived from the original on January 26, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
- "Leading Market Research Firms Join Forces to Provide First Multi-Continent View Of Video Game Software Sales" (Press release). NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track, Enterbrain. August 21, 2008. Archived from the original on September 19, 2018. Retrieved September 25, 2008.
- "Third Quarter 2008 Sales Results From Top Global Video Games Software Markets Released" (Press release). NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track, Enterbrain. November 10, 2008. Archived from the original on December 20, 2008. Retrieved November 14, 2008.
- "Legacy of Ys: Books I & II Release Information for DS - GameFAQs". Archived from the original on April 16, 2014. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
- "Best Video Games for 2008". Metacritic. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
- "Highest-Ranking Games of 2008 (with at least 5 reviews)". GameRankings. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
- "Best Video Games for 2009". Metacritic. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
- "Highest-Ranking Games of 2009 (with at least 5 reviews)". GameRankings. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
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