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The best-selling video game of each year since 1993

⁨167⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨2tone@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨retrogaming@lemmy.world⁩

https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/best-selling-video-games-of-last-30-years

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  • CaptainFlintlockFinn@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I had no idea call of duty was such a big deal. It’s not my jam so I never notice it.

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    • Izzy@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I was thinking the same thing. I’ve never played a single one or even seen gameplay footage of them. Who is playing these games? I assumed they were just generic shooters.

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      • TesterJ@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Sure, but they’re the generic shooter. And it had a big resurgence during COVID with everyone and their mothers playing Warzone. I hadn’t touched CoD since MW3 in like 2012 and I put so many hours into the 2019 Modern Warfare game with Warzone.

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      • DrQuint@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        By virtue of them selling the best, they ARE generic shooters. It’s just that the definition moves with them.

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      • cmbabul@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        I mean they are, but they also kinda defined what a generic shooter is today, I haven’t picked one up in ages because I hate multiplayer these days, had a lot of fun playing them up until Black Ops. Kinda got stale for me after that

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    • 2tone@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Someone should make Call of Pokemon

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    • soyagi@yiffit.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      This is why Sony was making such a big deal about Call of Duty during the discussions about Microsoft acquiring Activision (owners of the Call of Duty franchise). Sony wanted reassurance that the Call of Duty games would still come out on the PlayStation consoles, and not be exclusive to Microsoft’s platforms (Xbox and Windows). When you see that Call of Duty has been the best selling game nearly every year recently, you can understand Sony’s plea.

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  • kratoz29@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    TLDR: Call of Duty.

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    • drcouzelis@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      And Pokémon, holy crap. The same games were the best sellers multiple years in a row??

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    • Corgana@startrek.website ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Call of Duty… Call of Duty… Call of Duty… Animal Crossing

      Did something happen in 2020?

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      • kratoz29@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Pandemic.

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  • Roundcat@kbin.cafe ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Very interesting how despite being the distant runner-up (and the 3rd place console in Japan) N64 games were consistant best sellers from 1996 to 1999. Either taking first, or several of the runner-up spots. Then in the 2000s, You don't see a single place from 2002 until 2006. I think this shows the real tragedy of the Gamecube. At least with the N64, games still sold numbers, but with the gamecube, Nintendo was struggling with consoles and software. Surprised not even any Gameboy Advance games made the list.

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    • PlasticExistence@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I think an important aspect of Nintendo losing their best sellers during the early 2000s was the expensive choice to keep using cartridges on the N64. Then they failed with the 64DD to fix the problem of insufficient storage space available on the cartridges for the games other developers wanted to make.

      The prime example is Square moving the Final Fantasy series to PlayStation starting with FF7. They could not have achieved the scale and 3D animations of FF7 on the N64. They needed the cheap and abundant storage space of CDs to make FF7.

      If I was a single-console gamer who was more satisfied with the games available on PlayStation than on N64, then for the next generation I likely would choose a PS2 over whenever the N64’s successor would be (as Nintendo has typically released last within a console generation while Sony usually releases early). And then at that point, I’m not buying Nintendo games at all, so I’m not contributing to their sales numbers. Xbox also rose during those years too.

      Nintendo dug their own grave with respect to being the market leader in large part because they did not value their third party partners as much as they should have, and by the time the N64 was out, they had chased away a lot of important game developers. Those developers being absent for the GameCube generation hurt them. They somewhat repaired things during the Wii era, but I don’t think their relationships with 3rd party developers and publishers were close to the same until the Switch.

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      • fidodo@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        The actual game part of ff7 could have easily run on the N64, it was just the fmvs and music that were too big.

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      • TheMauveAvenger@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Lots of good points. Xbox is a big factor in this. Also, this was around the time many millennials were starting to buy consoles on their own and Nintendo was seen as somewhat childish. The more mature games were coming out on the other consoles at the same time that the first generation that grew up with pervasive gaming were becoming adults.

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  • Pregnenolone@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Mario Kart mechanics peaked in MK64

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    • reddig33@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      No way. The Wii version was wild, using gestures for actions like jumping.

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    • yyyesss@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      disagree, Double Dash defined dynamic driving.

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    • Pleonasm@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      And kart mechanics peaked in Crash Team Racing…

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    • cccc@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      DS I reckon. It was just MK64 but slightly more refined.

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  • AtomicPurple@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I'm surprised that Gran Turismo was number one is 2005. I remember Star Wars Battlefront II being the hot new game everyone was playing at the time, and Star Wars being huge in general due to Episode III releasing that year. Just the fact that a PS2 exclusive driving sim, beat out a multi-platform Star Wars game that was one of the most hyped releases at the time is insane to me.

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  • Gallardo994@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    So pretty much history of COD with some other games alongside

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    • ThirdWorldOrder@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      It’s funny because the best COD wasn’t even #1 when it came out

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  • tgcp@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Was Minecraft never a top 5 best selling game in any year?

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    • JFowler369@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Really speaks to Minecraft’s staying power that even without ever being in the top five for a single year it is the best selling game of all time. Cumulative COD clearly wins out but I would guess the majority of each game’s sales are repeat customers.

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    • secret301@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Honestly I expected it to be at one ☝️ nt but guess not

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  • outdated_belated@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Wow, the most recent GTA game is still ten years old?

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    • superkret@feddit.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      cries in Elder Scrolls

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  • reddig33@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Would be interesting to take this list all the way back to Pong in the 1970s.

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  • Call_Me_Maple@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    As expected, Pokémon and then CoD primarily. Gamers just wanna catch cool monsters and kill dudes. Kinda messed up tbh but like, whatever.

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  • bob@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    This just made me miss the 90’s.

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  • ftothe3@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I read that tears of the kingdom is the best selling game of 2023 so far. I wonder where the author got their numbers from.

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    • Stoney_Logica1@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Yeah, no way Harry Potter is selling more copies than TotK.

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  • Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Call of Duty: The list

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  • Iron_Lynx@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Pretty sure if they updated this year’s entry today that it’d be taken over by Baldur’s Gate.

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    • cam_i_am@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Nah no way. I’m as big a BG fanboy as anyone but it’s a decidedly niche genre. The vast majority of people are not interested in CRPGs.

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  • MeatsOfRage@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Shout out to Elden Ring. It’s the only non-sequel, non-ip based game to chart since Destiny and Watch Dogs in 2014.

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    • Stoney_Logica1@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Seems wrong to not consider it a sequel to the Dark Souls games though. I know it’s not, but it’s more than a spiritual successor IMO.

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      • optissima@possumpat.io ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        I mean you could say that about DS too. It’s just demon souls spiritual successor. Which is a spiritual successor of Kingsgate.

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  • tallwookie@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    eh, consoles maybe. Starcraft wasnt in that last though.

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    • Ashtear@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      PC gaming was a much smaller market in the 90’s compared to today. 1998 was also an insane year for gaming. Starcraft wasn’t even in the top 10 for the year.

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  • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    COD, COD, COD, COD, Animal Crossing, COD, COD COD, COD

    Lol.

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  • PhantomPhanatic@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Everyone here talking about CoD and all I want to know is how Star Fox on SNES beat out GoldenEye in 1997.

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    • RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      More people had a SNES and could afford Star Fox compared to buying a Nintendo64 console which was only one year old + GoldenEye.

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  • FinalBoy1975@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I distinctly remember everyone playing Ocarina of Time in 1998. I didn’t know anyone that was playing Pokemon Red/Blue.

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    • AnonTwo@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      You have a really small circle then. Pokemon literally was making the news with how much it was dominating media at the time of it's western release in 1998.

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      • FinalBoy1975@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        It’s probably something to do with age. In 1998 I was 22. I was probably too old for Pokemon. I remember my nephews played the card game throughout the 90s. I didn’t play Ocarina or Pokemon, but I knew tons of people into Ocarina, like my nephews. Memory is also unreliable and yes, it’s listed as number 2, which surprised me, my poor or selective memory would have placed it number 1.

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  • PaulDevonUK@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    It’s a shame that it doesn’t go back far enough to include DooM.

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  • drcouzelis@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    1995: Mortal Kombat 3

    Console: Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, PC, Game Boy, Game Gear

    I have Mortal Kombat 3 for Game Boy! Fun fact, it’s the only original Game Boy game officially released rated M for Mature.

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    • 2tone@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Hahaha. Can’t imagine playing that on the Game Boy!

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  • LegoManIAm94@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I would not expect games on hand held consoles to reach best selling game of the year. I am shocked how Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare made the top spot in 2016. I remember that game getting booed before it was released.

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