Hardware releases
| Month | Day | Console |
|---|---|---|
| August | 22 | LeapFrog Didj [31] |
| November | 1 | Nintendo DSi |
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2008 saw many new installments in established video game franchises, such as Grand Theft Auto IV , Fallout 3 , Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots , Gears of War 2 , Super Smash Bros. Brawl , Persona 4 , Fable II , Call of Duty: World at War , Mario Kart Wii , Madden NFL 09 , NBA Live 09 , NBA 2K9 , and WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 . New intellectual properties included Army of Two , Dead Space , Left 4 Dead , LittleBigPlanet , Mirror's Edge , iRacing, Race Driver: Grid, and Spore.
| 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. |
| 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] | |
| 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. |
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 | [a] |
| 2 | Mario Kart Wii | 13,670,000 | Nintendo | Wii | [7] |
| 3 | Wii Fit | 12,960,000 | Nintendo | Wii | [b] |
| 4 | Wii Play | 11,680,000 | Nintendo | Wii | [c] |
| 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 | [d] |
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 |
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 |
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 |
| Place | Console | Units sold |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wii | 3.5 million |
| 2 | PlayStation 3 | 1.6 million |
| 3 | Xbox 360 | 1.34 million |
| 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 |
^ 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]
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 |
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 |
| Month | Day | Console |
|---|---|---|
| August | 22 | LeapFrog Didj [31] |
| November | 1 | Nintendo DSi |
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Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews.
| Title | Date | Director | Distributor(s) | Franchise | Original game publisher | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persona: Trinity Soul | January 5, 2008 | Atsushi Matsumoto | Aniplex | Persona | Atlus | [38] |
| Giratina & the Sky Warrior | July 19, 2008 | Kunihiko Yuyama | Toho | Pokémon | Game Freak | [39] |
| Far Cry | October 2, 2008 | Uwe Boll | 20th Century Studios | Far Cry | Ubisoft | [40] |
| Resident Evil: Degeneration | October 17, 2008 | Makoto Kamiya | Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan | Resident Evil | Capcom | [41] |
| Max Payne | John Moore | 20th Century Studios | Max Payne | Rockstar Games | [42] |
The year 2002 in video games saw the release of many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Madden NFL 2003, NBA Live 2003, NBA 2K3, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth, Final Fantasy XI, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Jet Set Radio Future, Metroid Prime, Onimusha 2, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Pro Evolution Soccer 2, Resident Evil and Zero, Super Mario Sunshine,The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, along with new titles and franchises such as Battlefield, Dungeon Siege, Kingdom Hearts, Mafia, Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper, SOCOM, and Splinter Cell. The year's best-selling video game was Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for the PlayStation 2, while the year's most critically acclaimed titles were Metroid Prime and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for the GameCube.
2004 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Madden NFL 2005, NBA Live 2005, ESPN NBA 2K5, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw, Doom 3, Dragon Quest VIII, Gran Turismo 4, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Half-Life 2, Halo 2, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Myst IV: Revelation, Ninja Gaiden, Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen/Emerald, Everybody's Golf 4, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, and World of Warcraft. New intellectual properties included Fable, Far Cry, FlatOut, Killzone, Katamari Damacy, Monster Hunter, N, Red Dead Revolver, SingStar, and Sacred. The Nintendo DS was also launched that year.
2005 saw the release of many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, Resident Evil 4, Black & White 2, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Mario Kart DS, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Myst V: End of Ages, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, alongside prominent new releases including Brain Age, F.E.A.R., Forza Motorsport, Dinosaur King, God of War, Guild Wars, Guitar Hero, Nintendogs, Onechanbara, Shadow of the Colossus, Madden NFL 06, NBA Live 06, NBA 2K6, WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw 2006, and Sniper Elite. The seventh generation of video game consoles also began with the launch of the Xbox 360, while the Nintendo DS launched in PAL regions.
1999 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Heroes of Might and Magic III, System Shock 2, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Final Fantasy VIII, Age of Empires II, Crash Team Racing, Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, Grand Theft Auto 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Chrono Cross, Unreal Tournament, Pokémon Gold and Silver, and Donkey Kong 64, along with new titles such as Super Smash Bros., Silent Hill, Syphon Filter, Driver, EverQuest, Homeworld, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and Planescape: Torment.
1997 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Final Fantasy VII, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, GoldenEye 007, Star Fox 64, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Quake II, Mega Man Legends, Riven, Tomb Raider II, Dark Rift, Tekken 3 and Virtua Striker 2, along with new titles such as Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, Gran Turismo, Diablo, Grand Theft Auto and Fallout.
1995 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Dragon Quest VI, Mega Man 7, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, and Tekken 2, along with new titles such as Mario's Picross, Battle Arena Toshinden, Chrono Trigger, Rayman, Twisted Metal, Star Wars: Dark Forces, Destruction Derby, Wipeout and Jumping Flash!
2006 saw the release of many sequels and prequels in video games, prominently including Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Madden NFL 07, NBA Live 07, NBA 2K7, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007, Tony Hawk's Project 8, New Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, alongside many prominent new releases including Bully, Company of Heroes, Dead Rising, Gears of War, Just Cause, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Ōkami, Prey, Resistance: Fall of Man, Saints Row, and Thrillville. Two new home consoles were released during the year: Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3.
2007 saw many new installments in established video game franchises, such as Madden NFL 08, NBA Live 08, NBA 2K8, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008, Super Mario Galaxy, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Halo 3, God of War II, Team Fortress 2, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, and Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. New intellectual properties included Assassin's Creed, BioShock, Crackdown, Crysis, Mass Effect, Portal, Rock Band, Skate, The Darkness, The Witcher, and Uncharted.
WarioWare: Smooth Moves is a party video game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo on the Wii. It was released in Japan in December 2006, and in Europe, North America, and Australia in January 2007. It is the fifth game in the WarioWare series of games, and the only game in the series to be physically released for the Wii. Like its predecessors, WarioWare: Smooth Moves is built around a collection of microgames that last about five seconds each, and which require that the player hold the Wii Remote in specific positions. The game offers the microgames to the player in rapid succession, by first instructing the player to hold the Wii Remote in a specific manner, and then showing them the microgame. The microgames are divided into several stages, each of which loosely connects the microgames with the help of a story. Additionally, this was the first spin-off Mario game to be released for the console.
Wii Music is a music video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The game was released in Japan and North America in October 2008, and in Europe and Australia in the following month. Wii Music is part of both Nintendo's Touch! Generations brand and the Wii series.
Wii Play is a party video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii console. It was released as a launch game for the console in Japan, Europe, and Australia in December 2006, and was released in North America in February 2007. The game features nine minigames, including a Duck Hunt-esque shooting range, a fishing game, and a billiards game, each of which are designed to showcase the features of the Wii Remote controller.
The seventh generation of home video game consoles began on November 22, 2005, with the release of Microsoft's Xbox 360 home console. This was followed by the release of Sony's PlayStation 3 on November 17, 2006, and Nintendo's Wii on November 19, 2006. Each new console introduced new technologies. The Xbox 360 offered games rendered natively at high-definition video (HD) resolutions, the PlayStation 3 offered HD movie playback via a built-in 3D Blu-ray Disc player, and the Wii focused on integrating controllers with movement sensors as well as joysticks. Some Wii controllers could be moved about to control in-game actions, which enabled players to simulate real-world actions through movement during gameplay. By this generation, video game consoles had become an important part of the global IT infrastructure; it is estimated that video game consoles represented 25% of the world's general-purpose computational power in 2007.
Mario Kart Wii is a 2008 kart racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It is the sixth installment in the Mario Kart series, and was released in April 2008. Like its previous installments, Mario Kart Wii incorporates playable characters from the Mario series, who participate in races on 32 different race tracks using specialized items to hinder opponents or gain advantages. The game features multiple single-player and multiplayer game modes including two- to four-person split screen. Online multiplayer was supported until the discontinuation of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in May 2014. Mario Kart Wii uses the Wii Remote's motion-controls to provide intuitive and conventional steering controls. Each copy of the game was bundled with the Wii Wheel accessory to augment this feature and mimic a steering wheel.
Wii Fit is a 2007 exergaming video game designed by Nintendo's Hiroshi Matsunaga for the Wii home video game console, featuring a variety of yoga, strength training, aerobics, and balance mini-games for use with the Wii Balance Board peripheral. Matsunaga described the game as a "way to help get families exercising together". It has since been adopted by various health clubs around the world, and has previously been used for physiotherapy rehabilitation in children and in nursing homes to improve posture in the elderly.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a 2008 crossover fighting game developed by Sora Ltd. and Game Arts and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The third installment in the Super Smash Bros. series, it was announced at a pre-E3 2005 press conference by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. Masahiro Sakurai, director of the previous two games in the series, assumed the role of director at Iwata's request. Game development began in October 2005 with a creative team that included members from several Nintendo and third-party development teams. After delays due to development problems, the game was released worldwide in 2008.
The year 2009 saw many sequels and prequels in video games. New intellectual properties include Batman: Arkham Asylum, Bayonetta, Borderlands, Demon's Souls, Dragon Age: Origins, Infamous, Just Dance, Minecraft, Madden NFL 10, NBA Live 10, NBA 2K10, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 and Prototype.
The Nintendo DSi is a dual-screen handheld game console released by Nintendo. The console launched in Japan on November 1, 2008, and worldwide beginning in April 2009. It is the third iteration of the Nintendo DS, and its primary market rival was Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP). The fourth iteration, entitled Nintendo DSi XL, is a larger model that launched in Japan on November 21, 2009, and worldwide beginning in March 2010. Development of the DSi began in late 2006, and the handheld was unveiled during an October 2008 Nintendo conference in Tokyo. Consumer demand convinced Nintendo to produce a slimmer handheld with larger screens than the DS Lite. Consequently, Nintendo removed the Game Boy Advance (GBA) cartridge slot to improve portability without sacrificing durability.
The following is a sales history for the Nintendo DS family.
The Wii U is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4.
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