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, Sonic Unleashed, Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2, 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, De Blob, Meat Boy.
Legend
Hardware releases
Date Console August 22 LeapFrog Didj November 1 Nintendo DSi
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 units worldwide in 2008.
Rank Title Sales Publisher Platform(s) 1 Wii Sports 22,660,000 Nintendo Wii 2 Mario Kart Wii 13,670,000 Nintendo Wii 3 Wii Fit 12,960,000 Nintendo Wii 4 Wii Play 11,680,000 Nintendo Wii 5 Grand Theft Auto IV 10,000,000 Take-Two Interactive PS3, XB360 6 Super Smash Bros. Brawl 8,100,000 Nintendo Wii 7 Call of Duty: World at War 5,890,000 Activision Blizzard PS3, XB360, WIN 8 Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! 5,110,000 Nintendo DS
Canada Based on figures from the NPD Group: Video game console sales in Canada (first seven months of 2008)
PlaceConsoleUnits sold1Wii376,0002PS3200,0003XB360154,000
Japan Based on figures from Enterbrain: Video game console sales of 2008 in Japan (December 31, 2007 – December 28, 2008)
PlaceConsoleUnits sold1DS4,029,8042PSP3,543,1713Wii2,908,3424PS3991,3035PS2480,6646XB360317,8597Other9,575
Best-selling video games of 2008 in Japan (December 31, 2007 – December 28, 2008)
PlaceTitlePlatformPublisherUnits sold1Monster Hunter Portable 2nd GPSPCapcom2,452,1112Pokémon PlatinumDSPokémon Company2,187,3373Wii FitWiiNintendo2,149,1314Mario Kart WiiWiiNintendo2,003,3155Super Smash Bros. BrawlWiiNintendo1,747,1136Rhythm HeavenDSNintendo1,350,6717Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly BrideDSSquare Enix1,176,0828Animal Crossing: City FolkWiiNintendo895,3029Kirby Super Star UltraDSNintendo855,42710Wii SportsWiiNintendo841,736
Based on figures from Dengeki: Best-selling video games of 2008 in Japan (December 31, 2007 – December 21, 2008)
PlaceTitlePlatformPublisherUnits sold1Monster Hunter Portable 2nd GPSPCapcom2,507,4002Pokémon PlatinumDSPokémon Company2,125,3483Wii FitWiiNintendo2,024,1134Mario Kart WiiWiiNintendo1,973,0895Super Smash Bros. BrawlWiiNintendo1,808,7096Rhythm HeavenDSNintendo1,320,0477Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly BrideDSSquare Enix1,228,0148Kirby Super Star UltraDSNintendo724,6089Animal Crossing: City FolkWiiNintendo709,64010Wii SportsWiiNintendo694,765
United States Based on figures from the NPD Group:
+ Video game console sales in the US (first six months of 2008)PlaceConsoleUnits sold1Wii3.5 million2PS31.6 million3XB3601.34 million
+ Best-selling video games of 2008 in the USPlaceTitlePlatformPublisherUnits sold1Wii PlayWiiNintendo5.28 million2Mario Kart WiiWiiNintendo5.00 million3Wii FitWiiNintendo4.53 million4Super Smash Bros. BrawlWiiNintendo4.17 million5Grand Theft Auto IVXB360Rockstar Games3.29 million6Call of Duty: World at WarXB360Activision2.75 million7Gears of War 2XB360Microsoft2.31 million8Grand Theft Auto IVPS3Rockstar Games1.89 million9Madden NFL 09XB360Electronic Arts1.87 million10Mario Kart DSDSNintendo1.65 million
Based on figures from the NPD Group via IGN; the games' publishers are listed in brackets:
+ Best-selling video games of 2008 in the US (by platform)PlaceDSPCPS3PSPWiiXB3601Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games(Sega)Spore(Electronic Arts)Grand Theft Auto IV(Rockstar Games)Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII(Square Enix)Super Smash Bros. Brawl(Nintendo)Grand Theft Auto IV(Rockstar Games)2Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time andExplorers of Darkness(Nintendo)Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures(Funcom)Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots(Konami)God of War: Chains of Olympus(Sony Computer Entertainment)Mario Kart Wii(Nintendo)Madden NFL 09(Electronic Arts)3Guitar Hero: On Tour(Activision)Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning(Electronic Arts)Madden NFL 09(Electronic Arts)MLB 08: The Show(Sony Computer Entertainment)Wii Fit(Nintendo)Fable II(Microsoft)4Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures(LucasArts)The Sims 2: FreeTime(Electronic Arts)Gran Turismo 5 Prologue(Sony Computer Entertainment)Iron Man(Sega)Rock Band(MTV Games)Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2(Ubisoft)5Kirby Super Star Ultra(Nintendo)Spore Creature Creator(Electronic Arts)MLB 08: The Show(Sony Computer Entertainment)Patapon(Sony Computer Entertainment)Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures(LucasArts)Army of Two(Electronic Arts)6Professor Layton and the Curious Village(Nintendo)Sins of a Solar Empire(Stardock)Star Wars: The Force Unleashed(LucasArts)Madden NFL 09(Electronic Arts)Mario Super Sluggers(Nintendo)Star Wars: The Force Unleashed(LucasArts)7Kung Fu Panda(Activision)The Sims 2: Apartment Life(Electronic Arts)NCAA Football 09(Electronic Arts)Lego Indiana Jones(LucasArts)Star Wars: The Force Unleashed(LucasArts)Battlefield: Bad Company(Electronic Arts)8Advance Wars: Days of Ruin(Nintendo)The Sims 2: Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff(Electronic Arts)Army of Two(Electronic Arts)Major League Baseball 2K8(2K Games)Deca Sports(Hudson Soft)NCAA Football 09(Electronic Arts)9Crosswords DS(Nintendo)Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm(THQ)Soulcalibur IV(Namco Bandai)Star Wars: The Force Unleashed(LucasArts)Endless Ocean(Nintendo)Rock Band 2(MTV Games)10Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift(Square Enix)The Sims Castaway Stories(Electronic Arts)Devil May Cry 4(Capcom)Need for Speed: ProStreet(Electronic Arts)UnknownNinja Gaiden II(Microsoft)
Based on figures from the NPD Group:
Note: This list only includes games that were released after NPD started tracking video game sales data.
+ Best-selling console games of all time in the US (as of May 1, 2008)PlaceTitleUnits sold1Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas9.40 million2Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock8.20 million3Madden NFL 077.70 million4Grand Theft Auto: Vice City7.30 million5Madden NFL 066.70 million6Halo 26.61 million7Madden NFL 086.60 million8Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare6.25 million9Grand Theft Auto III6.20 million10Madden NFL 20056.10 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) PlaceTitleUnits sold in JapanUnits sold in the UKUnits sold in the USTotal units sold1Grand Theft Auto IV –1,582,0004,711,0006,293,0002Super Smash Bros. Brawl1,681,000213,0003,539,0005,433,0003Mario Kart Wii1,601,000687,0002,409,0004,697,0004Wii Fit1,547,000624,0001,433,0003,604,000526,000412,0003,037,0003,475,000
Best-selling video games in Japan, United Kingdom, and the United States combined (July–September 2008) PlaceTitleUnits sold in JapanUnits sold in the UKUnits sold in the USTotal units sold1Madden NFL 091,00035,0002,958,0002,994,0002Wii Fit346,000460,0001,283,0002,089,0003 –321,0001,417,0001,738,0004Pokémon Platinum1,482,000 – –1,482,0005Mario Kart Wii218,000394,000856,0001,468,000
Critically acclaimed titles Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews. + 2008 games and expansions scoring at least 88/100 (MC) or 87.5% (GR) Game Publisher Release Date Platform MC score GR score Grand Theft Auto IV Rockstar Games April 29, 2008 PS3 98/100 97.04% Grand Theft Auto IV Rockstar Games April 29, 2008 XB360 98/100 96.67% LittleBigPlanet Sony Computer Entertainment October 27, 2008 PS3 95/100 94.75% World of Goo 2D Boy October 13, 2008 Wii 94/100 94.04% BioShock 2K Games October 17, 2008 PS3 94/100 93.66% Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Konami June 12, 2008 PS3 94/100 93.53% Gears of War 2 Microsoft Game Studios November 7, 2008 XB360 93/100 93.32% Fallout 3 Bethesda Softworks October 28, 2008 XB360 93/100 92.85% Super Smash Bros. Brawl Nintendo January 31, 2008 Wii 93/100 92.84% Braid Number None August 6, 2008 XB360 93/100 92.15% Flipnote Studio Nintendo December 24, 2008 DS 93/100 91% World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Blizzard Entertainment November 13, 2008 WIN 91/100 92.68% Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor Stardock April 30, 2008 WIN 92/100 92.33% Persona 4 Atlus July 10, 2008 PS2 90/100 92.28% World of Goo 2D Boy October 13, 2008 WIN 90/100 92.27% Rock Band 2 MTV Games September 14, 2008 XB360 92/100 92.25% Chrono Trigger Square Enix November 20, 2008 DS 92/100 91.98% Rock Band 2 MTV Games September 14, 2008 Wii 92/100 91.33% Rock Band 2 MTV Games September 14, 2008 PS3 91/100 91.5% God of War: Chains of Olympus Sony Computer Entertainment March 4, 2008 PSP 91/100 91.44% Fallout 3 Bethesda Softworks October 28, 2008 WIN 91/100 90.85% Fallout 3 Bethesda Softworks October 28, 2008 PS3 90/100 90.52% Ōkami Capcom April 15, 2008 Wii 90/100 90.02% Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 Microsoft Game Studios July 30, 2008 XB360 90/100 89.77% Portal: Still Alive Valve October 22, 2008 XB360 90/100 88.55% Grand Theft Auto IV Rockstar Games December 2, 2008 WIN 90/100 88.48% Mass Effect Electronic Arts May 28, 2008 WIN 89/100 89.7% Left 4 Dead Valve November 18, 2008 XB360 89/100 89.44% Left 4 Dead Valve November 18, 2008 WIN 89/100 89.43% Dead Space Electronic Arts October 13, 2008 XB360 89/100 89.07% Dead Space Electronic Arts October 13, 2008 PS3 88/100 89.05% Rez HD Microsoft Game Studios January 30, 2008 XB360 89/100 88.62% Fable II Microsoft Game Studios October 21, 2008 XB360 89/100 88.5% Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Capcom November 26, 2008 XB360 88/100 88.79% NHL 09 EA Sports September 9, 2008 XB360 88/100 88.78% Burnout Paradise Electronic Arts January 22, 2008 XB360 88/100 88.36% FIFA Soccer 09 EA Sports October 13, 2008 XB360 87/100 88.21% Bionic Commando Rearmed Capcom August 13, 2008 XB360 85/100 88.07% NHL 09 EA Sports September 9, 2008 PS3 88/100 87.97% Burnout Paradise Electronic Arts January 22, 2008 PS3 87/100 87.89% Race Driver: Grid Codemasters May 30, 2008 WIN 87/100 87.87% Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Capcom November 25, 2008 PS3 87/100 87.82% Bionic Commando Rearmed Capcom August 13, 2008 PS3 87/100 87.67% Wipeout HD Sony Computer Entertainment September 25, 2008 PS3 87/100 87.52% Sins of a Solar Empire Stardock February 4, 2008 WIN 87/100 87.52%
Major awards