Wii Sports has managed to dethrone a record that has been held by a titan of video games that was originally released in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Super Mario Bros. has long stood as the best selling video game of all time with 40.23 million units sold. Wii Sports has now sold over 40.24 million units and counting.
Both games have benefitted by being bundled with their corresponding consoles. The NES was an immediate success when it was released in 1985 and Super Mario Bros. (the sequel to the 1983 arcade hit Mario Bros.) greatly contributed to its success. Likewise, the Nintendo Wii has been a huge success since its launch in 2006, unable to keep up with deman even two years after its release. Like Super Mario Bros., Wii Sports has greatly helped the success of the Wii.
Though Wii Sports is currently bundled in most consoles sold around the world, units in Japan and South Korea do not include the game. Despite this, the game continues to sell incredibly well in both countries. In Japan, Wii Sports is purchased with 45% of the Wii’s sold, proving the desirability of the game and the success of Wii Sports for the Wii.
With the success of the Nintendo Wii, Wii Sports should continue to increase its dominance as the best selling game of all time. A sequel to Wii Sports, titled Wii Sports Resort that includes swordfighting, dog frisbee and wave racing is do out this spring.
May 4th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Wii Sports sucks. The only reason it sells so much is because it comes with a controller and- I’m pretty sure- the Wii itself. This shouldn’t really count as any sort of record.