We’ve arrived, guys – video games are finally popular! That doesn’t make us any cooler, of course, but it does make our beloved industry more imminently relevant with every passing year. In 2015, total revenues for the video game industry just in the U.S. topped out at around $23.5 billion. To put that in perspective, box-office revenue last year barely surpassed $11 billion. Of course we have our Call of Duty s and Grand Theft Auto s to thank in part, and those games did sell really well, but they don’t hold a candle to the best selling games of all time. These are the five games, sitting atop thrones of gold, that have shaped and continue to shape our prosperous industry.
Super Mario Bros.
Ah, Super Mario Bros. – the game that started it all. Between the original NES version and the upgraded port in Super Mario All-Stars , this genre-defining classic has sold over 55 million copies. Who knew that a game featuring a borderline genocidal plumber hell-bent on rescuing his boo-thang would be so popular with the kiddies? Seriously, besides the countless hundreds of koopas Mario disposes of over the course of his rescue mission, potentially thousands of mushroom people are sacrificed in the process as well. Do you not remember reading that in the instruction booklet? According to the official story, when Bowser invaded the Mushroom Kingdom he used black magic to turn its inhabitants into stones, plants, and yes – bricks. In the Japanese manual you can clearly see an innocent Mushroom fella being transformed into the same type of brick you spend the entire game busting and destroying. Who’s the real monster here?
Grand Theft Auto V
Back in May it was reported that Grand Theft Auto V had shipped over 65 million copies, which is staggering considering the game has only been out for a few years. It broke records left and right upon release, becoming the best-selling video game, highest grossing video game, and highest grossing entertainment product in 24 hours. Of the 65 million-plus copies sold so far, 11.2 million were sold in that first 24 hours. That’s insane. GTA V really does have it all, though: A solid story, addictive progression systems, memorable characters, and a huge, open world. Los Santos is the best sandbox in gaming at the moment, and with content updates coming regularly to GTA Online we have every reason to believe that this game can stay fresh and fun until Grand Theft Auto VI comes along and breaks even more sales records.
Wii Sports
You knew Wii Sports would be on this list. You knew it because you’ve played this game everywhere: in your house, at your friend’s house, on store kiosks, on the cruise ship, at your grandma’s retirement home… This game single-handedly ushered in Nintendo’s reign of supremacy and profitability, making the Wii the most widely-desired console that generation. For months you couldn’t find a Wii on store shelves, everyone wanted one, and Wii Sports was a huge part of that. Familiar objectives and simple motion controls appealed to casual and non-gamers in a huge way. Wii Sports is a game that anyone can pick up and enjoy immediately. That mass appeal is why it’s the best-selling console game of all-time, with over 83 million copies sold. I don’t think any console game will ever catch up to it – not even Grand Theft Auto .
Minecraft
Honestly, prior to making this list I thought for sure that Minecraft would be the best-selling game ever because it’s available on every platform imaginable: current-gen consoles, last-gen consoles, Windows, Mac, Linux, smartphones, tablets, Raspberry Pi, Amazon Fire TV, PlayStation Vita… the game is even playable in virtual reality if you have a Samsung Gear VR. Mojang reported back in June that Minecraft has sold more than 106 million copies. Considering an average of 53,000 copies are sold every single freaking day, according to this neat little infographic, I don’t think it’d be a stretch to assume that it’s broken the 107 million mark by now. I love how they point out that if all Minecraft players formed a nation, that it would be the twelfth most-populous in the world right behind Japan. I’d love to see Minecraft country, it’d be elaborate and cubic as hell. Maybe we can all move there if Donald Trump gets elected.
Tetris
We all remember playing Tetris on our NES and Game Boys back in the early ’90s, but by that time Tetris had already been around for over half a decade. Russian engineer Alexey Pajitnov created the game while working at the Soviet Academy of Sciences in Moscow. Originally Tetris was intended to help test the processing capabilities of computers, but it didn’t take long for Pajitnov’s co-workers to become hopelessly addicted to his new game. The name Tetris is a portmanteau comprised of the words “tetromino” and “tennis.” Tetrominos are those little four-block shapes you’ve been stacking since you were a kid, and tennis was Pajitnov’s favorite sport, so there you have it. Because Pajitnov lived and worked in the Soviet Union, the rights to Tetris belonged to the state. It wasn’t until 1996 that Pajitnov acquired the rights himself, and it’s a good thing he did because Tetris has sold unfathomably well. With almost 10 million copies sold for the NES, over 35 million copies sold on Game Boy, and a mind-blowing 425 million-plus paid downloads on mobile, it’s safe to say that Tetris is, and forever will be, the best selling video game of all time.