Heavyweight Franchises Measured

Next Generation has a look at which of the gaming franchises are the weightiest by measuring game sales for current and next-gen systems. From the article: "A new graphic shows the top-sellers across all current major platforms, with Mario, Madden and GTA leading the pack. The list - based on NPD North America data - shows Mario at number one followed by Madden and then GTA. Star Wars is the top entertainment licence at number four followed by Tony Hawk."

Mario barely beats out Pokemon for GBA

[WillAffleckUW]

Even though Mario wins cross-platform, it's interesting that Pokemon gives him a run for his money when we go into the Gamecube/Gameboy sphere.

My guess would be it's all the people playing Mario GoKart on the xBox and PS2 that push Mario over the winner's line.

Re:Mario barely beats out Pokemon for GBA

[WinnipegDragon]

I would have thought GTA would be #1, but the lack of GTA on Nintendo platforms seems to be enough to keep Mario in 1st.

Re:Mario barely beats out Pokemon for GBA

[WillAffleckUW]

True, and even if they do come out with GTA: Eido or some Japanese version, or even GTA: Emerald City (since Seattle is hot in Japan), I doubt we'll be seeing a Gamecube or GBA version, so maybe that is why Mario has the lead.

On the other hand, we're looking at raw numbers, so it is slightly surprising to find out that Mario titles are the most popular.

I predict Sims will catch up soon

[WillAffleckUW]

They only just released Sims 2 on the xBox (have it), PS2, and Gamecube, and there are also new Sims2 releases for GBA, PSP, etc.

Took me a while to even find the Game cheats books for them.

My guess would be that a lot of people who bought Sims and Sims: The Urbz will be picking those up this year, so I wouldn't expect them to stay in the bottom tier of the pack.

Now, if we were talking PC, then the Sims 2: Nightlife, Sims 2: University, and Sims 2: Open For Business sidelines would probably push the whole ca

Anybody notice that the PC's not included?

[Pluvius]

I didn't notice until I saw that Halo was one solid band of color. I expect that at least GTA would beat Mario if not for that.

Rob

Madden...

[CaseM]

Does that list count Madden 20XX, Madden 2005, Madden 2006, etc. as being "Madden"?

Clarification on the bar graphs

[British]

The "Star Wars" entry on the list doesn't reflect sales of Star Wars franchise games, but actually the total of unique Star Wars games that are out there on the market. :)

I swear there's a new Star Wars-flavored game released every week.

GTA Advance

[The-Bavis]

I know it sold little, but there should be a little red bar in the GTA line shouldn't there? Maybe it's too small to show up.

Re:Be careful with your acronyms...

[Manmademan]

Zelda as a franchise is still a heavy hitter, but It hasn't had nearly as many big releases for current consoles as Mario (Mario Sunshine, Mario Party, Mario Tennis, Mario Strikers, Mario and Luigi, ad nauseum) Grand Theft Auto (GTAIII, Vice City, San Andreas), Madden (2000-2006) etc.

Other than 4 swords (which was just a blip on the radar, really) we've only had the wind waker this generation, since Twilight princess keeps getting pushed back.

A few things...

[Spaceman40]

First, this isn't Next Gen's research, it's some guy on the GAF. (I actually wrote about this [wordpress.com] the other day)

Second, it's only the latest generation - GameCube, XBox, PS2, etc. This excludes the NES/SNES/N64, Sega systems, etc. I'd like to see one that looks all the way back.