2008 in video games
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.
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Events
| 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. |
Business
| 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] | |
Open to the public
| 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. |
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 5 million units worldwide in 2008.
| Rank | Title | Sales | Publisher | Platform(s) | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wii Sports | 22,660,000 | Nintendo | Wii | [lower-alpha 1] |
| 2 | Mario Kart Wii | 13,670,000 | Nintendo | Wii | [7] |
| 3 | Wii Fit | 12,960,000 | Nintendo | Wii | [lower-alpha 2] |
| 4 | Wii Play | 11,680,000 | Nintendo | Wii | [lower-alpha 3] |
| 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 | [lower-alpha 4] |
Canada
- Based on figures from the NPD Group:
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 |
Japan
- Based on figures from Enterbrain:
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 |
- Based on figures from Dengeki:
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 |
United States
- Based on figures from the NPD Group:
| 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]
- Based on figures from the NPD Group:
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 |
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)[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 |
Hardware releases
Nintendo DSi
| Month | Day | Console |
|---|---|---|
| August | 22 | LeapFrog Didj[31] |
| November | 1 | Nintendo DSi |
Game releases
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Critically acclaimed titles
Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews.
Video game-based film and television releases
| Title | Date | Director | Distributor(s) | Franchise | Original game publisher | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persona: Trinity Soul | January 5, 2008 | Atsushi Matsumoto | Aniplex | Persona | Atlus | [37] |
| Giratina & the Sky Warrior | July 19, 2008 | Kunihiko Yuyama | Toho | Pokémon | Game Freak | [38] |
| Far Cry | October 2, 2008 | Uwe Boll | 20th Century Studios | Far Cry | Ubisoft | [39] |
| Resident Evil: Degeneration | October 17, 2008 | Makoto Kamiya | Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan | Resident Evil | Capcom | [40] |
| Max Payne | John Moore | 20th Century Studios | Max Payne | Rockstar Games | [41] |
See also
- 2008 in esports
- 2008 in games
Notes
- Wii Sports sales in 2008:
- Wii Fit sales in 2008:
- Wii Play sales in 2008:
- Brain Age sales in 2008:
References
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- James Brightman (December 9, 2008). "Atari to Acquire Cryptic Studios". GameDaily. Archived from the original on December 12, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
- Le TGS 2008 en octobre
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- "Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Reports Record Third Quarter Fiscal 2008 Financial Results". Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. September 4, 2008. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
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- "Highest-Ranking Games of 2008 (with at least 5 reviews)". GameRankings. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
- "Best Video Games for 2009". Metacritic. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
- "Highest-Ranking Games of 2009 (with at least 5 reviews)". GameRankings. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
- "The Original Sequel to Persona 3 is Better Than I Was Led to Believe". Kotaku. June 20, 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
- "Pokémon: Giratina and the Sky Warrior". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
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