Skip to main content

Third parties dominate 2010 Wii sales

NPD shows Nintendo's stranglehold loosens.

Dark blue icons of video game controllers on a light blue background
Image credit: Eurogamer
Fred Dutton avatar
News by Fred Dutton Contributor
Updated on
11 comments

Third parties successfully challenged the notion that only first party games sell on Nintendo platforms last year, according to fresh US sales data.

Sales tracking outfit The NPD Group has released fresh figures for last year through Gamasutra, showing the top 10 best-selling games released in 2010 on each platform.

Other, older games might have sold more over the last 12 months - and on the Wii and DS, most certainly did - but these charts are confined to titles that launched during the calendar year.

The Wii top 10 was dominated by third parties, with Just Dance 2 coming out on top. First party efforts like Metroid: Other M, Kirby's Epic Yarn and Sin & Punishment 2 were nowhere to be seen.

  1. Just Dance 2 (Ubisoft)
  2. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo)
  3. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Nintendo)
  4. Epic Mickey (Disney Interactive)
  5. Michael Jackson: The Experience (Ubisoft)
  6. uDraw Studio (THQ)
  7. Wipeout: The Game (Activision)
  8. LEGO Harry Potter (Warner Bros.)
  9. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision)
  10. Wii Party (Nintendo)

It was business as usual over on the DS though, with half the games featuring published by the platform holder, including the top three titles. The twin Pokémon titles boasted combine sales of over three million copies, and were the only games to hit the million mark.

  1. Pokémon SoulSilver (Nintendo)
  2. Pokémon HeartGold (Nintendo)
  3. Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem (Nintendo)
  4. Super Scribblenauts (Warner Bros.)
  5. Toy Story 3 (Disney Interactive)
  6. LEGO Harry Potter (Warner Bros.)
  7. Zhu Zhu Pets (Activision)
  8. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (Nintendo)
  9. Sonic Colors (SEGA)
  10. Pokémon Ranger (Nintendo)

On the PlayStation 3 chart, the much-hyped Gran Turismo 5 was beaten to the top spot by, among others, Call of Duty: Black Ops, God of War III and Final Fantasy XIII.

  1. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision)
  2. Madden NFL 11 (EA)
  3. God of War III (Sony)
  4. Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar)
  5. Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix)
  6. NBA 2K11 (2K Games)
  7. Gran Turismo 5 (Sony)
  8. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft)
  9. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (EA)
  10. Medal of Honor (EA)

Call of Duty: Black Ops matched the achievement over on Xbox 360 too, in a chart crowded with shooters.

  1. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision)
  2. Halo Reach (Microsoft)
  3. Madden NFL 11 (EA)
  4. Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar)
  5. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft)
  6. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (EA)
  7. Fable III (Microsoft)
  8. NBA 2K11 (2K Sports)
  9. Fallout: New Vegas (Bethesda)
  10. Mass Effect 2 (EA)

Finally, the PSP countdown made for rather sorry reading. Only Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep moved more than 300,000 units, with everything else on the list not even managing to crawl above the 200,000 mark.

  1. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (Square Enix)
  2. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (Konami)
  3. Madden NFL 11 (EA)
  4. Toy Story 3 (Disney Interactive)
  5. MLB 10: The Show (2K Sports)
  6. NBA 2K11 (2K Sports)
  7. God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Sony)
  8. ModNation Racers (Sony)
  9. SOCOM: US Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3 (Sony)
  10. WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 (THQ)

Read this next