Here is the definitive list of best video games of 2008 on all the main console platforms – PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. This post has a look at the current top hardware, best selling games, a look back over the year at the best rated games and what 2009 has to offer gamers.
The top 3 games of the year that I have played on the most from any of the platform would probably be Mario Kart Wii (haven’t put it down, cracking games to play with friends and extended online content), Wipeout HD (PlayStation 3 store only video game. It’s cheap, incredible cheerful and a real adrenalin rush racing game with online play) and Professor Layout and the Curious Village (a fantastic casual puzzle game for the Nintendo DS with downloadable content I still haven’t completed).
Hardware Sales
In terms of the manufacturers the sales have been fairly consistent with a few price reductions from the likes of Sony and Microsoft recently helping out. Here are some sales figure for the year up to the end of November 08.
By Platform
- Wii – 19.8 million
- PS3 – 8.7 million
- Xbox 360 – 8.4 million
- PSP – 10.5 million
- DS – 25.4 million
To date, 38,243,291 Wiis, Xbox 360s, and PS3s have been sold in the Americas. Of these machines, 45.6% are Wiis, 36.9% are Xbox 360s, and 17.5% are PS3s.
Sony are beginning to claw back a few more fans that have left to join the Xbox camp – albeit the development process for PS3 games still seems to be a messy one with these games still costing more time and money to develop than for the Xbox. They also still haven’t delivered on a few things, like PlayStation home, and are no doubt hoping Call of Duty: World at War and Little Big Planet be their saviour this Christmas?
Nintendo have been pushing the accessories and keeping things simple which seems to be paying off – I’m still not convinced whether Wii Music will be as successful as it’s main rival Guitar Hero.
Xbox 360 haven’t really done a lot wrong there has been quantity and within that some real quality – Left 4 Dead being a recent one which I am loving.
Top current selling video games
These are the top selling games as of the end of November 2008. Only one games has come in the top 10 of all the below platforms (Guitar Hero: World Tour – 6th on Wii, 7th on Xbox and 8th on PS3).
Nintendo Wii
- Wii Fit
- Wii Play
- Mario Kart Wii
Microsoft Xbox 360
- Call of Duty: World at War
- Gears of War 2
- Left 4 Dead
Sony PlayStation 3
- Call of Duty: World at War
- Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
- Little Big Planet
Top video games sales to date
- Wii’s biggest selling game is 2nd of all time so far – Wii Sports (34.98 million to date / number 1 is Super Mario Bros on the NES with 40.24 million).
- Xbox 360’s biggest selling game so far is Halo 3 (8.51 million)
- PS3 biggest selling games is Grand Theft Auto 4 (4.98 million)
Best video games 2008
So here is the list of the top games not by sales but by pure playability. I have also included PC games and Apple iPod games too – as there have been a couple of casual games, amongst the large quantity of mainly poor games, on Apple’s App store which I have enjoyed this year.
Nintendo Wii
- Mario Kart Wii (8.5 / Buy)
- Super Smash Brothers (9.5 / Buy)
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 All-Play (8.0 / Buy)
- No More Heroes (9.0 / Buy)
- Wii Fit (7.0 / Buy)
Sony PlayStation 3
- Little Big Planet (9.0 / Buy)
- Wipeout HD (7.5 / Playstation Store)
- Grand Theft Auto IV (10 / Buy)
- Metal Gear Solid 4 (10 / Buy)
- Dead Space (9.0 / Buy)
Microsoft Xbox 360
- Gears of War 2 (9.0 / Buy)
- Call of Duty: World at War (8.5 / Buy)
- Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution (9.0 / Buy)
- Left 4 Dead (8.5 / Buy)
- Fallout 3 (9.0 / Buy)
Nintendo DS
- Professor Layton and the Curious Village (9.0 / Buy)
- Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword (8.5 / Buy)
- Dragonball: Origins (8.0 / Buy)
- Space Invaders Extreme (7.5 / Buy)
- GRID (8.5 / Buy)
Sony PSP
- God of War: Chains of Olympus (8.5 / Buy)
- Wipeout Pulse (8.0 / Buy)
- Flatout: Head On (7.5 / Buy)
- Patapon (9.0 / Buy)
- Echochrome (7.5 / Buy)
PC
- Spore (8.0 / Buy)
- Mass Effect (9.0 / Buy)
- Crysis Warhead (9.0 / Buy)
- Far Cry 2 (8.5 / Buy)
- Sins of a Solar Empire (9.0 / Buy)
Apple iPod
- Spore Creatures (8.0)
- Missile Command (8.0)
- Dactyl (9.0)
- Monkey Ball (7.5)
- Tap Tap (7.5)
Top 10 video games coming in 2009
49 games sold over 50,000 units in the last week of November in the Americas that really isn’t bad for a country in recession. We have a number of games to look forward to and with these stable and healthy sales we should see a good run of games in 2009 too. Here are some of the announced games I am looking forward to:
- Resident Evil 5
- Gran Turismo 5
- Heavy Rain
- Streetfighter IV
- F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin
- Prototype
- Tekken 6
- Bioshock 2: Sea of dreams
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Uncharted 2: Amoung thieves
This is a great list, thx. The Wii Fit and Call of Duty are big success stories, and in this down economy, month over month sales increase of 10% is nothing to sneeze at either. Top video games market isn’t necessarily recession proof but it is a good value for the dollar the more hours you put in!
Steven
Top Video Games
solving each puzzle, players will move closer to discovering the whereabouts of an affluent baron’s prized treasure. In addition to touch-screen controls, The Curious Village on DS supports download-able content via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection – which I haven’t explored yet but this is a great addition.