Global Top Software Sellers of 2008: Nintendo Wins

Combined global video game software sales see 11% growth in 2008: here's the top five sellers.

According to findings by the NPD Group, Gfk Chart Track and Enterbrain, combined software sales for the U.S., UK and Japan (so the numbers aren't really global) the games market experienced 11 % growth in 2008, with 409.9 million units sold, compared to 2007's 367.7 million.

Both the US and UK software markets experienced massive growth, with increases of 22% and 38% respectively.

Although Japan's market declined, Enterbrain reports that this wasn't due to lower than expected current generation sales (all three were up in 2008), but the shrinking of the PlayStation 2 software market (down by 46%) and slight DS shrinkage.

Enterbrain's Ricky Tanimoto commented:

"Looking ahead to 2009, a string of star titles are lined up to hit the market, including DS's Dragon Quest IX: Hoshizora no Mamoribito.

"There are also big console titles scheduled for release in 2009, such as Monster Hunter 3 and Final Fantasy XIII -- leading us to anticipate the console software market will fuel sales of this year's gaming market."

Dorian Bloch of GfK Chart-Track said:

"There are some incredible statistics within the Top Global Markets Report that highlight the differences between the three major markets in the world."

"In fact, UK console videogame software units are more than double what was achieved in 2003, which just shows how fast the UK market has been growing.

"Because of this amazing growth and coupled with the downtown currently being experienced in Japan, the UK market has for the first time overtaken Japan as the No2 world market. Although still behind on revenue, the gap has narrowed considerably and it will be interesting to see how things develop during 2009."

So what where the top sellers in the US, UK and Japan combined? No surprises here:

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2008 TOP 5 VIDEO GAME TITLES

Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) - 8.94m

Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 8.31m

Grand Theft Auto IV (Take 2 Interactive) - 7.29m

Super Smash Bros: Brawl (Nintendo) - 6.32m

Call Of Duty: World At War (Activision Blizzard) - 5.89m