Guitar Hero III tops list of this generation's best selling games

The top ten highest-grossing retail titles of "this generation" have been ranked, a list dominated by Call of Duty and rhythm games.

Alice O'Connor

March 25, 2011 6:15 AM

Guitar Hero III is the best selling video game of the "current generation," according to market research firm NPD Group's retail-only data. The top-ten games are revealed over on CNBC.

The list is ranked by non-inflation-adjusted gross retail sales, so peripheral-based games such as Guitar Hero and Wii Fit will have an edge. NDP's data reaches back to 1995, not including games bundled with systems or digital sales.

The popularity of music games has not been without cost, though. The market quickly became over-saturated, profits fell, and Guitar Hero owner Activision ultimately shut down its music games business unit.

While the Call of Duty franchise is also riding high in this list, it's difficult not to look at the fate of Guitar Hero and feel concerned. Activision has a number of developers working on multiple Call of Duty titles, and has even created a studio named Beachhead to create a "digital platform" for the shooter series.

Alice O'Connor

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March 25, 2011 6:15 AM

Comment on Guitar Hero III tops list of best selling games of "this generation", by Alice O'Connor.
- .Jayson
  
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  March 25, 2011 6:43 AM
  
  No surprise there. It was a pretty good game and was really well advertised.
  - Deathlove
    
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    March 25, 2011 1:38 PM
    
    It was not a good game.
- MorrisatCNN
  
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  March 25, 2011 6:47 AM
  
  I don't trust the guy who wrote that story... :)
  - Haxim
    
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    March 25, 2011 1:12 PM
    
    Is he the same guy that wrote that DNF delay article on Gamasutra that links back to the chatty?
- Rice-Rocketeer
  
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  March 25, 2011 8:22 AM
  
  Man, fuck Activision for oversaturating the market. Fuck them right in the ass.
- rtrson
  
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  March 25, 2011 8:25 AM
  
  Makes sense. This was Guitar Hero at its best. It started going downhill after that. The music they selected started getting too diverse. There was something there for everyone, but only loving to play 10 or 15 songs out of 50+ wasnt very fun. And they've also gotten a little too instrument happy and turned the scale of difficulty way up (at least on guitar) to the point where the game lost its fun.
  - Deathlove
    
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    March 25, 2011 1:38 PM
    
    what, no. GH2 was the best. GH3 was shit.
    - rtrson
      
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      March 25, 2011 1:51 PM
      
      Yeah, those cover songs were waaaay better than the real thing. What was I thinking?
      - Deathlove
        
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        March 25, 2011 1:58 PM
        
        I'd rather play good charts of covers than shit charts of originals.
        
        rtrson
        
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        March 25, 2011 2:07 PM
        
        its like you're from an alternate reality where everything shitty is awesome and vice versa
        
        Deathlove
        
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        March 25, 2011 2:08 PM
        
        Before I Forget. Charting distortion. Boss battles. GH3 was terrible. TERRIBLE.
        
        mikecyb
        
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        March 25, 2011 2:10 PM
        
        I have to agree with Deceasedfondness here, GH3 was a load of shit. I had so much fun with GH2 but I only beat GH3 and never played it again.
        
        mikecyb
        
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        March 25, 2011 2:10 PM
        
        I should say I went back and five-starred everything in GH2 after I beat it
        
        rtrson
        
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        March 25, 2011 2:17 PM
        
        the campaign modes in pretty much all the GH games are a joke. so thats what you're gonna hang your hat on...boss battles? lol. its all about just playing music in quick play. the game was not terrible. And even if you feel that way, its still better than GH2. I'll refer you back to my previous post.
        
        Deathlove
        
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        March 26, 2011 8:11 AM
        
        I genuinely don't know what to say if you prefer Neversoft's GH3 charts to Harmonix' RB1 or GH2 ones. I know, different strokes and all, and Neversoft got their shit together after...four more games...but my God, those GH3 charts were TERRIBLE.
        
        You play for the gameplay. GH2 and RB1 had that in spades over GH3. If I cared about the exactness of what I was listening to, I'd go to YouTube.
      - Masem
        
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        March 25, 2011 2:21 PM
        
        Just remember, even if they were covers, it was HMX authoring the note charts in GH2. Which is why compared to Neversoft's charts in GH3, GH2 is infinitely more challenging but fun challenging than frustrating challenging.
- Dark Drakonis
  
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  March 25, 2011 12:27 PM
  
  these mean nothing when they use the bundled games in this.... the stand alone copy of Guitar Hero never seels as much as one with a guitar....
  
  Its like comparing this years BMW to last years model but with full options and saying last years sold more
- Mr. Monday
  
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  March 25, 2011 1:05 PM
  
  wow never knew it sold that well
- mikecyb
  
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  March 25, 2011 1:20 PM
  
  oh but that's because of the GH3 bundle which was at least $100 if I recall. Black Ops has sold more copies.
  - mikecyb
    
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    March 25, 2011 1:21 PM
    
    same reason Wii Fit is on there. they aren't adjusting for the fact that it's much more expensive than a standard $50 or $60 game.
  - Xevo
    
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    March 25, 2011 1:34 PM
    
    I wonder if they scale the profits with the price drops too. I got a 360 GH3 + guitar bundle for $35 last year.
- djustifier
  
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  March 25, 2011 1:29 PM
  
  I believe a lot of the sales were due to how good GH II was. For me, there were only a handful of songs on GH III that I liked. I enjoyed most of the songs on 2, however.
  - Masem
    
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    March 25, 2011 1:33 PM
    
    GHIII sales weighted heavily with the Wii, which was released about the same time. Up until then, you needed the PS2 or the 360 to play the series. Because of the boom of the Wii, IIRC, nearly half of GH3 sales were Wii-based.
  - Mecha Tofu Pirate
    
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    March 25, 2011 2:15 PM
    
    Yeah, I stopped playing the Guitar Hero series after 3.
- DaM0nkey
  
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  March 25, 2011 1:49 PM
  
  Should the title not be Guitar Hero III is highest grossing game of this generation?
- Code RedBeard
  
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  March 25, 2011 2:25 PM
  
  I wish I could return that game. It was brutally hard, never handed out achievements, and had only a few songs I enjoyed.