Video games have been around since the 1970s but their growth was turbo-charged during the pandemic, as millions of people had to huddle in place at home and find things to do.
More than 2.5 billion people play video games across the globe, according to Enterprise Apps Today. In the U.S., nearly 64% of adults are gamers, with 38% of them between the ages of 18 and 34.
Enterprise Apps Today predicts that the video game industry will be worth almost $300 billion globally by the end of 2025, with the largest share of that coming from the rise of mobile video games. And the biggest gaming company is Nintendo, with a net worth of more than $85 billion.
Nintendo was founded as a company making playing cards in Kyoto, Japan, in 1889. It evolved into various other businesses in the ensuing years, and launched its first gaming console, the Color TV-Game, in 1977. Nintendo of America was established in Redmond, Wash., in 1980, and the following year the company had its first hit with the release of Donkey Kong. (For those with more old-fashioned tastes, here are the 19 best board games to play online.)
To identify the most popular Nintendo games of all time, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the total units sold of more than 20,000 video game titles since their respective releases as provided by VGChartz. In cases where sales data was not available, units shipped were used as a proxy. Data on primary Nintendo consoles and release dates also came from VGChartz. In some cases, games published by Nintendo have been released for non-Nintendo consoles; those sales figures are not included here.
Click here to see the best-selling Nintendo games of all time
The dominant Nintendo games on our list are those with the Mario and Wii themes. Mario was first introduced to the public in 1985 when Super Mario Bros. debuted. Duck Hunt also debuted that year. (Super Mario features in our list of 45 movies based on video games, ranked from worst to best.)
The Wii system, a wireless game-playing system that involves players in simulated dance and sports action, was introduced in 2006. According to Nintendo, more that 100 million Wii systems have been sold since then.
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23. Super Mario Bros. 3
> Copies sold worldwide: 17.30 million on NES
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: Feb. 12, 1990
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22. Pokémon Diamond / Pearl Version
> Copies sold worldwide: 17.67 million on Nintendo DS
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: April 28, 2007
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21. Super Mario Land
> Copies sold worldwide: 18.1 million on Game Boy
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: Aug. 1, 1989
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20. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day
> Copies sold worldwide: 19.01 million on Nintendo DS
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: April 17, 2006
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19. Super Mario World
> Copies sold worldwide: 20.6 million on SNES
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: Aug. 13, 1991
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18. Wii Fit Plus
> Copies sold worldwide: 21.13 million on Wii
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: Oct. 4, 2009
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17. Wii Fit
> Copies sold worldwide: 22.67 million on Wii
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: May 21, 2008
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16. Pokémon Gold / Silver Version
> Copies sold worldwide: 23.10 million on Game Boy
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: Oct. 14, 2000
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15. Mario Kart DS
> Copies sold worldwide: 23.60 million on Nintendo DS
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: Nov. 14, 2005
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14. Nintendogs
> Copies sold worldwide: 23.96 million on Nintendo DS
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: Aug. 23, 2005
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13. Wii Play
> Copies sold worldwide: 28.02 million on Wii
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: Feb. 12, 2007
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12. Duck Hunt
> Copies sold worldwide: 28.30 million on NES
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: Oct. 15, 1985
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11. Tetris
> Copies sold worldwide: 30.26 million on Game Boy
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: July 31, 1989
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10. New Super Mario Bros. Wii
> Copies sold worldwide: 30.32 million on Wii
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: Nov. 15, 2009
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9. New Super Mario Bros.
> Copies sold worldwide: 30.80 million on Nintendo DS
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: May 15, 2006
Source: Courtesy of Nintendo
8. Pokémon Red / Green / Blue Version
> Copies sold worldwide: 31.37 million on Game Boy
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: Sept. 30, 1998
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7. Wii Sports Resort
> Copies sold worldwide: 33.14 million on Wii
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: July 26, 2009
Source: Courtesy of Amazon
6. Mario Kart Wii
> Copies sold worldwide: 37.38 million on Wii
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: April 27, 2008
Source: Courtesy of Amazon
5. Animal Crossing
> Copies sold worldwide: 40.17 million
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: Sept. 16, 2002
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4. Super Mario Bros.
> Copies sold worldwide: 40.24 million on NES
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: Oct. 18, 1985
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3. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
> Copies sold worldwide: 48.41 million
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: April 28, 2017
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2. Super Smash Bros.
> Copies sold worldwide: 69.46 million
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: April 26, 1999
1. Wii Sports
> Copies sold worldwide: 82.90 million on Wii
> Publisher: Nintendo
> Released in North America on: Nov. 19, 2006
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