Guitar Hero III is probably the most impressive since it was a pretty damn expensive game if you got the bundle.  But it was out on so many consoles.  Wii Fit is number five being on only one console.  Though Modern Warfare 2, while released on two consoles, was NOT released on the market leading console.  Wii Play's sales though are deceptive since it's more like a game that comes with the purchase of a controller.

In fact Nintendo's whole "people aren't buying games" schtick sounds pretty silly when most of the games in this list are from this generation and cover all three consoles, not just the Wii.  It would appear that in the USA (ie: the market that MATTERS) more people are buying videogames than ever, both non-games and core games.

Call of Duty's popularity continues to astound me as it comes across as very bland and uninspiring.  But then bland flies with the mainstream and this whole list panders to the mainstream in a pretty blatant way.

I would be interested in a list covering the lowest sales for games receiving 80% or higher on Gamerankings to get an idea of what the least successful critically-acclaimed games are.

The only Call of Duty game i've played was the Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty 2, but I like it. When Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare becomes budget priced (it's been out for over 2 years but its MSRP has only dropped to $50) I will get it.

But it seems we're all buying the same games while the majority of releases get ignored!

Compare your NES or SNES library with those of your close friends.  Sure, there are quite a few games that you all own--the Marios, the Mega Mans, etc--but a good chunk of what you own is likely to be completely different from your friends.  Now compare your library from today's consoles with those of your friends.  I'm willing to bet there's a lot more consistency throughout and a lot less unique titles between you.

You can get the GOTY edition for $37 from Amazon.  You can buy it used from the Amazon Marketplace for under $22.

Too bad the GOTY edition is the same as the regular edition. The only difference was that the GOTY used to include a code to download 4 multiplayer maps (which thy don't even include anymore, so the GOTY editions are the same thing).

Doesn't change the fact that it's $22.

That's kind of a weird sample though since you're comparing when I was a kid to today as an adult.  As a kid myself and my friends were at the mercy of our parents.  You got a game for your birthday or Christmas.  So you probably would ask for something you REALLY wanted, your absolute favourite title that you didn't already own.  Or hell you probably occasionally got stuff you didn't ask for.  This would create a major difference between your games and your friends.  Hell you and your friend might specifically try to avoid duplicates so as to have variety between the two of you. 

As an adult you don't have to prioritize.  You can buy games on a pretty regular basis so you're more likely to buy a big release just to see what all the fuss is about.  You've got money so if you're not super thrilled with it, it's not that big of a deal.  You didn't waste one of your one or two games a year for it.  I personally only own a lot of SNES games because I bought them used as an adult.  As I kid I had four games.  My best friend had three.  Super Mario World was the only overlap.  As an adult I easily buy at least that many games in one year, as do my friends.  So the odds of overlap increase.  On the Gamecube I had pretty much every game I was interested in and that covered the most well known releases.  So probably most Cube owners had the same titles.

Online play is also a factor.  Your friends and you each want a copy to play each other online.  You can't just borrow games like with single player titles.  The internet also makes a difference as that allows reviews and opinions to be immediately at one's disposal.  No one has to make a guess based on box art anymore.  It's easier for someone to know that a certain game is really good and worth buying.

This list covers the lifespan of the Playstation and N64, a time where things appeared to be going pretty good and yet none of those titles, that in theory have had at least ten years to accumulate sales, made the list (aside from Namco Museum which is an obvious oddity).  There is realistically only ONE game on this list from a previous generation and this list covers THREE generations.  And there is no bias that would favour current games.  This isn't a popularity poll where the respondents only remember the last six months.  This is just factual sales figures and the games of today killed the games of yesterday.  Modern Warfare 2 has only been out for a few months and it's beating 15 year old games!

Don't take me literally when I say you.  Compare your NES collection with your 10 year old cousin's Wii collection.  Compare the SNES collection of someone who was 30 years old in 1991 to his PS3 collection now (he'd have the cash to buy whatever he wanted during both console cycles).

Both the video games industry and the way we collection information has changed dramatically in the past 20 years.  The "middle class" of video games is shrinking; the gap between AAA titles and everything else is growing.  The Internet didn't exist as we know it today in the early 90s.  GameStop and Best Buy were in their infancy; games were purchased at Sears and the like.  Employees at these stores weren't as educated as they are today (laugh all you want, but if a clueless parent wanders into a Best Buy looking for a game for his kid chances are the employee will point him to a select few titles).  Also--and I think this is an important point (not to mention I'm sounding like an old fart here)--but kids today aren't the same as when we were kids.  If you wanted Mega Man II but your parents got you Little Nemo chances are you'd shut up and play it.  Brats today would force their parents to return the game and exchange it for what they wanted.

PS3? 30 years old in 1991? I think you've been called out, Lindy. Answer the man's question.

This list is incomplete.  Several NES and SNES games would enter the list if it went back further than 1995, particularly Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt, as well as Super Mario World and SMB3.  This doesn't show a very clear picture of the history of games sales if it leaves out its more formative years.

Wii Sports should be number 1 because its sold just about as many units as the Wii Console itself.

They are not claiming it does, they are just saying these are the best selling games since they started tracking sales.

If you count bundled games, the best selling game of all time is Wii Sports last count was 50.54 million at the end of September). If you don't count bundled games, it's still Wii Play (24.43 million at the end of September). Nintendo accounts for the 8 best selling games of all time (sorta, Pokemon Red/Blue/Green are combined as are the 5 versions of Nintendogs).

So what game held the record until 1995? Pokemon Red or something?

NPD didn't start tracking until 1995, so there was no official list. Based on known confirmed numbers (i.e. not just guessing like VG Chartz does), the best selling in 1995 was probably Super Mario Bros. 3 as this is the top 10 all time in worldwide sales:

1.    Wii Play (Wii – 24.43 million)
2.    Wii Fit (Wii – 22.5 million)
3.    Nintendogs (DS – 22.27 million, all five versions combined)
4.    Pokémon Red, Blue, and Green (Game Boy – 20.08 million approximately)
5.    New Super Mario Bros. (DS – 19.94 million)
6.    Mario Kart Wii (Wii – 18.36 million)
7.    Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES – 18 million)
8.    Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (DS – 17.41 million)
9.    Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2 - 17.33 million)
10.    Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (DS – 16.81 million)

The first Pokemon games came out in Japan in February 1996 but didn't get released elsewhere until September 1998 when it came out in North America.

Nintendo should bring Nintendogs over to the Wii. It isn't something I would buy, but it would be a guaranteed seller of millions and would give them even more cash to throw onto the heap.

This is US-only sales though.