Nintendo has a long history in comparison to the other game studios. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as a company that produced playing cards. It achieved international success by publishing the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985.
The company acts as both publisher and developer and its first game was EVR Race published in 1975. In the subsequent years, the studio developed and published several highly influential and successful games that eventually turned into a multimedia franchise, such as Donkey Kong, The Legend of the Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokémon. Nintendo is one of the most valuable video game companies with millions of sold copies of its games and below is a list of ten highest-selling.
10 Tetris - 35 Milion
The first version of the game was developed in 1984 by Russian software engineer Alexey Pajitnow. In its beginning, Tetris had problems with licensing and publishing rights. But in 1989, a version for Nintendo Entertainment System was developed and published by Nintendo, and later it was made also available on Game Boy, which made the console extremely successful, particularly because of the game's simplicity and its puzzle mechanics, which already looked as designed primarily for handheld consoles.
The game became a commercial and critical hit upon release, with 35 million copies sold worldwide, and is well known for its addictive gameplay.
9 Pokemon Ruby / Sapphire / Emerald - 36.6 Million
Pokémon games always sold well, but at the beginning of 2000 interests in Pokémon were waining and as a result, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and an enhanced version, Pokémon Emerald, sold less than the previous entries. But still numbering millions in sales while simultaneously becoming the best selling game for Game Boy Advance.
In Japan, the first two versions of the games were highly anticipated and sold 1.25 million in the first four days, while in North America sales crossed two million after a month of its release. The three versions of the games have a combined sales of 36.6 million.
8 Mario Kart Wii - 37.24 Million
Before its release, the Mario Kart series was already an established sub-franchise, which you could say, led to an additional boost of sales, especially on the Nintendo 64. Sales were impressive, with 37.24 million copies the Mario Kart Wii is the second best selling game for Nintendo Wii.
The game started the launch in Japan with 300,000 copies sold in the first 24 hours, with sales reaching a million in the first week. The sales were strong elsewhere with over 5 million sold copies in the United States in the first year of its release, and interestingly in France during the same time with 4.8 million copies which is more than in Japan were the game sold 3.7 million.
7 Super Mario Bros. 2 - 38.39 Million
Published in 1988 Super Mario Bros. 2 is an oldtimer on this list. After the success of the first, it took Nintendo three years for a sequel. When it landed on market it put Mario, and his companions again in the highly addictive sidescrolling adventure on a quest to defeat the main antagonist, this time Wart.
Super Mario Bros. 2 sold over seven million copies for Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was eventually remade and re-released, under different names such as Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario Advance for numerous consoles, and lifetime sales reached 38.39 million copies.
6 Super Mario Bros. 3 - 39.52 Million
A sequel to the previous game, Super Mario Bros. 3 managed to outsell its predecessor, though slightly, with lifetime sales of 39.52 million. The brothers returned once again with a playable Luigi. The game sold more than 250,000 copies in the first days of its release, a high number at that time.
The game itself is the highest-grossing non-bundled videogame with more than 1.7 billion dollars in revenue when adjusting for inflation. It was later remade and ported to other Nintendo consoles, most recently as an emulation for Nintendo Wii U and 3DS, and previously for Game Boy Advance with the title - Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3.
5 Pokemon Gold / Silver / Crystal - 42.21 Million
The three versions of Pokémon including Gold, Silver, and Crystal followed the success of the previous entries in the series, both commercially and critically. The Gold and Silver versions sold more than ten million copies in the first year of its release, with the Silver version being a little bit more popular. The two versions are the best-selling games for Game Boy Color.
An enhanced version, Pokémon Crystal was published later with sales eventually reaching 6.5 million. All that was followed by the simultaneous critical acclaim of the game, and combined worldwide sales later totaled to 42.21 million.
4 Wii Fit - 43.8 Million
Wii Fit sold more than 250,000 copies in the first week of its release, with sales reaching over a million in the first year of its publishing, all that before the game even started its publishing outside Japan. When it was eventually published in the west, it caused massive demand.
In the United Kingdom, the retailers were forced to stop taking preorders due to shortages, and queues were formed at stores, while in the United States the game was sold out at Amazon, GameSpot, and Wal-Mart. With such demand commercial sales were strong and lifetime sales of Wii Fit later stood at 43.8 million.
3 Pokémon Red / Green / Blue / Yellow - 59.52 Million
Pokémon introduced the world of small, collectible pocket monsters with the four versions of the game including Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow, with Red and Blue being used for publishing in Japan and Red and Blue for the international version, while Yellow version was a special edition featuring Pikachu.
In terms of commercial performance, the game was a blockbuster with millions of copies sold in the first year of its release, with sales steadily increasing worldwide. The four versions of the game had a combined sales of 59.52 million, which makes them the third bestselling Nintendo game.
2 Super Mario Bros. - 63.32 Million
In 1983 the game industry was in a state of disarray, and the recovery was slow - but with the publishing of Super Mario Bros. in 1985 and with North America and Europe receiving their versions later, the consumers regained the trust in the quality of games - and today Super Mario Bros. is considered to be one of the best games ever made.
As a result, the game spawned a multimedia franchise, that today earns millions. Super Mario Bros. is the second best-selling Nintendo game with 63.32 million copies sold, of that number 40.24 million copies were sold for the Nintendo Enetertenimnet System.
1 Wii Sports - 82.88 Million
The previous entry on the list, Super Mario Bros. was the best-selling Nintendo game for 20 years until Wii Sports outsold it with 82.88 million copies. Wii Sports is also the best-selling single-platform game of all time. The game was highly innovative, with some regarding it as the most influential game of the 21st century.
Using the Nintendo Wii console benefits to maximum, it simulated playing of tennis, baseball, bowling, golf, and boxing, with the help of motion sensor capabilities of Wii Remote and Nunchuk. The game was largely responsible for the console's eventual success.