Kotaku has published a new list of the Wii's most played  games.  Though the list has experienced terribly little churn for many months, it is still fascinating to see which games are helping keep Nintendo's casual powerhouse on top of the heap.  Titles are ranked on total play time per person per month (Game Rant's summary of these numbers is approximate).  Let's have a look:

  1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl 75
  2. Animal Crossing: City Folk 68
  3. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock 58
  4. Call Of Duty: World At War 50
  5. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 50
  6. Harvest Moon: Tree Of Tranquility 49
  7. Rune Factory: Frontier 48
  8. The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess 47
  9. Rock Band 2 46
  10. Harvest Moon: Animal Parade 44

It's no surprise that Smash Bros. remains on top, or that Animal Crossing is holding strong at number two.  However, it is tough to imagine anyone still playing 58 hours of Guitar Hero 3 per month, given that so many newer installments exist.  That tenth ranked (and sole new entry) Harvest Moon: Animal Parade has already accrued play times in excess of 40 hours is, frankly, astonishing.

Omissions from the list are equally surprising.  Where are the Mario titles (and, no, Smash Bros. doesn't count)?  What about new releases like Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing?  Where is Wii Fit?  What happened to  Wii Sports Resort?  After all, several of those titles are among Wii's best selling games.  For the record, fully half of the top ten selling games for January were Wii exclusives.  Here they are:

Now, those are the titles I think of when I think of Wii (other than Just Dance, which -- apologies to Ubisoft -- I know practically nothing about).  In the end, the most played list really underlines the divide between the broad Wii customer-base  and traditional gamers.  Whatever your opinion of the games on the list, that Nintendo has managed to attract and maintain this wide audience is remarkable.

Wii is about to see some potentially important titles join its lineup, particularly Monster Hunter Tri and Red Steel 2.  Will they make the list of Wii's most played games?  We shall see.  In the mean time, which Wii game are you playing most?  Which Wii game are you most looking forward to?

Source: Kotaku