Best Selling Computer Game of All Time?
by Dreamer · in General Discussion · 04/20/2005 (6:00 pm) · 25 replies
Ok here's the deal, me and a buddy have a bet going as to what the best selling Computer Game of all time is. The loser owes the winner an entire case of beer, so you know this is some serious stuff :)
Anyways I say Solitaire (It HAS afterall, shipped with every computer since Windows 3.1)
He says that Snake game Nibbles and the various variants of it, (I think he may be including Nokia cell phones here as well).
Just curious to know which if either of us is correct. We are talking in terms of shipped copies of the game here, though not revenue.
Any takers?
Anyways I say Solitaire (It HAS afterall, shipped with every computer since Windows 3.1)
He says that Snake game Nibbles and the various variants of it, (I think he may be including Nokia cell phones here as well).
Just curious to know which if either of us is correct. We are talking in terms of shipped copies of the game here, though not revenue.
Any takers?
#23
04/22/2005 (6:08 pm)
I still beleive theres a distinct difference between "Computer Game" and "Video game" ;)
#24
04/23/2005 (10:37 am)
I think solitaire is a little unfair in terms of shipped games. The user didn't have a choice its just there. I think if you want in terms of 'shipped' then any game could be that because regarldess of if a game is a stinker or not they probably still shipped a million units of it 
#25
I think continuing to make that distinction is only going to hurt computer games. Yes there are games that work better on a PC than on a console but the fact of the matter is the gaming world is moving to consoles. It used to be the case that when the consoles first appeared they were much more powerful than most people's computer but after a year or two the PC would overtake it, now that trend is changing. Partly because of Microsoft, which is somewhat ironic, the consoles are more powerful, and still capable of playing the newest PC games, even if it is at a slight graphical loss. Also because Microsoft is reducing the console life-span there is going to be less and less time for the average PC user to have a machine that can over-power their consoles. So if a game player has the choice between a $300 console or a $1500 computer to play games of the same quality more and more of them are going to neglect PC gaming. That's why more and more of the PC development houses are porting their games to, or even cross-releasing them on, the consoles. There is a huge market there that is dedicated strictly to gaming.
While I don't think that computer games are going to go away anytime soon, I think it's important to look at the entire Industry as a gaming market because, for better or worse, games on both sides of the fence are becoming more alike everyday.
04/23/2005 (11:13 am)
@King TutI think continuing to make that distinction is only going to hurt computer games. Yes there are games that work better on a PC than on a console but the fact of the matter is the gaming world is moving to consoles. It used to be the case that when the consoles first appeared they were much more powerful than most people's computer but after a year or two the PC would overtake it, now that trend is changing. Partly because of Microsoft, which is somewhat ironic, the consoles are more powerful, and still capable of playing the newest PC games, even if it is at a slight graphical loss. Also because Microsoft is reducing the console life-span there is going to be less and less time for the average PC user to have a machine that can over-power their consoles. So if a game player has the choice between a $300 console or a $1500 computer to play games of the same quality more and more of them are going to neglect PC gaming. That's why more and more of the PC development houses are porting their games to, or even cross-releasing them on, the consoles. There is a huge market there that is dedicated strictly to gaming.
While I don't think that computer games are going to go away anytime soon, I think it's important to look at the entire Industry as a gaming market because, for better or worse, games on both sides of the fence are becoming more alike everyday.
Torque 3D Owner Andy Schatz
but you are surely right that Solitaire and Minesweeper have got to be #1 if you count packaging deals. I don't believe Nibbles (or whatever variant used to ship with QBasic) is included in Windows operating systems anymore, and there are more Windows Os's out there than there used to be DOS. The whole Cell phone thing throws a monkey wrench into the system, but I still think good old Minesweeper/Solitaire wins.
So by your rules I think you won. By the rules of number of games sold (for the game only), its Mario.
I hope its good beer.