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1997

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Financial performance[]

Highest-grossing arcade games in Japan[]

In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1997.

Rank Gamest[1] Game Machine[2]
Title Manufacturer Genre Title Manufacturer Type Points
1 Virtua Fighter 3 Sega Fighting Print Club 2 Atlus Other 4068
2 Tekken 3 Namco Fighting Virtua Fighter 3 Sega Dedicated 3995
3 X-Men vs. Street Fighter Capcom Fighting Tekken 3 Namco PCB 3757
4 Street Fighter III: New Generation Capcom Fighting Virtual On: Cyber Troopers Sega Dedicated 2969
5 Vampire Savior (Darkstalkers 3) Capcom Fighting X-Men vs. Street Fighter Capcom PCB 2776
6 Samurai Spirits 4: Amakusa Kōrin SNK Fighting Puzzle Bobble 3 Taito PCB 2626
7 Real Bout Garō Densetsu Special SNK Fighting Densha de Go! Taito Dedicated 2614
8 Virtual On: Cyber Troopers Sega Shooter Time Crisis Namco Dedicated 2459
9 The King of Fighters '97 SNK Fighting Gallop Racer Tecmo PCB 2420
10 DoDonPachi Atlus Bullet hell Rave Racer Namco Dedicated 2399

Best-selling video game consoles[]

Rank Manufacturer Game console Type Generation Sales
Japan United States Worldwide
1 Sony PlayStation Home 32-bit 5,050,000+[3] 6,750,000+[3] 17,200,000+[3]
2 Nintendo Game Boy / Game Boy Pocket Handheld 8-bit 4,220,000[4] Unknown 10,370,000[4]
3 Nintendo Nintendo 64 Home 64-bit 1,110,000[4] 4,488,000[5] 9,420,000[4]
4 Nintendo Super NES / Super Famicom Home 16-bit 190,000[4] 593,000[5] 2,040,000[4]
5 Sega Sega Saturn Home 32-bit 800,000[6] 249,000[5] 1,800,000[7][8]
6 Sega Sega Genesis Home 16-bit Unknown 478,000[5] 478,000+
7 Nintendo NES / Famicom Home 8-bit 30,000[4] 81,000[5] 111,000
8 NEC PC-FX Home 32-bit 30,000[6] N/A 30,000

Best-selling home video games[]

Final Fantasy VII was the best-selling home video game worldwide in 1997.[9] It sold more than 6 million copies worldwide by 1998, becoming the best-selling PlayStation game up until then.[10]

The following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games (console games or computer games) of 1997 in Japan and the United States.

Rank Title Platform Sales
Japan United States[11][12] Combined
1 Final Fantasy VII PlayStation 3,447,500+[13] 1,500,000+[12] 4,947,500+
2 Pocket Monsters: Red / Green / Blue Game Boy 3,995,988[14] N/A 3,995,988
3 Mario Kart 64 Nintendo 64 731,385[14] 1,500,000+ 2,231,385+
4 Star Fox 64 Nintendo 64 373,479[15] 1,500,000+ 1,873,479+
5 Super Mario 64 Nintendo 64 361,302[15] 1,500,000+ 1,861,302+
6 Diddy Kong Racing Nintendo 64 217,259[16] 1,500,000+ 1,717,259+
7 Derby Stallion PlayStation 1,581,138[15] N/A 1,581,138
8 Minna no Golf (Everybody's Golf) PlayStation 1,327,000[17] N/A 1,327,000
9 Final Fantasy Tactics PlayStation 1,239,000[17] N/A 1,239,000
10 SaGa Frontier PlayStation 1,057,263[15] N/A 1,057,263

Japan[]

In Japan, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1997.

Rank Title Platform Developer Publisher Genre Sales Ref
1 Pocket Monsters: Red / Green / Blue Game Boy Game Freak Nintendo RPG 3,995,988 [14]
2 Final Fantasy VII PlayStation Squaresoft Squaresoft RPG 3,447,500+ [13]
3 Derby Stallion PlayStation ASCII ASCII Simulation 1,581,138 [15]
4 Minna no Golf (Everybody's Golf) PlayStation Camelot Software Planning Sony Sports 1,327,000 [17]
5 Final Fantasy Tactics PlayStation Squaresoft Squaresoft SRPG 1,239,000
6 SaGa Frontier PlayStation Squaresoft Squaresoft RPG 1,057,263 [15]
7 Gran Turismo PlayStation Polys Entertainment Sony Racing simulation 905,000 [17]
8 Game de Hakken!! Tamagotchi Game Boy Tom Create Bandai Breeding simulation 808,000
9 Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon PlayStation Squaresoft Squaresoft Roguelike 801,000
10 PaRappa the Rapper PlayStation NanaOn-Sha Sony Rhythm 761,621 [14]

United States[]

In the United States, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1997 in terms of unit sales.[18][19][20]

Rank Title Platform Developer Publisher Genre Sales[11][12]
1 Mario Kart 64 Nintendo 64 Nintendo EAD Nintendo Kart racing 1,500,000+
2 Star Fox 64 Nintendo 64 Nintendo EAD Nintendo Rail shooter 1,500,000+
3 Super Mario 64 Nintendo 64 Nintendo EAD Nintendo Platformer 1,500,000+
4 Diddy Kong Racing Nintendo 64 Rare Rare Kart racing 1,500,000+
5 GoldenEye 007 Nintendo 64 Rare Nintendo FPS 1,500,000+
6 Final Fantasy VII PlayStation Squaresoft Sony RPG 1,500,000+[12]
7 NFL GameDay 98 PlayStation Sony Interactive Sony Sports Unknown
8 Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Nintendo 64 LucasArts Nintendo Action Unknown
9 Madden NFL 98 PlayStation Tiburon Entertainment EA Sports Sports Unknown
10 Crash Bandicoot PlayStation Naughty Dog Sony Platformer Unknown

NPD's U.S. Top 20 Best-Selling Games of 1997 ranked in dollar sales:[21]

  1. Mario Kart 64
  2. Super Mario 64
  3. Star Fox 64
  4. GoldenEye 007
  5. Diddy Kong Racing
  6. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
  7. Final Fantasy VII
  8. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
  9. Cruis'n USA
  10. Wave Race 64
  11. NFL Quarterback Club 97
  12. Madden NFL 98
  13. Tomb Raider II
  14. NFL GameDay 98
  15. NBA Live 98
  16. Madden Football 64
  17. Riven: The Sequel to Myst
  18. Tomb Raider
  19. NBA Hangtime
  20. Microsoft Flight Simulator for Windows 95

United Kingdom[]

In the United Kingdom, the following titles were the top-selling home video games of 1997.

Rank Title Platform(s) Sales Ref
1 Tomb Raider II Multi-platform 255,518 [22]
2 FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 Multi-platform 209,751
3 Tomb Raider Multi-platform 177,693
4 FIFA 97 Multi-platform 157,634
5 V-Rally PlayStation 150,230

The following titles were the top-selling home video games of each month in 1997.

Month(s) Top game
January Die Hard Trilogy (PlayStation)[23]
February Cool Boarders (PlayStation)[24]
March Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64)[25]
April Wave Race 64 (Nintendo 64)[26] Micro Machines V3 (PlayStation)[27]
May Soul Blade (PlayStation)[28]
June Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64)[29]
July International Superstar Soccer 64 (Nintendo 64)[30]
August–September V-Rally (PlayStation)[31][32]
October Formula 1 97 (PlayStation)[33] Lylat Wars (Nintendo 64)[34]
November Final Fantasy VII (PlayStation)[35]
December FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 (PlayStation, PC)[36]

France[]

In France, the year's top-selling home video game was Tomb Raider II.[37]

Top game rentals in the United States[]

Blockbuster Video, an American chain of video rental shops, released a monthly list of the chain's highest-renting console titles. The following games topped the monthly charts, as reported by GamePro.

Month PlayStation Sega Saturn Nintendo 64 Sega Genesis Super NES Ref
January Twisted Metal 2 Sonic 3D Blast N/A Sonic 3D Blast Donkey Kong Country 3 [38]
February NBA Live 97 Tomb Raider N/A [39]
March Soul Blade Mario Kart 64 NBA Live 97 [40]
April Need for Speed II [41]
May NBA ShootOut '97 NBA Live 97 Turok: Dinosaur Hunter NHL 97 NBA Live 97 [42]
June War Gods Fighters Megamix Star Fox 64 World Series Baseball '98 Ken Griffey Jr.'s Winning Run [43]
July Triple Play 98 Brunswick World [44]
August VMX Racing [45]
September Madden NFL 98 Sonic Jam GoldenEye 007 Madden NFL 98 Madden NFL 98 [46]
October NFL GameDay 98 N/A [47]
November Crash Bandicoot 2 N/A NFL Quarterback Club 98 [48]
December N/A Diddy Kong Racing N/A N/A [49]

References[]

  1. ↑ "第11回 ゲーメスト大賞" [11th Gamest Awards]. Gamest (in Japanese). Vol. 212 (January-February 1998). December 26, 1997. pp. 34–102. alternate url
  2. ↑ Akagi, Masumi, ed. (1 February 1998). ""Tekken 3", "Virtua Fighter 3" Top Videos" (PDF). Game Machine. No. 557. Amusement Press, Inc. p. 22.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Cumulative Production Shipments of Hardware / PlayStation®". Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Sony. 31 December 2003. Archived from the original on 2004-04-22. Retrieved 2021-12-25.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 "Consolidated Sales Transition by Region" (PDF). Nintendo. Nintendo Co., Ltd. September 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-10-30. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Clements, Matthew T.; Ohashi, Hiroshi (October 2004). "Indirect Network Effects and the Product Cycle: Video Games in the U.S., 1994–2002" (PDF). NET Institute. pp. 12, 24. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 14, 2014. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 小川 (Ogawa), 純生 (Sumio) (2010-12-14). "テレビゲーム機の変遷 —ファミコン、スーパーファミコン、プレステ、プレステ2、Wiiまで—" [Recent Developments in Video Game Technology in Japan — Famicom, Super Famicom, Play Station, Play Station 2 and Wii —] (PDF). 経営論集 (Keiei Ronshū) (in Japanese) (77) (published March 2011): 1-17 (2). ISSN 0286-6439. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-25. Retrieved 2021-12-06 – via Toyo University Academic Information Repository (Toyo University).
  7. ↑ "Consumer Products" (PDF). Annual Report 1998. Sega Enterprises, Ltd. 1998. p. 7. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  8. ↑ Fontaine, Gilles (5 February 1997). "Jeux vidéo : une industrie lourde est née" [Video games: a heavy industry is born]. L'Express (in French). Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  9. ↑ Classic Videogame Hardware Genius Guide. Imagine Publishing. p. 492. ISBN 978-1-908222-22-0.
  10. ↑ The Oriental Economist Report. Toyo Keizai. 1998. p. 16. Square's Final Fantasy VII software has sold more than 6 million copies worldwide, making it the biggest selling Playstation software.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Johnston, Chris (22 December 1997). "Give It 21 Days, It'll Give You a Million". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 5 March 2000. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Thompson, Adam (22 October 1997). "The pain of addiction". Oshkosh Advance-Titan. University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. p. 9. Retrieved 9 April 2022. Last month Final Fantasy VII hit the stores and sold 1.5 million copies the first week.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "96年9月～97年8月" [1996.09~1997.08]. TV Game Ranking Databook: 1995.9~1998.8 (in Japanese). ベストセラーズ (Bestsellers). 15 December 1998. p. 17. ISBN 978-4-584-16090-9.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 "1997 Top 30 Best Selling Japanese Console Games". The Magic Box. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 Ohbuchi, Yutaka (5 December 1998). "Japan's Top Ten of '97". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 5 December 1998. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  16. ↑ "1997年ゲームソフト年間売上TOP100" [1997 Game Software Annual Sales Top 100]. Famitsū Gēmu Hakusho 1998 ファミ通ゲーム白書1998 [Famitsu Game Whitebook 1998] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Enterbrain. 1998. Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 "1997年のコンシューマーゲームソフトの売上Top100" [1997 Consumer Game Software Sales: Top 100]. Dengeki Oh (in Japanese). MediaWorks. Archived from the original on 6 January 2002. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  18. ↑ Famighetti, Robert (1998). "Top-Selling Video Games, 1997". The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1999. World Almanac Books. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-88687-832-0. Source: The NPD TRSTS Video Game Tracking Service, The NPD Group, Inc., Port Washington, NY; ranked by units sold
  19. ↑ "US Sales Top 10 for 1997". IGN. 6 February 1998. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  20. ↑ "The Top 20 Games of the Year". IGN. 30 January 1998. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  21. ↑ https://www.dayonepatch.com/topic/19748-circana-npd-video-games-sales-top-20-for-each-year-since-1995/
  22. ↑ The Top Selling UK Games Since 1996
  23. ↑ "Freeplay". Computer and Video Games. No. 184 (March 1997). EMAP. 12 February 1997. pp. 1-16 (1-2).
  24. ↑ "Freeplay". Computer and Video Games. No. 185 (April 1997). EMAP. 12 March 1997. pp. 1-16 (2-3).
  25. ↑ "Freeplay". Computer and Video Games. No. 186 (May 1997). EMAP. 11 April 1997. pp. 1-16 (2-3).
  26. ↑ "Leisure Software All Formats (ELSPA Charts Compiled by Chart-Track)". Digitiser. 1 May 1997. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  27. ↑ "Freeplay". Computer and Video Games. No. 187 (June 1997). EMAP. 11 May 1997. pp. 1-16 (2-3).
  28. ↑ "Freeplay". Computer and Video Games. No. 189 (August 1997). EMAP. 11 July 1997. pp. 1-16 (2-3).
  29. ↑ "Leisure Software All Formats (ELSPA Charts Compiled by Chart-Track)". Digitiser. 21 June 1997. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  30. ↑ "Freeplay". Computer and Video Games. No. 190 (September 1997). EMAP. 13 August 1997. pp. 1-16 (2-3).
  31. ↑ "Freeplay". Computer and Video Games. No. 191 (October 1997). EMAP. 12 September 1997. pp. 1-16 (2-3).
  32. ↑ "Freeplay". Computer and Video Games. No. 192 (November 1997). EMAP. 15 October 1997. pp. 1-16 (2-3).
  33. ↑ "Freeplay". Computer and Video Games. No. 193 (December 1997). EMAP. 12 November 1997. pp. 1-16 (2-3).
  34. ↑ "Leisure Software All Formats (ELSPA Charts Compiled by Chart-Track)". Digitiser. 18 October 1997. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  35. ↑ "Leisure Software All Formats (ELSPA Charts Compiled by Chart-Track)". Digitiser. 27 November 1997. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  36. ↑ "Leisure Software All Formats (ELSPA Charts Compiled by Chart-Track)". Digitiser. 31 December 1997. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  37. ↑ Lemaire, Oscar. "Animal Crossing New Horizons est le jeu vidéo le plus vendu de l'année 2020 en France en physique" [Animal Crossing New Horizons is the best-selling video game of the year 2020 in France in physical]. Twitter (in French). Ludostrie. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  38. ↑ "Blockbuster Video February Hot Rentals" (PDF). GamePro. No. 101. IDG. February 1997. p. 134.
  39. ↑ "Blockbuster Video March Hot Rentals" (PDF). GamePro. No. 102. IDG. March 1997. p. 127.
  40. ↑ "Blockbuster Video April Hot Rentals" (PDF). GamePro. No. 103. IDG. April 1997. p. 135.
  41. ↑ "Blockbuster Video May Hot Rentals" (PDF). GamePro. No. 104. IDG. May 1997. p. 135.
  42. ↑ "Blockbuster Video June Hot Rentals" (PDF). GamePro. No. 105. IDG. June 1997. p. 125.
  43. ↑ "Blockbuster Video July Hot Rentals" (PDF). GamePro. No. 106. IDG. July 1997. p. 119.
  44. ↑ "Blockbuster Video August Hot Rentals" (PDF). GamePro. No. 107. IDG. August 1997. p. 111.
  45. ↑ "Blockbuster Video September Hot Rentals" (PDF). GamePro. No. 108. IDG. September 1997. p. 135.
  46. ↑ "Blockbuster Video October Hot Rentals" (PDF). GamePro. No. 109. IDG. October 1997. p. 207.
  47. ↑ "Blockbuster Hot Sheet: November" (PDF). GamePro. No. 110. IDG. November 1997. p. 231.
  48. ↑ "Blockbuster Hot Sheet: December" (PDF). GamePro. No. 111. IDG. December 1997. p. 247.
  49. ↑ "Blockbuster Hot Sheet: January" (PDF). GamePro. No. 112. IDG. January 1998. p. 159.
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