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1998

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Financial performance[]

Best-selling video game consoles[]

Rank Manufacturer Game console Type Generation Sales
Japan United States Worldwide
1 Sony PlayStation Home 32-bit 4,660,000[1] 9,130,000[1] 22,500,000[1]
2 Nintendo Game Boy / Game Boy Color Handheld 8-bit 4,730,000[2] 2,430,000[3] 12,990,000[2]
3 Nintendo Nintendo 64 Home 64-bit 1,210,000[2] 3,881,000[4] 7,860,000[2]
4 Nintendo Super NES / Super Famicom Home 16-bit 50,000[2] 200,000[4] 1,430,000[2]
5 Sega Dreamcast Home 128-bit 900,000[5] N/A 900,000
6 Sega Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) Home 16-bit N/A 659,000[4] 659,000+
7 Sega Sega Saturn Home 32-bit 150,000[5] 55,000[4] 205,000+
8 Nintendo NES / Famicom Home 8-bit 50,000[2] 120[4] 50,120

Best-selling home video games[]

The following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games (console games or computer games) of 1998 in Japan, the United States, and Germany.

Best-selling home video games in Japan, United States and Germany
Rank Title Platform Sales
Japan United States Germany Combined
1 Pokémon Red / Green / Blue / Pikachu Game Boy 3,288,391[n 1] 4,000,000[6] N/A 7,288,391
2 Resident Evil 2 (Biohazard 2) PlayStation 2,298,814[7] 1,194,840[8] Unknown 3,493,654+
3 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Nintendo 64 920,000[9] 2,500,000[10] Unknown 3,420,000+
4 Gran Turismo PlayStation 1,495,761[11] 1,431,483[8] 270,000+[12] 3,197,244+
5 Tekken 3 PlayStation 1,266,000[11] 1,113,749[8] 100,000+[13] 2,479,749+
6 GoldenEye 007 Nintendo 64 < 17,676[14] 2,300,000[15] Unknown 2,300,000+
7 Metal Gear Solid PlayStation 765,000[9] 1,064,909[8] N/A 1,829,909
8 Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry no Wonderland Game Boy Color 1,660,000[9] N/A N/A 1,660,000
9 Crash Bandicoot: Warped (Crash Bandicoot 3) PlayStation 649,000[9] 858,726[8] Unknown 1,507,726+
10 Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back PlayStation 395,884[11] 941,686[8] Unknown 1,337,570+

The following titles were the top ten highest-grossing home video games of 1998 in the United States and Europe.

Highest-grossing home video games in United States and Europe
Rank Title Platform(s) Sales revenue
United States Europe[16] Combined
1 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Nintendo 64 $150,000,000[10] €39,000,000+ ($45,000,000+) $194,000,000+
2 Gran Turismo PlayStation $58,568,520[8] €66,000,000+ ($76,000,000+) $132,568,520+
3 Resident Evil 2 PlayStation $58,597,202[8] €29,000,000+ ($34,000,000+) $91,597,202+
4 GoldenEye 007 Nintendo 64 $70,377,973+[8] €19,000,000+ ($22,000,000+) $91,377,973+
5 Tekken 3 PlayStation $48,554,550[8] €36,000,000+ ($42,000,000+) $88,554,550+
6 Banjo-Kazooie Nintendo 64 $51,790,624[8] €26,000,000+ ($30,000,000+) $80,790,624+
7 Tomb Raider III Multi-platform Unknown €68,000,000+ ($74,000,000+) $74,000,000+
8 Pokémon Red / Blue Game Boy $70,000,000+[17] N/A $70,000,000+
9 Super Mario 64 Nintendo 64 $39,184,953[8] €21,000,000+ ($24,000,000+) $63,184,953+
10 FIFA 99 Multi-platform Unknown €50,000,000+ ($58,000,000+) $56,000,000+

Japan[]

In Japan, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1998.

Rank Title Platform Publisher Genre Sales Ref
1 Pocket Monsters: Red / Green / Blue / Pikachu (Pokémon) Game Boy Nintendo Role-playing 3,288,391 [n 1]
2 Biohazard 2 (Resident Evil 2) PlayStation Capcom Survival horror 2,298,814+ [7]
3 Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry no Wonderland Game Boy Color Enix Role-playing 1,660,000 [9]
4 Gran Turismo PlayStation Sony Racing simulation 1,495,761 [11]
5 Tekken 3 PlayStation Namco Fighting 1,266,000
6 Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters PlayStation Konami Card battle 1,175,000 [9]
7 Parasite Eve PlayStation Squaresoft Horror 1,049,000
8 Tales of Destiny PlayStation Namco Action role-playing 965,280+ [7]
9 The Legend of Zelda: Toki no Ocarina (Ocarina of Time) Nintendo 64 Nintendo Action-adventure 920,000 [9]
10 Xenogears PlayStation Squaresoft Role-playing 892,015 [11]

United States[]

In the United States, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1998 in terms of unit sales.

Rank Title Platform Publisher Genre Sales Revenue
1 Pokémon Red / Blue Game Boy Nintendo Role-playing 4,000,000[6] $70,000,000+[17]
2 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Nintendo 64 Nintendo Action-adventure 2,500,000[10] $150,000,000[10]
3 GoldenEye 007 Nintendo 64 Nintendo Shooter 2,300,000[15] $70,377,973+[8]
4 Gran Turismo PlayStation Sony Racing simulation 1,431,483[8] $58,568,520[8]
5 Resident Evil 2 PlayStation Capcom Survival horror 1,194,840[8] $58,597,202[8]
6 Tekken 3 PlayStation Namco Fighting 1,113,749[8] $48,554,550[8]
7 Madden NFL 99 PlayStation EA Sports Sports 1,073,777[8] $44,130,798[8]
8 Metal Gear Solid PlayStation Konami Stealth 1,064,909[8] $51,834,077[8]
9 Banjo-Kazooie Nintendo 64 Nintendo Platformer 1,054,349[8] $51,790,624[8]
10 Super Mario 64 Nintendo 64 Nintendo Platformer 946,411[8] $39,184,953[8]

NPD's U.S. Top 20 Best-Selling Games of 1998 ranked in dollar sales:[18]

  1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
  2. GoldenEye 007
  3. WWF War Zone
  4. NFL Blitz
  5. WCW/nWo Revenge
  6. Resident Evil 2
  7. Banjo-Kazooie
  8. Gran Turismo
  9. Madden NFL 99
  10. Super Mario 64
  11. Tekken 3
  12. Mario Kart 64
  13. Metal Gear Solid
  14. Yoshi's Story
  15. 1080° Snowboarding
  16. NFL GameDay 99
  17. Crash Bandicoot: Warped
  18. Tomb Raider III
  19. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
  20. WCW Vs NWO: World Tour

Europe[]

In Europe, the following titles were the top ten highest-grossing home video games of 1998.

Rank Title Platform(s) Europe sales revenue[16] France Germany
Rank Sales
1 Tomb Raider III Multi-platform €68,000,000+ ($74,000,000+) Unknown Unknown
2 Gran Turismo PlayStation €66,000,000+ ($76,000,000+) 1[19] 270,000+[12]
3 FIFA 99 Multi-platform €50,000,000+ ($58,000,000+) Unknown Unknown
4 World Cup 98 Multi-platform €48,000,000+ ($55,000,000+) Unknown 339,000+[12]
5 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Nintendo 64 €39,000,000+ ($45,000,000+) Unknown Unknown
Tomb Raider II Multi-platform €39,000,000+ ($45,000,000+) Unknown 358,000+[12]
7 FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 Multi-platform €37,000,000+ ($43,000,000+) Unknown 160,000+[12]
8 Tekken 3 PlayStation €36,000,000+ ($42,000,000+) Unknown 100,000+[13]
9 Colin McRae Rally Multi-platform €30,000,000+ ($35,000,000+) Unknown
10 Resident Evil 2 PlayStation €29,000,000+ ($34,000,000+)

United Kingdom[]

Rank Title Platform(s) Sales Ref
1 Gran Turismo PlayStation 346,197 [20]
2 World Cup 98 Multi-platform 324,404
3 TOCA Touring Car Championship PlayStation, PC 306,798
4 FIFA 99 Multi-platform 301,466
5 Tomb Raider III Multi-platform 288,607

Australia[]

In Australia, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home console games of 1998.[21]

Rank Title Platform Developer Publisher Genre
1 GoldenEye 007 Nintendo 64 Rare Nintendo First-person shooter
2 Gran Turismo PlayStation Polys Entertainment Sony Racing simulation
3 Banjo-Kazooie Nintendo 64 Rare Nintendo Platformer
4 Crash Bandicoot (Platinum) PlayStation Naughty Dog Sony
5 Mario Kart 64 Nintendo 64 Nintendo EAD Nintendo Kart racing
6 Super Mario 64 Nintendo 64 Nintendo EAD Nintendo Platformer
7 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Nintendo 64 Nintendo EAD Nintendo Action-adventure
8 Croc: Legend of the Gobbos PlayStation Argonaut Software Fox Interactive Platformer
9 Yoshi's Story Nintendo 64 Nintendo EAD Nintendo
10 Tekken 2 (Platinum) PlayStation Namco Sony Fighting

Highest-grossing arcade games in Japan[]

In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1998.

Rank Gamest[22] Game Machine[23]
Title Manufacturer Title Type Points
1 Tekken 3 Namco Tekken 3 Software 4561
2 Street Fighter Zero 3 (Street Fighter Alpha 3) Capcom Virtua Striker 2 / Ver. 98 Software 4366
3 Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes Capcom Print Club 2 Other 3534
4 The King of Fighters '98 SNK The House of the Dead Dedicated 3334
5 Virtua Fighter 3 Team Battle (Virtua Fighter 3tb) Sega Virtua Fighter 3 Team Battle Dedicated 2936
6 The King of Fighters '97 SNK Sega Bass Fishing (Get Bass) Dedicated 2931
7 Virtua Striker 2 Sega The Lost World: Jurassic Park Dedicated 2719
8 Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram Sega Strikers 1945 II Software 2622
9 Street Fighter EX2 Capcom Final Furlong Dedicated 2414
10 Virtua Striker 2 Ver. 98 Sega The King of Fighters '97 Software 2377

Notes[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pocket Monsters: Red / Green / Blue (Pokémon Red / Green / Blue) sold 1,739,391 units.[11] Pocket Monsters: Pikachu (Pokémon Yellow) sold 1,549,000 units.[9]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "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.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "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.
  3. ↑ "Game Boy Enjoys Record-Breaking Year" (PDF). GamePro. No. 136. January 2000. p. 34. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 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.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 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).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Kohler, Chris (21 October 2016). Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life. Courier Dover Publications. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-486-80149-0. The Game Boy titles Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue were released on September 27, 1998. They became the fastest-selling Game Boy titles ever, selling a combined 200,000 copies in the first two weeks of their availability. By the end of 1998 they had sold four million units in the US alone across three versions. In Japan, across four versions the game had sold nearly 12 million copies.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "97年9月～98年8月" [1997.09~1998.08]. TV Game Ranking Databook: 1995.9~1998.8 (in Japanese). ベストセラーズ (Bestsellers). 15 December 1998. p. 19. ISBN 978-4-584-16090-9.
  8. ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 8.14 8.15 8.16 8.17 8.18 8.19 8.20 8.21 8.22 8.23 8.24 8.25 8.26 "High Scores: Top Titles in the Game Industry". Feed Magazine. April 22, 1999. Archived from the original on May 8, 1999.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 "1998年のコンシューマーゲームソフトの売上Top100" [1998 Consumer Game Software Sales: Top 100]. Dengeki Oh (in Japanese). MediaWorks. Archived from the original on 21 September 2001. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "Zelda Breaks All Records". IGN. 8 January 1999. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 "1998 Top 30 Best Selling Japanese Console Games". The Magic Box. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Müller, Eva; Canibol, Hans-Peter (November 23, 1998). "Die Spaßmaschine". Focus (in German). Archived from the original on December 6, 2018.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Neues aus der Verbandsgeschäftstelle" (Press release) (in German). Paderborn: Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland. 27 November 1998. Archived from the original on 10 June 2000.
  14. ↑ "Game Search". Game Data Library. Famitsu. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "On Top Of Their Game". Supermarket News. 8 February 1999. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Milia News; ECCSELL Awards Name Winners". GameSpot. February 12, 1999. Archived from the original on August 30, 1999. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 King, Sharon R. (26 April 1999). "Mania for 'Pocket Monsters' Yields Billions for Nintendo". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  18. ↑ https://www.dayonepatch.com/topic/19748-circana-npd-video-games-sales-top-20-for-each-year-since-1995/
  19. ↑ 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.
  20. ↑ The Top Selling UK Games Since 1996
  21. ↑ "Top 20 Console Games Ranked by Units Sold, 1998–2013". Screen Australia. Australian Government. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  22. ↑ "第12回 ゲーメスト大賞" [11th Gamest Awards]. Gamest (in Japanese). Vol. 248 (January-February 1999). December 26, 1998. pp. 35–51.
  23. ↑ Akagi, Masumi, ed. (1 February 1999). ""Tekken 3", "House of the Dead" Top Annual Chart" (PDF). Game Machine. No. 580. Amusement Press, Inc. p. 22.
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