Best selling Atari games of all time?

[godzillajoe]

I'm guessing this has been discussed before but is there a list of games for the 2600 that sold the most copies in the USA

 

I gotta figure Pac-Man is king and Pitfall, Adventure, Asteroids, Missile Command have gotta be up there.

 

Maybe E.T., Demon Attack, Ms. Pac-Man, River Raid after that?

 

Anyone know of such a list?

[2600lover]

Guess that means no, LOL. Yeah I would have to think you right up there. Pac-Man, and Pitfall must be on top!

[Big Player]

The Atari Age rarity guide is probably the closest you are going to come to getting such a list.

[Christophero Sly]

Donkey Kong

Space Invaders

Yars' Revenge

Combat

Edited July 27, 2006 by Christophero Sly

[pocketmego]

I say Asteroids. Simply because it was around almost as long as the system itself and everyone always owned it. It must have sold so consistently to make it the best selling game by default.

 

-Ray

[Shawn]

DK, pacman & Yars

[Mr. Postman]

Best selling = most common.

 

Pac-Man, Combat, Asteroids, Pitfall, Missile Command, etc.

[godzillajoe]

I know but I wanted cold hard numbers, how can you tell if Asteroids sold more than Missile Command? They're both commons.

 

Just curious as to what the top ten really were.

[jboypacman]

I would say Pac-Man.There was tons of hype behind it before it was released and it was the #1 arcade game at the time.So everybody wanted Pac-Man to play at home.Now despite the fact that it was a major disapointment as terms of looks and game play it sold really well.

[G.Whiz]

I would say Pac-Man.There was tons of hype behind it before it was released and it was the #1 arcade game at the time.So everybody wanted Pac-Man to play at home.Now despite the fact that it was a major disapointment as terms of looks and game play it sold really well.

 

According to Wikipedia, quoting another source, E.T. is eighth.

 

Would you count Combat? That must be up there, since it was included with millions of units before they switched to packaging it with other games (was Pac-Man the first to replace Combat?)

 

~G

[godzillajoe]

I wouldn't count Combat since it was included for "free" for so long.

Edited July 27, 2006 by godzillajoe

[Gabriel]

I wouldn't count Combat since it was included for "free" for so long.

 

Does that disqualify Pac-Man as well? It was a pack in for some time too.

[godzillajoe]

Was Combat for sale after it stopped being the pack-in game? Or during the time it was free, could you buy a copy if you somehow lost or broke your original cart?

 

When did they switch over to Pac-Man?

 

It DID sell a zillion copies before they started giving it away so it should count for something.

[Lord Helmet]

I would say Pac-Man.There was tons of hype behind it before it was released and it was the #1 arcade game at the time.So everybody wanted Pac-Man to play at home.Now despite the fact that it was a major disapointment as terms of looks and game play it sold really well.

 

According to Wikipedia, quoting another source, E.T. is eighth.

 

Would you count Combat? That must be up there, since it was included with millions of units before they switched to packaging it with other games (was Pac-Man the first to replace Combat?)

 

~G

 

Yes, in Atari branded packaging. I'm pretty sure that Target Fun (air Sea Battle) was included with the Sears branded consoles in the begining.

[Atariboy2600]

Atari 2600 games that have sold more than one million copies worldwide.

 

* Pac-Man (7 million)

* Space Invaders (6 million)

* Pitfall! (4 million)

 

How Ironic that the world most hated 2600 game is also the top selling 2600 game of all time

 

 

 

Info by Answers.com: List Of Best Selling Computer And Video Games Page.

[maximebeauvais]

what about most produce game? good question hein!!!

[Student Driver]

I wouldn't discount Combat just for being a pack-in. It's how Nintendo claims best-seller-of-all-time on SMB and other pack-ins, and no one really disputes those claims.

[G.Whiz]

I wouldn't discount Combat just for being a pack-in. It's how Nintendo claims best-seller-of-all-time on SMB and other pack-ins, and no one really disputes those claims.

 

Yeah, I think I have to agree here after putting some thought into it. I guess technically, they could do some accounting stuff to split some of the package price towards the "price" of Combat -- at the very least it would have to be accounted into the total cost to produce of the unit.

 

But that's not why I think Combat should be counted. I look at it like Windows -- everyone gets Windows on almost any new computer bought, but how many people actually buy a full copy stand-alone? But Microsoft gets a chunk of every computer sale that contains Windows on it (or Works, or any other MS software for that matter.) It's hard to argue that Windows isn't the "best selling" OS of all time...

 

Would Combat have been a top seller if not included? Certainly in the early days considering it was one of the few available. But of all the original carts, Combat was certainly the best choice both in terms of game play and showing Atari's versatility (64 different games, or whatever it was, some very distinct).

 

Ultimately I would include Combat in the rankings too, and I still see it as the quintessential game -- Combat is Atari.

 

~G

[CorTat-G]

This List is From Wikipedia:

 

1. PAC-MAN

2. PITFALL!

3. MISSILE COMMAND

4. DEMON ATTACK

5. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL

6. ATLANTIS

7. ADVENTURE

8. RIVER RAID

9. KABOOM!

10. SPACE INVADERS

Edited February 18, 2011 by Cortat G

[carmel_andrews]

Can we just say ET, since new mexico bought 5 million of them, they just buried them away for safe keeping (so in a few years they will be worth something...once they've got rid of the bit rot from 20+ years of burial)

[tz101]

Combat and Pac Man have to both be near the top, at least as far as number of copies in circulation, purely because they were both pack-ins.

 

After those, my guesses would be:

 

Space Invaders

Missile Command

Pitfall

Ms. Pac Man

Donkey Kong

Adventure

Kaboom!

Demon Attack

Atlantis

 

All of these based upon sheer number of copies I have seen at thrifts and yard sales.

[high voltage]

Ed English stated in The 2600 Connection that Frogger was a 'more than 1 million' seller.

and HSW also stated in The 2600 Connection that all three of his games were million sellers.

[raskar42]

does sold and returned count?

then pac-man

[Ranthulfr]

I'd guess the best-sellers included: Space Invaders, Asteroids, Missile Command, Combat, Pac-man and E.T.

 

There are some great, much-loved games that I wouldn't peg as top sellers. One million copies sold was a success for sure - but not necessarily tops. I'm thinking of Adventure, Frogger, and a few others. I'm surprised to see 2600 Donkey Kong in so many lists. It may have been a hit for Coleco, but was it really among the top 10 sellers across the board?

[Rik]

From several sources including from someone at Atari,the top selling game by Atari of all time is 2600 PACMAN.The rest have been already mentioned.Not sure about the others, i'm sure the ones already mentioned are pretty accurate.

Edited February 19, 2011 by Rik