Best-Selling Game Of 2008 Mystery: It's 'Wii Play' Or 'GTA IV'

Newly released sales figures listing the top 10 games sold in 2008 remind us of the 2000 U.S. presidential election: the initial results reveal no clear winner. It's "Grand Theft Auto IV" OR "Wii Play." Explanation for the non-verdict follows.

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The NPD group released a list of the top 10 best-selling games of 2008 for the U.S. today and the winner is.... we don't know!

At first glance the crown seems to belong to "Wii Play," which sold 5.28 million units in the U.S. in 2008, according to NPD.

But add up the two "Grand Theft Auto" scores below for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game and you'll get 5.18 million units for that series.

That doesn't make "Wii Play" the winner, though, because the "GTA" stat doesn't include the December release of "GTA IV" on the PC. If that game sold more than 100,000 units than it would have edged out "Wii Play."

MTV Multiplayer contacted an NPD rep to find out those "GTA" PC sales, but the group won't be able to provide them today. "GTA" make Rockstar Games could not be reached by press time either.

Until then, we don't have a winner.

Top Selling Games 2008 -- In the U.S., According to the NPD Group
1. WII PLAY W/ REMOTE Nintendo of America FEB 2007 (E) 1 5.28 million
2. WII MARIO KART W/ WHEEL   Nintendo of America APR 2008 (E) 2 5.00 million
3. WII FIT W/ BALANCE BOARD Nintendo of America MAY 2008 (E) 3 4.53 million
4. WII SUPER SMASH BROS: BRAWL Nintendo of America MAR 2008 (T) 4 4.17 million
5. 360 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV Take 2 Interactive APR 2008 (M) *5 3.29 million
6. 360 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR Activision Blizzard NOV 2008 (M) *62.75 million
7. 360 GEARS OF WAR 2 Microsoft NOV 2008 (M) *7 2.31 million
8. PS3 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV Take 2 Interactive APR 2008 (M) *8 1.89 million
9. 360 MADDEN NFL 09 Electronic Arts AUG 2008 (E) *9 1.87 million
10. NDS MARIO KART Nintendo of America NOV 2005 (E) 10 1.65 million

*Includes Collector's, Limited, Legendary, and Bundled Editions

Who do you think comes out on top? It's close.

UPDATE: And, of course, we don't yet know the numbers for "World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King," which the game's publisher, Activision, reported to have sold 2.8 million copies worldwide in its first day of sales in November. Hopefully the situation will become more clear when NPD releases PC sales for 2008.