The NPD Group has worked with Forbes to release a list of top sellers over the last 15 years (since NPD began tracking point-of-sale data in North America). Interestingly, as further proof of the explosion in game industry growth in this century, the top games were all released after 2001.

Rockstar's "Hot Coffee"-licious GTA: San Andreas sold through 9.4 million units, and there's a chance that this year's GTA IV could break that figure to take the top spot. Activision's Guitar Hero III claimed second with 8.2 million units sold. The rest of the top 10 is comprised of the other GTA games, several Madden titles, Halo 2, and Call of Duty 4. It's worth noting that five of the top 10 best sellers are indeed Mature-rated games.

The complete list:



1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - 2004 – 9.4 million

2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - 2007 – 8.2 million

3. Madden NFL 07 - 2006 – 7.7 million

4. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - 2002 – 7.3 million

5. Madden NFL 06 - 2005 – 6.7 million

6. Halo 2 - 2004 – 6.61 million

7. Madden NFL 08 - 2007 – 6.6 million

8. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - 2007 – 6.25 million

9. Grand Theft Auto 3 - 2001 – 6.2 million

10. Madden NFL 2005 - 2004 – 6.1 million