With no other choice, pigskin fans picked up the only available NFL game on the market in Madden 07 (PS2), helping it to become the best-selling game of 2006 with over 1.8 million copies sold. However, in spite of the numbers, it was Gears of War that really shined, selling more than 1 million copies, with an estimated 2+ million worldwide–a figure that has broken Xbox 360 sales records. Other top sellers included New Super Mario Bros. (DS), Kingdom Hearts II (PS2), and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (360).
Gears proved to be the heavy hitter that Microsoft sorely needed in order to contend with the release of two new consoles during the holiday rush. While it did receive its fair share of critical acclaim, it was being released on the Xbox 360–a system with a user base that is drastically smaller than that of the PlayStation 2. But Epic’s masterpiece clearly disproved any of its naysayers and, in the process, sold plenty of Xbox 360s. Clearly, Gears was the big winner in 2006.
1. Madden NFL 07 (PS2) – August; 1.8 million+ sold
2. New Super Mario Bros. (DS) – May; 1.5 million+ sold
3. Kingdom Hearts II (PS2) – March; 1.5 million+ sold
4. Gears of War (360) – November; 1 million+ sold
5. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (360) – March; 913,000+ sold
6. Final Fantasy XII (PS2) – November; 895,000+ sold
7. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (PS2) – June; 860,000+ sold
8. NCAA Football 07 (PS2) – July; 849,000+ sold
9. Madden NFL 07 (360) – August; 826,000+ sold
10. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (DS) – April; 792,000+ sold
