NPD: GTA San Andreas, Guitar Hero III still the best-selling console games yet

The NPD Group releases a new ranking for the top-selling North American console game titles over the past fifteen years, or basically since the consumer retail market researcher first started tracking console software sales. Perhaps unsurprisingly the list is dominated by current-generation software, so it really looks more like the best-sellers over the past 7 years. This is encouraging for next-generation game development, though the sales figures could well prove as a warning sign over how high-stakes the industry has become.

The Grand Theft Auto franchise in particular has proven to be extremely lucrative, yet the latest title failed to make the grade compared to its predecessors; as it stands, San Andreas is still the top dog for both the series and the industry.