Eugh.

Rage. Rising.

Why do people like GTA so much? It just seems like a really big racist/sterotypical story driven game to me...

The wii wheel??? why?
clearly someone (or some thousands) didnt read the kotaku post on Kart controls before hitting up the Amazon!

It makes sense due to the amount of soccer moms purchasing WiiFit and Mario Kart out number the hardcore gamers purchasing GTAIV. In my opinion, GTA is a better buy than those two.

Slow news day

Casual gamers strike again! =P

A good thing to think about is that most people want GTA IV day one and don't want to wait around for the package to arrive (hardcore gamers). Thw Wii gamers are very casual gamers so why not just put the order in and get it online as to not miss out on the real game GTA4. lol

I work at blockbuster and we had a midnight launch for mariokart with almost 30 preorders (which is unheard of for our store)and gta IV only got 3, myslef included.

@D Mitsuki: Because it's not. It's a clever, fun story driven game that allows a lot of freedom.

I've been saying to my friends for a while now:

Wii market != PS3/360 market.

There's just no use comparing them in this way.

I avoid getting any games shipped. I just find it annoying that extra S&H is tagged as well as dealing with fedex and UPS.

I would imagine with the caliber of GTA's stature, most people would rather prefer to get it during the midnight lunch or be guaranteed at a lock brick and mortar.

Also note that GTA IV is divided into regular editions and collector's editions. This means that their sales are actually cut into *four* pieces, rather than the two implied by Mark's post. There's only one platform and one way to buy Mario Kart and Wii Fit. GTA's doing just fine, I think.

@greyhoundbus:
"Why do people like GTA so much? It just seems like a really big racist/sterotypical story driven game to me... "

Because it is good...

Okay, now we're just reaching for GTA stories. 11 more hours and the madness ends...or begins?

also the 360 version is selling better on amazon

@shilmafone: Good point, though I'm not sure the Collector's Edition market is anywhere near the size of another console.

Well, it's good to see GTA IV appear four times in the top ten. Which is also why it probably isn't number one (in addition to the "it comes out tonight" factor).

Hopefully we won't see something like this come June, and MGS 4 goes to and stays at the top.

@D Mitsuki: Hahah, good luck with that opinion on this comment board.

I guess a lot of people don't want to wait for delivery, would rather get it a.s.a.p.?

@D Mitsuki: And thats why people like it. Kind of funny huh?

@Fyren:

Unless you're like me, someone who'll just use GameFly, keep it until I beat it, and return it, never paying that $60 in the first place... :P

@SeedyROM: After GTA4 stories end the MGS4 ones begin.

I'm getting Wii Fit and GTA 4, therefore I win on all fronts.

Yoga and Pilates apparently attract more people to Amazon than guns and hookers. It's not exactly the strongest metric to use in terms of measuring sales, but it is interesting to see the games stacking up like that.

I'm not waiting for it to ship, and especially not paying $15 for 1 day shipping when I can just drive to Gamestop and pick it up.

@Mark Wilson: True - it's more a reaction to seeing all four editions on the top 10. Add all four of them up, and it seems like GTA would be an easy #1.

@D Mitsuki: I think you answered your own question...

Not everyone can handle cartoon games all the time. People want stuff that is more real. Like it or not streotypes are real, racism is real, and beating down hookers with a bat to get your money back is real.... so I have seen on Dateline or some other 60 Minutes type show.... I certainly wouldn't know myself..... I am totaly against that sort of thing....

QUIT STARING AT ME!!! I WAS NEVER CHARGED WITH ANYTHING!!!

So, has casual gaming destroyed hardcore gaming yet, or is the jury still out on that one?

Alright! Mario Kart Wii!! I'm probably gonna go pick up GTA4 later though..

There are multiple versions of GTA, and only one version of Wii Fit and Mario Kart. Add to that the fact that Wii Fit and Mario Kart are virtually the *only* titles of any real import coming to the Wii in the near future (yes, I have a Wii), and there's your explanation.

No casual gaming hasn't destroyed hardcore gaming aslong as casual games stay on the Pos wii >.< who buys a console with the same engine that a console in 2002-03 had...

Well, I'll be buying Wii Fit online, just because I don't want to look like a jackass getting it at a store. I dress metrosexual enough, I don't need more reasons to drive women away...

When will people start to realize that the more "casual gamers" who enter the market is a good thing because those "casual gamers" can eventually become "hardcore gamers" and then I guess they'll officially be in the club?

I don't understand why everyone feels the need to crap on someone because of what particular video games they play. How exactly is that any better than the whole PS3 vs. Xbox 360 fanboy crap? It's not. Why don't you play what you like to play, and let others play what they like to play?

One of these days, seriously ONE of these days, people will actually care more about their own lives than they do everyone else's.

And you people need to stop acting like it's IMPOSSIBLE for the same person to enjoy Mario Kart, Wii Fit, Grand Theft Auto IV, Madden, and Metal Gear Solid.

Seriously, grow up.

GTA will still out sell them in the long run.

@D Mitsuki: Thats funny I was never sure while people liked Mario Kart so much.

@xgenius: Remember, it's not about sales. If it was all about sales, the Wii would be the best system of the current three, right? That IS how sales work, right?

So Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft are ALL making god killing amounts of money? What's not to like?

I chose to pre-order GTAIV Special Edition from Amazon due to the following:
I have an Amazon Card 3x Rewards
I have Amazon coupon codes
Free Shipping
No Tax
But the most important to me was: Exclusive GTA IV License Plate (for the cubicle at work)

They're all good. ^_^

I'm a hardcore gamer who has been gaming for 21 years, and I am a lot more excited about Mario Kart and Wii Fit than GTA IV. GTA IV has always seemed to me like a collection of games that aren't quite as polished as an individual shooter, racer, etc.

Not to mention their juvenile tastes stopped interesting me back in high school. If I wanted to have sex with hookers to gain health then I would just do it in real life.

My local software etc. also had more preoders for Mario Kart. I thought it was strange.

The question is, do the sales of one affect the sales of the other? Although it may encompass some of the same people, each market is quite different. I may buy Mario Kart, and my wife is interested in the Wii Fit board, but I have absolutely no interest in GTA (although the recent reviews here and on Destructoid do make it sound more appealing than I originally thought).

As a side note, I am really tired of people equating violence, sex and drugs with "reality." People race go-karts in reality as well. Just because something exists in our world, does not make its depiction necessarily realistic. In fact, the GTA world is so cartoonish and over-the-top that it distorts reality. Mario doesn't do that (we're unlikely to come away with an altered view of the everyday world when fully immersed in an obviously imaginary world), so in a sense, GTA is less real (being negative, distorted reality) than mario (something we can immediately recognize as pure fantasy). I hope that makes some sense. I guess I just think that equating drugs, guns and hookers with realism actually embeds gamers firmly in a pre-pubescent vision of the real world, with boobies and explosions. Nothing wrong with that (well there is, but no worse than when it appears in movies), but that doesn't make it more mature. A Midsummer Night's dream is less based in our reality but more mature than the A Team (as awesome as Mr. T may be).

Drink milk!

NEW GAMERS BAD! BAAAAAD!

@D Mitsuki: That's like calling "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" a racist novel.. You're missing the whole point, the satire, how Rockstar is making fun of society, etc..

I honestly won't be surprised to see Wii Fit end up the top selling game this generation.

And the award for least comprehensible explanation of a reasoned argument goes to...

BOOOOO I HATE THE NU-NINTENDERS...

Keepin it old school.
I'll still buy them to complete my collection, but no way in hell will I stand for it outselling GTAIV.

@ph15h needs followers:
I do wonder what you'll do if it should outsell gta4. Start an online petition? :p

I'm just kidding, no worries. I am quite eager to see how gta4 works out. I should try it over at a mate's house one of these days I guess.

Just to add a bit more antecdotel fuel to the fire;

My local Game Crazy had over a dozen people signed up for the midnight release of Mario Kart Wii and ONE (that's numero uno) person signed up for the GTA IV midnight release.

There's nothing wrong with it, simple that every family in America will be seriously considering picking up Mario Kart, especially younger families (like mine) that grew up playing Mario Kart in school, and then throughout college.

GTA IV isn't so much a family game, and as much as I would LOVE to play it (after playing the first 3 to death!), I'm not going to buy it because I don't want that stuff in my house with my daughter on my TV.

@D Mitsuki: I never got 15 mins into the game, myself. Controlled terribly, and beating on people till the cops came got old after a few times. Mario Kart controls beautifully and really never gets old. GTA is overrated and Rainbow Road wins, imo. :)

Did anyone here, coming into this console generation, think that we'd be debating whether or not a Nintendo game would outsell Grand Theft Auto IV? And not just any game, but a fitness game?

Welcome to market expansion 101.

To be fair, Nintendo software takes a very long time to hit budget prices, if at all. SSBM and Mario Kart: DD are still $30, while GTA: San Andreas dropped to $20 a year after its release. To me, I'd buy the games that are cheaper now and don't depreciate in value as quickly.

Also, GTA IV doesn't have multiplayer, despite having an incredible one-player mode. Both Rockstar and Nintendo put a lot of effort in their games and it shows, so why the heck would people complain if both companies succeed? Something like 50 Cent: Bulletproof selling millions of copies is a tragedy.