List of video game world records
Subject |
Record |
Game |
Year |
Most voice actors |
861, of which 174 for named characters |
Grand Theft Auto IV |
2008 |
Most cars available |
936 |
Gran Turismo 5 |
2005 |
Most licensed sound tracks |
214 songs |
Grand Theft Auto IV |
2008 |
Most licensed sound tracks (non-radio) |
90 songs across 9 genres |
Project Gotham Racing |
2001 |
Longest cut scene |
15 minutes, 17 seconds |
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots |
2008 |
Most swearing |
189 uses of the word [...] |
The House of the Dead: Overkill |
2009 |
The largest playable environment in a console game |
5,560 square miles (14,400 square km) |
Fuel |
2009 |
Game release records
Subject |
Record |
Game |
Year |
Most ported video game |
59 game platforms |
Tetris |
1985 |
Most official and unofficial variants |
40+ |
Tetris |
1985 |
Most expensive game production |
$100 million |
Grand Theft Auto IV |
2008 |
Most controversial video game series |
Over 4,000 news stories in the US regarding controversy |
Grand Theft Auto |
1997 |
Character appearance records
Subject |
Record |
Game |
Year |
Most appearances in a video game |
116 (200+ including remakes and rereleases) |
Mario |
1983 |
Most cameo appearances in other video games |
38 (non-playable cameo's only) |
The Legend of Zelda-series |
1986 |
Firsts
This is a list of the first video game or video game console to do or feature something. There is not a clear definition of the first video game to list here. For more information AbOUT the first video game, see the article First video game.
Technical firsts
First |
Game/console |
Year |
...video game console |
Magnavox Odyssey |
1975 |
...game with cooperative gameplay (turn-based) |
Dungeon |
1975 |
...game with in-game advertising |
Adventureland |
1978 |
...game with animated cut scenes |
Donkey Kong |
1981 |
...game console to offer downloadable content |
Intellivision with the PlayCable |
1981 |
...game with cooperative gameplay (simultaneous) |
Joust |
1982 |
...console game to have a save option |
The Legend of Zelda |
1986 |
...3-dimensional console game |
Alpha Waves |
1990 |
...game console to offer online gaming |
Nintendo Entertainment System with the Teleplay Modem |
1992 |
...console game with 3-dimensional sprites |
Star Fox |
1993 |
...game with a deathmatch mode |
Doom |
1993 |
...game with interactive cut scenes |
Die Hard Arcade |
1996 |
...game with dynamic in-game advertising |
SWAT 4 |
2005 |
Genre firsts
First |
Game/console |
Year |
...Adventure game |
Colossal Cave Adventure |
1976 |
...Platform game |
Frogs |
1978 |
...Action-adventure game |
Adventure |
1979 |
...Fighting game |
Warrior |
1979 |
...Stealth game |
005 |
1981 |
...Music video game |
Kawasaki Synthesizer |
1983 |
...3D Platform game |
Alpha Waves |
1990 |
...Survival horror game |
Alone in the Dark |
1992 |
...Advergame |
Zool |
1992 |
...cel-shaded video game |
Fear Effect |
2001 |
Sales firsts
First |
Game/console |
Year |
...game to sell more than 1 million copies (port) |
Space Invaders (Atari 2600-version) |
1978 |
...game to sell more than 1 million copies (original) |
Adventure |
1979 |
...game to sell more than 10 million copies |
Super Mario Bros. |
1985 |
...game franchise to sell more than 100 million copies |
Mario |
1981 |
...game console to sell more than 50 million copies |
Nintendo Entertainment System |
1985 |
...game console to sell more than 100 million copies |
Game Boy |
1989 |
...game home console to sell more than 100 million copies |
PlayStation 2 |
2000 |
...game console to sell more than 1 million copies in the United States in one year |
Wii |
2007 |
...game publisher to sell more than 1 billion games |
Nintendo |
2007 |
Character, Story & Setting firsts
First |
Game/console |
Year |
...Christian video game (licensed) |
Music Machine |
1983 |
...game to feature an original black game character |
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out |
1987 |
...Christian video game (original) |
Bible Adventures |
1991 |
...game to feature an original playable black game character |
Super Street Fighter II |
1993 |
Controversial firsts
First |
Game/console |
Year |
...controversial game |
Death Race |
1976 |
...game to contain explicit nudity and [...] acts |
Custer's Revenge |
1982 |
...game to receive a "Mature" rating from the ESRB |
Doom |
1993 |
...game to use the word "homosexual" to describe a character |
The Orion Conspiracy |
1995 |
...game to use the word "[...]" uncensored |
The Orion Conspiracy |
1995 |
...game to be denied a BBFC classification and effectively being banned in the UK |
Carmageddon |
1997 |
...,and only, racist video game |
Ethnic Cleansing |
2002 |
...,and only, extreme sports video game to be censored |
BMX [...] |
2002 |
Sales records
Best-selling
Record |
Game/console |
Year |
Sales |
...video game console |
PlayStation 2 |
2000 |
140 million |
...handheld game console |
Game Boy |
1989 |
118.69 million |
...console manufacturer |
Nintendo |
1983 |
506.99 million |
...video game (bundled with console) |
Wii Sports |
2006 |
40.5 million |
...video game (not bundled) |
Nintendogs |
2005 |
21.67 million |
...game mod |
Counter-Strike |
1999 (mod) / 2000 (retail) |
10.7 million |
...video game on the PC |
The Sims |
2002 |
16 million |
...video game on a Nintendo console (bundled with console) |
Wii Sports |
2006 |
40.5 million |
...video game on a Nintendo console (not bundled) |
Nintendogs |
2005 |
21.67 million |
...video game on a PlayStation console |
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec |
2001 |
14.89 million (shipped) |
...video game on a Xbox console |
HaLo 2 |
2004 |
9 million |
...video game on a Sega console |
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 |
1992 |
6 million (shipped) |
...video game franchise |
Mario |
1981 |
201 million |
Fastest-selling
Fastest-selling... |
Game/console |
Year |
Record at |
Current sales |
...game console |
Wii |
2006 |
20 million |
44.96 million |
...video game |
Grand Theft Auto IV |
2008 |
2 million |
+10 million |
Game reception records
Best... |
Game |
GR |
MC |
MG |
Average score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
...game of all time |
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time |
97.613 |
99 |
95 |
97.2 |
...7th generation game |
Grand Theft Auto IV |
96.92 |
98 |
96 |
96.97 |
...6th generation game |
Soulcalibur |
96.26 |
98 |
96 |
96.75 |
...CASUAL game (by core game review media) |
Plants vs. Zombies |
89.5 |
88 |
88 |
89 |
All-time rankings
# |
Game |
Year |
Average score |
1 |
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time |
1998 |
97.2 |
2 |
Grand Theft Auto IV |
2008 |
96.97 |
3 |
Super Mario Galaxy |
2007 |
96.76 |
4 |
Soulcalibur |
1999 |
96.75 |
5 |
''Metroid Prime |
2002 |
96.42 |
6 |
Resident Evil 4 |
2005 |
95.92 |
7 |
Halo: Combat Evolved |
2001 |
95.81 |
8 |
The Orange Box |
2007 |
95.68 |
9 |
Grand Theft Auto III |
2001 |
95.64 |
10 |
Half-Life 2 |
2004 |
95.49 |
Genre best
Genre |
Game |
Year |
Average score |
Platform game |
Super Mario Galaxy |
2007 |
96.76 |
Adventure game |
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time |
1998 |
97.2 |
Action-adventure game |
Grand Theft Auto IV |
2008 |
96.97 |
First-person shooter |
Halo: Combat Evolved |
2001 |
95.81 |
Third-person shooter |
Resident Evil 4 |
2005 |
95.92 |
Beat 'em up |
Soulcalibur |
1999 |
96.75 |
Role-playing game |
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic |
2003 |
94.06 |
Racing game |
Gran Turismo |
1997 |
95.24 |
Miscellaneous records
Non-game adaptations
- Super Mario Bros. was the first live action movie based on a video game.
- Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is the most successful movie based on a video game, grossing $274,703,34 in cinemas worldwide.
- Alone in the Dark is the least successful movie based on a video game, grossing just $5,178,569 in US cinemas, while production costs were around $20 million.
- The first video game to inspire a ballet was Dragon Quest.
- Lara Croft is the video game character with the most real life stand-ins: 9.
Professional gaming
- SK Gaming was the first gaming clan to legally bind their players to the clan.
- At the of age 6, Victor De Leon aka Lil Poison became the Youngest Professional Video Gamer in the World.
Gamers
- The largest audience for a video game performance was achieved when Lyndon Jones and Renos Georgiou played Guitar Hero III at the Give It a Name-festival in London on May 11, 2008 in front of 9,600 people.
- The Longest Prison Sentence for Playing a Video Game, was given to Faiz Chopdat from the United Kingdom in September 2002, who was jailed for four months for playing Tetris on his cell phone while on a flight to Manchester, England. He refused to stop playing after being repeatedly warned by the cabin staff.
Other records
- PlayStation has got the most variations of video game hardware, namely 28 (34 including developer units).
- Pokémon was the first game to get its own theme park, Poképark.