While the U.S. remains on top in the videogame market, a surprising turn of events over the past several years has resulted in the UK videogame market emerging as number two, beating Japan for the first time in history.

Dorian Bloch, Business Group Director, GfK Chart-Track Limited, recently made the following statement:

“UK console videogame software units are more than double what was achieved in 2003, which just shows how fast the UK market has been growing. Because of this amazing growth and coupled with the downtown currently being experienced in Japan, the UK market has for the first time overtaken Japan as the No2 world market. Although still behind on revenue, the gap has narrowed considerably and it will be interesting to see how things develop during 2009.”

Additionally, the UK market saw the largest year-over-year increase with sales up 26 percent, besting U.S. figures of 15 percent and Japan’s disappointing drop in sales by 13 percent. Much of Japan’s decline is attributed to a drop in PS2 software sales by 46 percent.

According to Anita Frazier, industry analyst for the NPD Group, “Only two months in 2008 saw a decline in unit sales in the U.S., with one due in large part to the release of 360 Halo 3 in Sept’07 and the other due to an additional week in the Jan’07 retail calendar.”

Combined sales of these top three markets show an overall increase in the gaming industry of 11 percent, with sales of 409.9 million units versus the 367.7 million units sold across these markets in 2007. Hooray growth!

After researching the million-selling games available for PlayStation 3, I thought it only fair to follow that up with the Xbox 360’s million-sellers. Listed here are all of the Xbox 360 games that have to date sold over one million copies worldwide, based on the latest and greatest information I had available. Likewise with the PS3 list, there are some games (like Madden 09) that I could not find current numbers on, but we all know Madden 09 sold more than a million copies (EA says they sold 4.5 million) and would likely be higher on this list.

Listed in order of sales (in millions):

1. Halo 3, Microsoft — 8.4
2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Activision — 6.6
3. Grand Theft Auto IV, Take-Two Interactive — 6.2
4. Gears Of War, Microsoft — 5.3
5. Forza Motorsport 2, Microsoft — 4.1
6. Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft — 4.0
7. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, RedOctane — 3.5
8. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, 2K Games — 2.6
9. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Activision — 2.5
10. Madden NFL 08, Electronic Arts — 2.4
11. Guitar Hero II, RedOctane — 2.3
12. Call of Duty 2, Activision — 2.2
13. Tom Clancy Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Ubisoft — 2.2
14. Tom Clancy Rainbow Six: Vegas, Ubisoft — 2.2
15. Call of Duty 3, Activision — 2.1
16. Gears of War 2, Microsoft — 2.1
17. Mass Effect, Microsoft — 2.1
18. BioShock, 2K Games — 2.0
19. Saints Row, THQ — 1.9
20. Rock Band, MTV Games — 1.9
21. Madden NFL 07, Electronic Arts — 1.8
22. Fight Night Round 3, Electronic Arts — 1.8
23. Dead Rising, Capcom — 1.8
24. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, Ubisoft — 1.7
25. Lost Planet, Capcom — 1.7
26. Viva Pinata, Microsoft — 1.6
27. Need for Speed ProStreet, Electronic Arts — 1.5
28. Crackdown, Microsoft — 1.5
29. Fable II, Microsoft — 1.5
30. Project Gotham Racing 3, Microsoft — 1.5
31. Need for Speed Most Wanted, Electronic Arts — 1.5
32. FIFA 08, Electronic Arts — 1.4
33. Perfect Dark Zero, Microsoft — 1.4
34. Tom Clancy Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, Ubisoft — 1.4
35. Need for Speed Carbon, Electronic Arts — 1.4
36. Army of Two, Electronic Arts — 1.4
37. WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008, THQ — 1.3
38. Madden NFL 09, Electronic Arts — 1.3
39. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, LucasArts — 1.2
40. Tom Clancy Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Ubisoft — 1.2
41. Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Eidos Interactive — 1.1
42. Devil May Cry 4, Capcom — 1.1
43. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, Konami — 1.1
44. Project Gotham Racing 4, Microsoft — 1.1
45. Pro Evolution Soccer 6, Konami — 1.1
46. Dead or Alive 4, Tecmo — 1.0
47. The Simpsons Game, Electronic Arts — 1.0

After publishing my LittleBigPlanet story about sales numbers, in which I mentioned the million-sellers for PS3 and Xbox 360, I have since seen some ripples in the gaming community wondering what these million-selling games are. So I used the various tools and information from NPD and sites like Chart-Track to compile this list of PS3 games with worldwide sales over one million units, as accurate as I could make it with the latest information I had.

Games listed in order of sales (in millions):

1. Grand Theft Auto IV, Take-Two Interactive — 4.8
2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Activision — 3.7
3. Motorstorm, Sony Computer Entertainment — 3.6
4. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Konami — 3.4
5. Resistance: Fall of Man, Sony Computer Entertainment — 3.2
6. Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft — 2.9
7. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Sony Computer Entertainment — 2.2
8. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Sony Computer Entertainment– 1.9
9. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, Konami — 1.6
10. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, RedOctane — 1.6
11. FIFA 08, Electronic Arts — 1.6
12. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Sony Computer Entertainment — 1.4
13. Need for Speed: ProStreet, Electronic Arts — 1.4
14. Devil May Cry 4, Capcom — 1.3
15. Heavenly Sword, Sony Computer Entertainment — 1.2
16. FIFA 09, Electronic Arts — 1.1
17. WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008, THQ — 1.0

Hope that helps.

Notice: There are other titles, such as Madden 09, that I could not find solid numbers on, but Wikipedia lists total sales across all platforms at 4.5 million, so one could assume it sold at least a million on PS3.