Wii Fit to Outsell GTA by End of 2008

Recent reports say that Wii Fit, Nintendo’s at home personal training game will outsell Take Two’s vastly popular Grand Theft Auto IV by the end of the year.

GTA IV is often referred to as the best selling game of 2008. Released at around the same time but receiving considerably less media attention, is Nintendo’s Wii Fit. One is marketed at young males, the other, the casual gaming market, which is dominated by, well, everyone — including the elusive female demographic.

GigaOm has a forecast chart displaying sales of both GTA and Wii Fit and quotes analyst Michael Pachter as saying that if the current attachment rate of Wii Fit (one in three) were to remain constant, Wii Fit will outsell GTA.

If Wii Fit does indeed overtake GTA in time for 2009, we’re inclined to believe it will be holiday and New Year’s resolution sales that take it there as opposed to popularity. While there’s no doubt that Nintendo’s game is popular, sales at the moment indicate it’s not as popular as GTA. Take Two has shifted roughly 10.6 million copies of GTA, while Nintendo lags behind with 8.7 million units sold.

Keep in mind that GTA is available on both the Xbox 360 and the PS3, while Wii Fit is exclusive to Nintendo’s machine. Of course, the installed base of the Wii by itself is already formidable against even the combined numbers of Sony and Microsoft’s consoles.

Unfortunately, plenty of people have a problem with GTA and among them, are the parents of many kids who would love to get a copy for Christmas. Wii Fit is a game that tons of people will be given for Christmas but unfortunately the same cannot be said of GTA.

Check out the flow chart on GigaOm.

Related Links

Review of Wii Fit on Tom’s Games
Review of Grand Theft Auto IV on Tom’s Games