The Best-Selling Videogames

Playing videogames is serious business. In five years, say analysts, the industry could rack up $50 billion in sales and possibly eclipse Hollywood for dominance in the entertainment sector. That isn’t as far-fetched a prediction as you might think. Last month’s release of Grand Theft Auto IV, the latest in Rockstar Games’ raunchy crime series, earned more than $500 million in its first week. That take topped the box office take of “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” which pulled in just $406 million. In total, U.S. sales of videogame hardware and software skyrocketed 47 percent to $1.23 billion this April. Here are the trailblazing best sellers of the videogaming industry.