HT Games
Pinpointing the absolute best-selling game before The Sims (Feb 2000) is messy. Sales tracking was fragmented (no NPD digital, no Steam, regional reporting varied), and "shipped" vs. "sold-through" numbers blur. But the heavy hitters are clear.
~500+ million copies across Game Boy (35M bundled), NES, mobile (EA's 100M+ paid mobile downloads pre-2010), and countless ports. If you count every licensed cartridge, cartridge+pack-in, and paid mobile download, nothing touches it. Guinness World Records lists it as #1.
| Game | Platform(s) | Est. Sales (Pre-2000) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Super Mario Bros. | NES (pack-in), SNES (All-Stars), GBC (Deluxe) | ~40M+ | Pack-in dominance. Best-selling *standalone* cartridge for decades. |
| Pac-Man | Arcade, Atari 2600 (7M), NES, every port imaginable | ~30M+ (home ports) | Arcade cabinets: 400k+ units ($1B+ quarters). Cultural phenomenon. |
| Duck Hunt | NES (pack-in with SMB) | ~28M+ | Almost always bundled. Standalone sales negligible. |
| Super Mario World | SNES (pack-in) | ~20M+ | Defined SNES era. |
| Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow | Game Boy | ~31M+ (Red/Blue), ~14M (Yellow) | Launched late '98 (JP) / '99 (US). Explosive pre-2000. |
| Gran Turismo | PS1 | ~10.8M | Best-selling PS1 game. Leggy sales. |
| Final Fantasy VII | PS1 | ~9.8M | JRPG breakthrough in West. |
The Sims sold ~16M by 2005 (base game). With expansions, franchise hit 200M+. It was the best-selling PC game of its time, but Tetris, Super Mario Bros., and Pac-Man outsold it globally before 2000 by a wide margin.
Verdict: Tetris is the correct answer for "best-selling video game before The Sims." Super Mario Bros. is the best-selling standalone console cartridge. Pac-Man is the highest-grossing arcade game. All three predate 2000 by 10-15 years.