It's not too difficult to track down the best-selling console and PC games of all time. Following the sales progress of the hottest titles has become something of a sport for a good chunk of web-browsing gamers. But what about arcades? Mainstream gaming was born in the corners of bars and pizza parlors, so why shouldn't we have easy access to arcade titles' rankings?
Jaz Rignall, editor-in-chief at USgamer, has been doing the leg work, tracking down data sources in order to compile the 10 highest-earning arcade games ever. Sitting at the top of the list is none other than gaming's first mascot, Pac-Man, whose debut pulled in a whopping $3.5 billion in quarters by 1990! Adjusted for inflation, that fgure would be nearly $7.7 billion today!
Other games that raked in the big bucks include the first two Mortal Kombats, Street Fighter II, NBA Jam, and Space Invaders. The full list is below, but I urge you to read the original article at the link above. The piece is updated sporadically as Rignall discovers more accurate data, but chances are there won't be any significant variance in the future.
10. Donkey Kong
9. Mortal Kombat
8. Mortal Kombat II
7. Asteroids
6. Defender
5. NBA Jam
4. Ms. Pac-Man
3. Street Fighter II
2. Space Invaders
1. Pac-Man
