8 Video Games EVERYONE Got Obsessed With
The viral games that none of us could put down.
There are so many great video games being released every single month that it's impossible for any of us to keep track of all of them, and yet, sometimes a game manages to cut through all the noise and capture the attention of just about everyone.
It's never been tougher for a game to do this, and so it's increasingly impressive when one manages to make everyone categorically obsessed with it - even better if it's actually good.
And case in point, these eight games all became smash hits that had millions of eyeballs upon them - and none of us saw it coming.
It won't be a surprise to hear that most of them ended up going viral and benefitting enormously from everything that entails, propelling them to levels of obsessive popularity nobody, not even the developers themselves, ever thought possible.
The enormous success that these games all enjoyed, leaving just about everyone unable to put the controller down, is a testament to the fact that you never know which games are going to pop off out of nowhere and become the next big hotness...
8. Wii Sports
Wii Sports is a fascinating example of a viral hit, because while its status as the best-selling console-exclusive game of all time is largely due to it being included as a pack-in with the Nintendo Wii, it ended up having some serious cultural staying power.
While it would've surprised nobody if Wii Sports was simply a shallow tech demo that was quickly dismissed when Wii owners moved onto more advanced games, it ended up being a major selling point for the console, largely due to its unique, accessible motion controls and party game vibes.
Wii Sports is the game that convinced non-gamers to give the Wii a try, uniting families around the TV to partake in bowling, tennis, boxing, and so on.
And so even the game's 82 million units sold don't really tell the full story - Wii Sports had everyone, even grandmas and grandpas who'd never held a controller in their lives before, taking a crack at it on their grandkids' Wii.
That's quite the phenomenal legacy for a game that's certainly not a major Nintendo IP, even if it's connected with more people worldwide than most of their more beloved titles.