Finger in the air time – take a guess at what you think is the biggest-selling console game in the USA over the last decade. Grand Theft Auto IV perhaps? Pah, not even close!

New numbers crunched by Stateside market-watchers, the NPD Group, place Wii Play at the top of the pile. And how – the game has not only shifted more units than all other contenders, but outpaced them by a large distance. Blimey, who knew?

We suspect that the extra Wii Remote that comes bundled with Wii Play has more to do with its success. The game itself is otherwise, er... how can we put it politely? – CRAP, even by the Wii’s often iffy standards. None of which seems to have influenced US punters, who have snapped up 11.1 million copies over the last ten years. Those crazy guys.

As you might expect, the also-rans are a pretty stellar bunch. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas takes second place with 8.25 million copies. Meanwhile Wii Fit, in third, racks up 7.9 million sales. We can’t help feeling that it would have done better too, if only Nintendo had sorted out its distribution at launch. But don’t get us all heated-up about that again.

Fourth-placed GTAIV’s 6.9 million total might seem a little trifling in comparison, especially for such a high-profile and super-controversial release. But moreso Mario Kart Wii in fifth. Nintendo’s enduring racer has barely strayed from our own top ten since it arrived 18 months ago, and we daresay it’s the same in the US. For all that it’s sold just 6.7 million copies.

But, whatever, it’s still a stunning result for Nintendo on the whole, with three of the top five biggest-selling games in the world’s largest single economy over the last decade. Rockstar will be more than happy to take up the remaining two places too, although they’ll need to work hard to maintain their presence what with Nintendo on the verge of releasing Wii Fit Plus and the paradigm-shifting Wii Vitality Sensor. Anyone want to bet against a clean sweep for Nintendo ten years hence? Thought not...