Guitar Hero III tops list of this generation's best selling games

Guitar Hero III is the best selling video game of the "current generation," according to market research firm NPD Group's retail-only data. The top-ten games are revealed over on CNBC.

• 1. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

• 2. Call of Duty: Black Ops

• 3. Wii Fit

• 4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

• 5. Rock Band

• 6. Wii Play

• 7. Guitar Hero World Tour

• 8. Wii Fit Plus

• 9. Mario Kart Wii

• 10. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

The list is ranked by non-inflation-adjusted gross retail sales, so peripheral-based games such as Guitar Hero and Wii Fit will have an edge. NDP's data reaches back to 1995, not including games bundled with systems or digital sales.

The popularity of music games has not been without cost, though. The market quickly became over-saturated, profits fell, and Guitar Hero owner Activision ultimately shut down its music games business unit.

While the Call of Duty franchise is also riding high in this list, it's difficult not to look at the fate of Guitar Hero and feel concerned. Activision has a number of developers working on multiple Call of Duty titles, and has even created a studio named Beachhead to create a "digital platform" for the shooter series.