Were you curious about the top video game brands of 2008? You don’t have to answer; I know you were. Luckily, an industry report (via Joystiq) reveals the top 30 grossing franchises of last year, which many agree was one of the best years for video games ever. There are a lot of returning champions, like Activision, Nintendo, EA, Ubisoft, and even Microsoft managed to sneak in there. Notably absent, however, is Sony, with not one top-grossing franchise. Ouch.

   1. Guitar Hero (Activision Blizzard) $ 992 million
   2. Mario Brothers (Nintendo) $ 761 million
   3. Rock Band (Electronic Arts) $ 662 million
   4. Call Of Duty (Activision Blizzard) $ 446 million
   5. Wii Fit (Nintendo) $ 407 million
   6. Grand Theft Auto (Take-Two Interactive) $ 361 million
   7. Madden Football (Electronic Arts) $ 312 million
   8. Wii Play (Nintendo) $ 261 million
   9. LEGO (LucasArts) $ 224 million
  10. Star Wars (LucasArts) $ 180 million
  11. Sonic (Sega) $ 163 million
  12. Gears Of War (Microsoft) $ 146 million
  13. The Sims (Electronic Arts) $ 143 million
  14. Tom Clancy (Ubisoft) $ 130 million
  15. Pokemon (Nintendo) $ 119 million
  16. Need For Speed (Electronic Arts) $ 106 million
  17. Warcraft (Activision Blizzard) $ 104 million
  18. WWE (THQ) $ 103 million
  19. Fallout (Bethesda Softworks) $ 100 million
  20. NCAA Football (Electronic Arts) $ 94 million
  21. Tiger Woods (Electronic Arts) $ 89 million
  22. FIFA (Electronic Arts) $ 79 million
  23. Imagine (Ubisoft) $ 78 million
  24. Final Fantasy (Square Enix) $ 78 million
  25. Dance Dance Revolution (Konami) $ 78 million
  26. Metal Gear Solid (Konami) $ 77 million
  27. Fable (Microsoft) $ 77 million
  28. NBA Live (Electronic Arts) $ 71 million
  29. Mortal Kombat (Midway Games) $ 70 million
  30. Petz (Ubisoft) $ 70 million

It’s kind of disappointing to see Guitar Hero outshining Rock Band, but keep in mind that no less than six GH games were released in 2008 (including DS installments, cell phone versions, and the Aerosmith expansion), compared to Rock Band 2 and Rock Band AC/DC (and the DLC, some of which was put on disc for those without online capabilities). Also, how is it that not one Sony franchise (including the much hyped Resistance 2, which came out late last year) could crack $70 million, but both Petz and Sonic are on this list?