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PS2 is one of the biggest-selling video game consoles of all time, with over 160,000,000 consoles sold worldwide since 2000
- Thread starter Thick Thighs Save Lives
- Start date
- Hardware Sales-Age
Soltype
Member
What makes the switch crazy is that it just plays games, super impressive.
Robb
Gold Member
It’s just a cat and mouse game at this point.
Nintendo: We’ll be revealing the successor to the Nintendo Switch next year.
Sony: Actually the Ps2 sold 160M, not 155M.
Nintendo: Due to internal delays we have to push the reveal of the Switch successor a couple of months.
Sony: Would you look at that.. The Ps2 actually sold 165M.
Nintendo: Please look forward to the Switch successor in 2026.
Etc.
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lh032
I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
Custom architecture would be serious trouble for BC
DenchDeckard
Moderated wildly
It's going to magically be 170 million before nintendo gets there.
So fucking strange these numbers are coming out now and it's happened twice. Someone's shook!
TheGodfather07
Member
I guess sales numbers are a strange concept to xbox fans. What Sony should have done was include anyone who even held a PS2 controller. Did your grandad watch a movie on it? Good, throw them in the figure! PS2 had 500 million users. Sony needs to learn from Microsoft on how to spin metrics.
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TheGodfather07
Member
Just over 100m I think. It was insane how fast it was selling in its first 3-4 years but then it just fell off a cliff.
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chokotoureiki
Member
Yet PS2 sold over 1.5 billion copies of software with a 9.81 attach ratio. The whole notion of ppl buying PS2s strictly for DVD use is completely false BS spread by Nintendo fans who often lie through their cavity ridden teeth.
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SweetTooth
Gold Member
Switch had a way longer life with no successor, if PS2 had this luxury it would definitely sell more.
PS2 had only 6/5 years (released 2001 in Europe, RotW) before being replaced by PS3 in 2006
PS2 had only 6/5 years (released 2001 in Europe, RotW) before being replaced by PS3 in 2006
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SweetTooth
Gold Member
Sony could keep selling PS5 to 2030 and pass this number easily .. just like how Nintendo is prolonging Switch life.
But when you think about it, does it really matter who sold more? PS2 was successful, Switch is successful, PS5 is successful.
It's not that big of a deal in the end.
SweetTooth
Gold Member
Both legendary consoles, I prefer PS1 like you and consider it the most significant console ever by how it changed gaming from kiddy toys to tackling a more mature audiences plus establishing some of the more significant franchises ever.
RetroGamingUK
Member
I remember the Wii being insanely popular for a couple of years with the mainstream then the fad just fizzling out.
chokotoureiki
Member
Dunno why Ninty fans are so obsessed with Switch overtaking PS2. Yeah after losing their stranglehold in the handheld market by discontinuing the DS/3DS and going one pillar not to mention having their marketshare and profits shrunk is it really a victory? Thank God Steam Deck and Asus ROG are out bc I sure as hell don't want the Switch's success to initiate a trend of underpowered hardware with joycon drifts and half-assed ports with crappy framerates.
Maybe they will restart production of the PS2 again, a new model with HDMI and USB 2.0. Or they could start counting the arcade versions (System 246) as units sold.
chokotoureiki
Member
No Sega killed themselves by making all sorts of bad decisions and losing money. Idk why they didn't make the Dreamcast profitable from the start. Changing the price to $199 instead of keeping the original price of $299 was a big mistake.
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PeteBull
Member
To make u feel better, if dreamcast launched today/this gen, with comparable performance to ps5/xsx and the amount of high quality games/exclusives it had back then, it would decimate competition hard
KungFucius
King Snowflake
Are you sure about this? Why would any investor be OK with such poor accounting? If the defect rate was high, they should be telling that to investors.
It is not clear how many defective units would be tossed though. If you have a warranty replacement, often it is a refurb. They take your bad unit, send you a repaired unit then repair your original bad unit to give to someone else with a bad unit. Also these things tend to have shit warranties. It is more likely that there were more units sold to customers to replace out of warranty systems than were produced to cover defects.
Robb
Gold Member
They surpassed the combined Wii/DS profits years ago with the Switch and have only soared higher since.
Unlike Ps2 which was sold for pennies with the draw of also being a DVD player the Switch will be reaching Ps2 numbers with no price drops over the span of 8 years, as a ‘games only’ machine, in a shorter time span, making more money than Sony ever did with Ps2.
Not only is it a humongous victory (already), it’s absolute insanity.
chokotoureiki
Member
No price drops? What about the Switch Lite? Or the bundles? There's like 3 SKUs with the Switch and several limited editions, many of which are sold to repeat buyers like myself. Being a 'games only' machine? So what? That makes the public perception of it being a toy. I don't see how that's a good thing. Does that make it better than the PC too? Making more money than PS2? Couldn't be any more wrong, esp as their profits have shrunk drastically last quarter by 60%. I guess when you heavily rely on a formula of doling out ports like Mario Kart 8 and Mario All Stars Bundle plus charging full prices for 10+ yr old rehashes and their mindless fans gobble them up like lapdogs...yay for capitalism I guess? Trust me hun, going from 2 pillar to 1 pillar ain't a humongous victory, esp when they're providing you underpowered hardware that can barely compete with last gen consoles.
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Robb
Gold Member
That’s a lot of spinning. But you tell yourself whatever helps you sleep at night I guess.
Also, that’s only hardware. Don’t even get me started on software which has been an absolutely insane ride for Nintendo’s first party efforts. Ps2’s first party software sales absolutely pales in comparison. And all while managing to keep their software virtually full priced for throughout the entire generation. Crazy stuff.
Managing all of this after the WiiU failure is just the cherry on top.
jm89
Member
Why reduce this to first party?
Nintendo switch is no where near PS2s game library as a whole. Switch misses out on so many incredible thrid party games.
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Great for Nintendo shareholders but seems unfortunate for Switch owners?
Robb
Gold Member
You don’t have to. I just interpreted the criticism as being towards Nintendo themselves not being ‘victorious’ with the Switch, in which first party is what is most relevant.
Definitely, which I guess is why emulation is so popular.
I’ve wanted an upgrade of the Switch since two years back. Seeing the numbers it’s still doing, I understand why they keep milking it. But man.. It’s so old now. I can’t believe people still buy it at full price.
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chokotoureiki
Member
Spinning? You're the one that's trying to gaslight the whole predicament of the Switch with its diminishing returns. It's profits are dwindling and market share have shrunk badly! At this point, 146 mil is merely a notch count at this point...what good will that do? Not really a flex when they literally discontinued the 3DS and had to combine their handheld/home markets to stay relevant. I don't really care about 1st party comparisons. I find most Nintendo games pretty overrated anyways and no amount of critic scores are going to sway me esp as most gamers have lost faith in journalism nowadays. Supporting full priced software is such a shill thing to say....I guess you support digital downloads and 10 yr old rehashes being full priced too so long as it fattens Nintendo's pockets. And ppl call Sony anti-consumer for charging $700 for PS5 Pro lol.
chokotoureiki
Member
He sounds like one of those martyrs that don't mind going broke for a soulless corp that couldn't give two shits about his pawn-like existence. No wonder most Nintendo fans are in debt and broke AF.
Robb
Gold Member
Yeah, spinning and a lot of opinions, but that is fine. I’m just laying out the facts, you are free to dislike them.
I don’t like Nintendo’s greedy practices either and frankly they need a slap in the face. Which I think they will get, at least somewhat, because I see no way for the “Switch 2” to reach the heights of the Switch in terms of neither software nor hardware personally.
Tiago Rodrigues
Member
It also had an incredible boost for 2 years since it was the only console widely available during the biggest pandemic that has ever existed since consoles are made and the world population was sitting around at home. People never mention that. The console would be nowhere near these numbers nor would it have peaked at 30M consoles sold in a single year if not for covid.
If PS2 has the "It plays DVDs" excuse, then we should also do this for both sides. Both had huge boosts when they were peaking for different reasons. Animal Crossing was arguably the game of the pandemic tbh.
Mr Moose
Member
So fucking strange these numbers are coming out now, at the 30th anniversary of PlayStation. Even though we've known it was 160M for ages now. Yup, so fucking strange.
Sales-Age - Jim Ryan: PS2 sold 160 million units
Huh? Nintendo isn't immune from long development cycles either. That's why Switch had to rely so heavily on Wii U ports initially and for several years after too. This had a lot more to do with them suddenly shifting their priorities than the games having long dev cycles. A lot of them were...
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chokotoureiki
Member
Incorporating the DVD player was a strategy to reel in non-gamers just like the Wii bundled in Wii Sports to sell to the grandmas and soccer moms.
Holammer
Member
People arguing about the PS2/Switch sales numbers. Go back 20 years and the market was smaller than today, making the PS2 number all the more impressive. 40 years ago the NES was the undisputed king of the hill on the 8-bit market and it "only" sold 62M machines.
By the early 32-bit generation many ex-soviet countries got their economy sorted and the market increased, this is still happening today with India and other south east Asian countries having a growing middle class with money to spend.
Give it another 20 years and North African countries will become just as important a market as Germany and France today (Egypt alone got the population Spain and France combined). If consoles as we know them still exist by then, getting less than 100M machines sold will be failure.
By the early 32-bit generation many ex-soviet countries got their economy sorted and the market increased, this is still happening today with India and other south east Asian countries having a growing middle class with money to spend.
Give it another 20 years and North African countries will become just as important a market as Germany and France today (Egypt alone got the population Spain and France combined). If consoles as we know them still exist by then, getting less than 100M machines sold will be failure.
Musashipan
Member
sony is full of bs
chokotoureiki
Member
Not to mention PS2 didn't have the luxury that the Switch have today - smartphones, social media, streamers and influencers, Twitch, Youtube, digital stores, Amazon. People back then were also more patient, not like today where everyone wants instantaneous information right away.
Robb
Gold Member
I don’t buy that analogy. How many systems have had a run at it since Ps2? Around 15 if we include handhelds? And not a single one have been able to get to even 155M, let alone 160M.
The market is bigger today but also a lot more diluted given the growth of PC, Phones etc. etc.
Ps2 is incredibly impressive. But Ps5, or Ps6, not reaching Ps2 numbers won’t be a failure. Just like Ps4 wasn’t a failure.
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Alan Wake
Member
This was not the perception from a Sega fanboy at the time.
Damien Crowley
Member
The originals USB 1.0 hits different, when you try to retrogame with a bit of QOL and put on that games-from-USB-hack
ReyBrujo
Member
PS2 had the luxury of being the cheapest DVD player in the market when DVD technology was blossoming, and one could say smarphones actually obliterated the handheld market (IIRC the mobile phone gaming market is over 3 times the size of console, handheld and PC gaming market together).
TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
It's more impressive because it ended it's generation dominant, it beat what came before and what came after.
And it wasn't getting those numbers after the competition had already finished the generation 1st place.
chokotoureiki
Member
Right, I agree that the DVD player feature did help sell the console, though I think the BC aspect was more attractive as I remember it being heavily marketed considering it was the first console to do so.
When the PS2 first released, I was more interested in the BC than the DVD player, as I already had one in my old Pentium. I wanted to play my large PS1 collection with improved textures and loading times on PS2 so I traded my PS1 for store credit to help fund my PS2 purchase.
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cireza
Member
Only Sony can sell 10+ millions consoles after stopping manufacturing them.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jan/04/playstation-2-manufacture-ends-years
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jan/04/playstation-2-manufacture-ends-years
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Heimdall_Xtreme
Hermen Hulst Fanclub's #1 Member
Nintendo switch will be the new PS2 of the generation.
Mr Moose
Member
Business Data & Sales
Sony Interactive Entertainment offers its business and sales information for those seeking to understand our sales wins.
sonyinteractive.com
PlayStation®2 More than 155.0 million
(As of March 31, 2012)
cireza
Member
So they sold 5 millions after ending production. That's still amazing. Well done SonyBusiness Data & Sales
Sony Interactive Entertainment offers its business and sales information for those seeking to understand our sales wins.
PlayStation®2 More than 155.0 million
(As of March 31, 2012)
Mr Moose
Member
Are you trolling?So they sold 5 millions after ending production. That's still amazing. Well done Sony
Your article is January 4th 2013, they couldn't sell 5M from March 2012?
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