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PS5 Outsells NES Lifetime Sales

Lunatic_Gamer

Lunatic_Gamer

Member
iu


Sony's latest video game console, the PlayStation 5, which is part of the ninth generation of video game consoles, has outsold the lifetime sales of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), according to VGChartz estimates.

The PS5 had sold an estimated 61.94 million units worldwide through September 2024, while the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) sold 61.91 million units lifetime.

Up next for the PS5 is the Nintendo 3DS with 75.94 million units sold, followed by the Game Boy Advance (GBA) at 81.51 million units sold and the PlayStation Portable (PSP) at 82.52 million units sold.

nes-2024-1.png


Breaking down sales by region, the PS5 has sold an estimated 23.80 million units in North America, 20.71 million units in Europe, 6.07 million units in Japan, and 11.35 million units in the rest of the world. This compared to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which sold 33.49 million units in North America, 8.30 million units in Europe, 19.35 million units in Japan, and 0.77 million units in the rest of the world.

Breaking down PS5 Europe sales, the console has sold an estimated 4.12 million units in the UK, 3.67 million units in Germany, and 3.18 million units in France.

The PlayStation 5 launched in November 2020 and the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) launched in Japan in July 1983, in North America in October 1985, and in Europe in September 1986. The NES is also known as Family Computer (Famicom) in Japan.

www.vgchartz.com

PS5 Outsells NES

Sony's latest video game console, the PlayStation 5, which is part of the ninth generation of video game [...]
www.vgchartz.com www.vgchartz.com

dj khaled GIF by Worldstar Hip Hop
 
jshackles

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
World population in 1985: 4.8 billion
World population in 2024: 8.1 billion

Comparing a modern game console's lifetime sales to that of one sold when the world's population was nearly half feels... weird. Like, a higher percentage of people on the planet owned a NES than currently own a PS5.

But congrats Sony, I guess.
 
H

Hookshot

Member
jshackles said:
World population in 1985: 4.8 billion
World population in 2024: 8.1 billion

Comparing a modern game console's lifetime sales to that of one sold when the world's population was nearly half feels... weird. Like, a higher percentage of people on the planet owned a NES than currently own a PS5.

But congrats Sony, I guess.
Click to expand...
It's not even just the worlds populations growth, we've been giving Africa and other poor places money for 40 odd years thanks to things like "Live Aid" so they can now afford PlayStations.
 
P

polybius80

Member
NES is an old system, industry was smaller back then, dont get me wrong, its a good achievement for a system when they sell more units than the NES as other consoles in the past did, but its not that significant if your product doesnt have the same dominance of the market as NES had back then, its like inflation, a dollar today doesnt have the same value than a dollar in the 80s, the only system that had a level of dominance like NES was the PS2 no other system after that have achieved that dominance, PS5 have good sales but I dont see it achieving that, not even wii and switch achieved that dominance
 
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midnightAI

midnightAI

Member
jshackles said:
World population in 1985: 4.8 billion
World population in 2024: 8.1 billion

Comparing a modern game console's lifetime sales to that of one sold when the world's population was nearly half feels... weird. Like, a higher percentage of people on the planet owned a NES than currently own a PS5.

But congrats Sony, I guess.
Click to expand...
The countries with the largest population growth are mainly third world countries that cannot get/afford consoles or even decent internet so it's not as simple as that.

Also, are we using that metric to downplay Switch sales?
 
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C

cartman414

Member
polybius80 said:
NES is an old system, industry was smaller back then, dont get me wrong, its a good achievement for a system when they sell more units than the NES as other consoles in the past did, but its not that significant if your product doesnt have the same dominance of the market as NES had back then, its like inflation, a dollar today doesnt have the same value than a dollar in the 80s, the only system that had a level of dominance like NES was the PS2 no other system after that have achieved that dominance, PS5 have good sales but I dont see it achieving that, not even wii and switch achieved that dominance
Click to expand...

But consoles became more expensive following the PS2, almost never hitting the $199 mass market price for one reason or another.
 
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Zacfoldor

Zacfoldor

Member
Gratz on the milestone. I cheered the Switch on, might as well for the Playstation 5. I've not played this system one bit less than my PS4, so it's been really good to me.
 
mckmas8808

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
jshackles said:
World population in 1985: 4.8 billion
World population in 2024: 8.1 billion

Comparing a modern game console's lifetime sales to that of one sold when the world's population was nearly half feels... weird. Like, a higher percentage of people on the planet owned a NES than currently own a PS5.

But congrats Sony, I guess.
Click to expand...

The PS5 has to compete with the entertainment the WHOLE INTERNET provides. Did the NES?
 
DryvBy

DryvBy

Gold Member
jshackles said:
World population in 1985: 4.8 billion
World population in 2024: 8.1 billion

Comparing a modern game console's lifetime sales to that of one sold when the world's population was nearly half feels... weird. Like, a higher percentage of people on the planet owned a NES than currently own a PS5.

But congrats Sony, I guess.
Click to expand...
The Biden inflation is so bad, even the world is inflated!
 
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P

polybius80

Member
cartman414 said:
But consoles became more expensive following the PS2, almost never hitting the $99 mass market price for one reason or another.
Click to expand...
I am talking about the dominance, price and number of units doesnt matter that much, sure they are important numbers and sure they represent earning lot of money and that is the most important for a company but for the history of this industry the most popular system is the most dominant, that is why there is not much relevance or importance for threads about PS5 surpassing sega master system sales numbers or colecovision sales, you remember threads about t? I dont, its the NES you want to compare to, because people want to measure with a legendary system, but that system is legendary for the popularity/dominance for the people/industry at the time, not for the money it gave to the developers with its price and number of units
 
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Sooner

Sooner

Member
jshackles said:
World population in 1985: 4.8 billion
World population in 2024: 8.1 billion

Comparing a modern game console's lifetime sales to that of one sold when the world's population was nearly half feels... weird. Like, a higher percentage of people on the planet owned a NES than currently own a PS5.

But congrats Sony, I guess.
Click to expand...
Yes, we should totally be keeping track of sales in percentage of Earth's population. /s

I wonder how the Wii U did Earth population-percentage wise.
 
E-Cat

E-Cat

Member
jshackles said:
World population in 1985: 4.8 billion
World population in 2024: 8.1 billion

Comparing a modern game console's lifetime sales to that of one sold when the world's population was nearly half feels... weird. Like, a higher percentage of people on the planet owned a NES than currently own a PS5.

But congrats Sony, I guess.
Click to expand...
An even more salient figure is the percentage of the population that was gaming -- by that metric, NES was a lot more dominant.
 
bender

bender

What time is it?
jshackles said:
World population in 1985: 4.8 billion
World population in 2024: 8.1 billion

Comparing a modern game console's lifetime sales to that of one sold when the world's population was nearly half feels... weird. Like, a higher percentage of people on the planet owned a NES than currently own a PS5.

But congrats Sony, I guess.
Click to expand...

I'm working on getting that number to zero.

gabe-newell-time.gif
 
H

Hookshot

Member
mckmas8808 said:
Giving money to Africa? You want to rephrase that?
Click to expand...
The world is richer than 40 years ago due to aid and investment from the west. Since then the UK for example has given Nigeria hundreds of millions of pounds per year. Nigerians can now buy the PS5, emerging markets like that didn't exist when the NES was on sale.
 
O

onQ123

Member
jshackles said:
World population in 1985: 4.8 billion
World population in 2024: 8.1 billion

Comparing a modern game console's lifetime sales to that of one sold when the world's population was nearly half feels... weird. Like, a higher percentage of people on the planet owned a NES than currently own a PS5.

But congrats Sony, I guess.
Click to expand...
But SNES & N64 sold less in the 90's & GameCube sold less in the 2000's & Wii U sold a lot less in 2010's
 
Paulistano

Paulistano

Member
jshackles said:
World population in 1985: 4.8 billion
World population in 2024: 8.1 billion

Comparing a modern game console's lifetime sales to that of one sold when the world's population was nearly half feels... weird. Like, a higher percentage of people on the planet owned a NES than currently own a PS5.

But congrats Sony, I guess.
Click to expand...
Should we say the same when Switch surpass the sales of PS2?
 
A.Romero

A.Romero

Member
It's just a reference, you guys. This notes generate clicks and clicks keep those sites alive. No need to point out the obvious about market size and population.
 
mckmas8808

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Hookshot said:
The world is richer than 40 years ago due to aid and investment from the west. Since then the UK for example has given Nigeria hundreds of millions of pounds per year. Nigerians can now buy the PS5, emerging markets like that didn't exist when the NES was on sale.
Click to expand...

Cool. I just wouldn't call that "giving" them money. Investing? Yes. Paying back what is owed? Yes. Your overall point does stand though!
 
mckmas8808

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
A.Romero said:
It's just a reference, you guys. This notes generate clicks and clicks keep those sites alive. No need to point out the obvious about market size and population.
Click to expand...

The obvious that people are pointing out is dumb. The NES was around when we had no computers in our homes, 10 channels, and no cell phones. Some people on GAF are just weird.
 
A.Romero

A.Romero

Member
mckmas8808 said:
The obvious that people are pointing out is dumb. The NES was around when we had no computers in our homes, 10 channels, and no cell phones. Some people on GAF are just weird.
Click to expand...
I mean, it was almost 40 years ago. It was a completely different world. It doesn't reflect in quality, strategy or anything worth discussing.

I mean Wii U, N64, Xbox One, Dreamcast and SAtur are some of the consoles that didn't reach that milestone even with better conditions. It doesn't matter.
 
mckmas8808

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
A.Romero said:
I mean, it was almost 40 years ago. It was a completely different world. It doesn't reflect in quality, strategy or anything worth discussing.

I mean Wii U, N64, Xbox One, Dreamcast and SAtur are some of the consoles that didn't reach that milestone even with better conditions. It doesn't matter.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's my point too. People saying that the population has doubled since then, I also think that doesn't matter either. It's weird people would want to poo poo this.
 
Loomy

Loomy

Thinks Microaggressions are Real
Hookshot said:
It's not even just the worlds populations growth, we've been giving Africa and other poor places money for 40 odd years thanks to things like "Live Aid" so they can now afford PlayStations.
Click to expand...
er...lol, not quite how that went. but I see your point.
 
SweetTooth

SweetTooth

Gold Member
jshackles said:
World population in 1985: 4.8 billion
World population in 2024: 8.1 billion

Comparing a modern game console's lifetime sales to that of one sold when the world's population was nearly half feels... weird. Like, a higher percentage of people on the planet owned a NES than currently own a PS5.

But congrats Sony, I guess.
Click to expand...

Sooooooo...Apply same logic to PS2 vs Switch 🤣
 
RoboFu

RoboFu

One of the green rats
Wait does the op think that the game industry was as big and popular back then? 🤣🤣🤣

You can't really compare old numbers to new number literally.
 
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