Console wars, What did the numbers go?

[mas]

The only reason why I bought the ps3 was just for my kids to play with their friends. Oher than that I would have been happy with just a ps2. Just think of the massive library the ps2 has. It was and still is a very popular system. I probally should have never traded my ps2 for 60.00 back in the day. You know alot of my friends bought the wii and just kept the ps2. I should of done that instead of trading my stuff in for 60.00 to get a wii.

[MrNash]

How many people also just migrated to handheld gaming? Looking at Japan alone, they really shifted toward the DS and it's various iterations over the years (can't say I blame them either, the system has a fantastic library). Is it possible that a lot of people went portable? The DS has huge sales numbers to show for itself during the transition years to current gen console sales, and even the 3DS is starting to pick up sales.

Moreover, I don't think we can overlook the part things like the iPod and iPad have played in all of this. It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of casuals were getting games for those, iPhones in particular, to occupy themselves, and not bothering with new consoles as well.

[ZenErik]

How many people also just migrated to handheld gaming? Looking at Japan alone, they really shifted toward the DS and it's various iterations over the years (can't say I blame them either, the system has a fantastic library). Is it possible that a lot of people went portable? The DS has huge sales numbers to show for itself during the transition years to current gen console sales, and even the 3DS is starting to pick up sales.

Moreover, I don't think we can overlook the part things like the iPod and iPad have played in all of this. It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of casuals were getting games for those, iPhones in particular, to occupy themselves, and not bothering with new consoles as well.

Mmm. I'll be interested in PS Vita sales. I'm very impressed with the screen. Honestly, the more games that come to it the less I'll want to use my consoles except for things like fighters and shmups. The screen is just that good.

[MrNash]

How many people also just migrated to handheld gaming? Looking at Japan alone, they really shifted toward the DS and it's various iterations over the years (can't say I blame them either, the system has a fantastic library). Is it possible that a lot of people went portable? The DS has huge sales numbers to show for itself during the transition years to current gen console sales, and even the 3DS is starting to pick up sales.

Moreover, I don't think we can overlook the part things like the iPod and iPad have played in all of this. It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of casuals were getting games for those, iPhones in particular, to occupy themselves, and not bothering with new consoles as well.

Mmm. I'll be interested in PS Vita sales. I'm very impressed with the screen. Honestly, the more games that come to it the less I'll want to use my consoles except for things like fighters and shmups. The screen is just that good.

Yeah, I'm curious about that too. It looks like the thing came out of the gates pretty good for its western launch. I think the sales numbers were in the 1.2 - 1.5 million range for hardware which is decent, and certainly better than it fared in Japan. I'll be keeping an eye on how it does over its first six months. Hopefully it does well. I'd like to see tougher competition between Sony and Nintendo than what we saw with the DS vs the PSP.

[RCBH928]

handheld gaming sold in the tens of millions very long ago since the early 90's , I don't think they would affect the ps3 sales now. Although handheld gaming sales might be affected by the iOS devices, that makes sense.

I do agree that the numbers are a bit funny and I have a hard time believing ps3 sold 154m since it sold like 120 just a few years ago so I don't think they sold 30 million of ps2 in the let 3 years alone.

I really doubt that ps2 owners moved to Wii, some did move sure , but not all 74m of them!(difference between game cube sales and Wii sales) . Also let us not forget that MAYBE many of those who own a 360/ps3 own a Wii too, like me. Since the combined ps3/360 sales equals 125m or so , and Wii sales is 95m. I think that just might be the case.

What we can make sure of is that playstation lost a HUGE use base, am not sure if they are making money or losing money. They lost like 70m users , which is like the total user base of GC+XBOX+n64!!! Thats how huge the lost chunk is, as huge as 3 successful consoles.

Now that I think of it, xbox+ gc sales were very very low given SNES sold 50m and Mega drive sold 40m. Was the ps2 that good?!

*****************
I found this article, where it says that ps2 prices were slashed down to $199 in 2002! Thats like less than a Wii at launch! Maybe this is why they had so many sales!?
Plus, psx were still being sold in 2002 for $50!?!? ZOMG!!! I wish I knew!
http://money.cnn.com/2002/05/14/technol ... pricecuts/

****************
Wait a minute, GC was $99 in 2003? thats less than the Wii now!! Whats going on here?!!?
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/2 ... ware-Price

[ejamer]

You can doubt all you want. Doesn't change the facts.

Many people bought PS2 because it was the "popular" console that got all the media attention and acclaim last generation. This generation the Wii filled that gap, so many people followed the trend and bought that console instead.

It's also worth noting that the numbers you are looking at have another important difference: pricing. PS3 and even 360 were both relatively expensive compared to the previous generation, and remain relatively expensive even today. That limits their target market. Millions upon millions of PS2 systems were sold after that console dropped in price and appealed to wider audience. Don't forget that PS2 was consistently outselling PS3 early on this generation - not because it's a better console, but because many people are price sensitive when it comes to entertainment.

Finally, PS2 had an absolutely MASSIVE install base because it was the console that appealed to everyone. Casual and core gamers played the PS2 because that was where the games they wanted were. Kiddie games? Sport games? Action, RPG, platforming... you name the genre and PS2 had games to spare.

In short: stop thinking that you represent the "average" personal who owns a gaming console. You aren't. It's very likely that none of us here, or online at any gaming forum, represent the "average" person who owns a console these days...

[RyaNtheSlayA]

handheld gaming sold in the tens of millions very long ago since the early 90's , I don't think they would affect the ps3 sales now. Although handheld gaming sales might be affected by the iOS devices, that makes sense.

I do agree that the numbers are a bit funny and I have a hard time believing ps3 sold 154m since it sold like 120 just a few years ago so I don't think they sold 30 million of ps2 in the let 3 years alone.

If we were to disregard the fact that PS2 sales slowed dramatically over the last few years, as of 2011 it still averaged 15.4 million units sold a year. If we assume it's sales life ended in 2007 (plus or minus a few million), it was still averaging 25 million a year. I think it's not too crazy to say that in the booming years of it (2003-2005) it could have sold 30 million.

Now that I think of it, xbox+ gc sales were very very low given SNES sold 50m and Mega drive sold 40m. Was the ps2 that good?!

In the eyes of many, yes.

I found this article, where it says that ps2 prices were slashed down to $199 in 2002! Thats like less than a Wii at launch! Maybe this is why they had so many sales!?
Plus, psx were still being sold in 2002 for $50!?!? ZOMG!!! I wish I knew!
http://money.cnn.com/2002/05/14/technol ... pricecuts/

Here in the USA, the PSone was still sold until 2006 with a few special collections like GTA collection and Crash Bandicoot IIRC. The games had white labels that matched the PSone IIRC. I remember walking into Sony Style with a friend who ended up picking one of those packs up.

Wait a minute, GC was $99 in 2003? thats less than the Wii now!! Whats going on here?!!?
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/2 ... ware-Price

Well, the Wii is still "overpriced". However, they price it at whatever price people still buy it. If people are still buying the Wii for $150, then no reason to lower the price.

[Zing]

You could still buy PSone systems at Zellers in my area until around 2008. I wanted one, but they were still pricing them at $79, which I felt was too high.

[J T]

I am one of those missing numbers. I skipped this generation of consoles. I do not have a PS3, Wii, or XBox 360. I switched to PC.

Prior to that, I was an off-and-on PC user, but I always primarily did my gaming on one of the popular consoles of the time. Stretching back to the 80s, I had Colecovision, NES, SNES, N64, and a Playstation 2 all during their respective heydays, and I bought a GameCube after the GameCube had mostly died out. I especially loved the PS2 and have a TON of games for it. I still do not have an HD TV either. I just use a CRT so I can keep playing my old systems without a problem.

I keep thinking that one of these days I'll buy a PS3 or a Wii (no interest in a 360), but there's so much content on the PC that I don't feel the need to. I can get most crossplatform games on the PC for less money (via Steam) and still have higher resolution graphics. It's the clear winner.

[MrNash]

I am one of those missing numbers. I skipped this generation of consoles. I do not have a PS3, Wii, or XBox 360. I switched to PC.

Prior to that, I was an off-and-on PC user, but I always primarily did my gaming on one of the popular consoles of the time. Stretching back to the 80s, I had Colecovision, NES, SNES, N64, and a Playstation 2 all during their respective heydays, and I bought a GameCube after the GameCube had mostly died out. I especially loved the PS2 and have a TON of games for it. I still do not have an HD TV either. I just use a CRT so I can keep playing my old systems without a problem.

I keep thinking that one of these days I'll buy a PS3 or a Wii (no interest in a 360), but there's so much content on the PC that I don't feel the need to. I can get most crossplatform games on the PC for less money (via Steam) and still have higher resolution graphics. It's the clear winner.

PC has been my primary platform for current gen stuff the last few years as well. I do have a 360 and a Wii but play time on them pales in comparison to what I've logged on PC. I really like indie games, and PC has delivered in spaces in that area. Cross platform as well, I can get most of what I want on PC. And prices drop so fast, then couple that with stuff like Steam sales, and the value is amazing. I pretty much only have consoles for a handful of releases coming out of Japan. Now, the majority of console game purchase that I make are for classic systems, which do get a lot of mileage out of me still. Current gen, though, with a few exceptions, I'm perfectly happy to play games on the PC.