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PS2 the most sold home consoles in history
A list of home video game consoles and their sales data.
Generations[]
Sales breakdowns by generations:
- First generation of video games
- Second generation of video games
- Third generation of video games
- Fourth generation of video games
- Fifth generation of video games
- Sixth generation of video games
- Seventh generation of video games
- Eighth generation of video games
Hardware sales[]
All Consoles[]
| Platform | Type | Firm | Released | Units sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 2 | Home | Sony | 2000 | 160 million |
| Nintendo DS | Handheld | Nintendo | 2004 | 154.02 million |
| Nintendo Switch # | Hybrid | Nintendo | 2017 | 154.01 million |
| Game Boy & Game Boy Color | Handheld | Nintendo | 1989, 1998 | 118.69 million |
| PlayStation 4 # | Home | Sony | 2013 | 117.2 million |
| PlayStation | Home | Sony | 1994 | 102.49 million |
| Wii | Home | Nintendo | 2006 | 101.63 million |
| PlayStation 3 | Home | Sony | 2006 | 87.4 million |
| Xbox 360 | Home | Microsoft | 2005 | >84 million |
| Game Boy Advance | Handheld | Nintendo | 2001 | 81.51 million |
| PlayStation Portable | Handheld | Sony | 2004 | 80 million |
| Nintendo 3DS | Handheld | Nintendo | 2011 | 75.94 million |
| PlayStation 5 # | Home | Sony | 2020 | 65.6 million |
| Family Computer/Nintendo Entertainment System | Home | Nintendo | 1983 | 61.91 million |
| Xbox One | Home | Microsoft | 2013 | ~58 million |
| Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System | Home | Nintendo | 1990 | 49.1 million |
| Mega Drive/Genesis | Home | Sega | 1988 | 40 million |
| Nintendo 64 | Home | Nintendo | 1996 | 32.93 million |
| Atari 2600 | Home | Atari | 1977 | 30 million |
| Xbox Series X/S # | Home | Microsoft | 2020 | 28.3 million |
| Xbox | Home | Microsoft | 2001 | 24 million |
| Nintendo GameCube | Home | Nintendo | 2001 | 21.74 million |
| Master System | Home | Sega | 1986 | 20.84 million |
| Quest 2 # | VR headset | Reality Labs / Meta | 2020 | ~20 million |
| Wii U | Home | Nintendo | 2012 | 13.56 million |
| PlayStation Vita | Handheld | Sony | 2011 | 10–15 million (estimate) |
| V.Smile & V.Motion | Home | VTech | 2004, 2007 | 11 million |
| Game Gear | Handheld | Sega | 1990 | 10.62 million |
| Nintendo Switch 2 # | Hybrid | Nintendo | 2025 | 10.36 million |
| PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 | Home | NEC/Hudson Soft | 1987 | 10 million |
| Sega Saturn | Home | Sega | 1994 | 9.26 million |
| Dreamcast | Home | Sega | 1998 | 9.13 million |
| Dendy (famiclone) | Home | Micro Genius | 1992 | 6 million |
| Super NES Classic Edition | Dedicated | Nintendo | 2017 | 5.28 million |
| Advanced Pico Beena | Home | Sega | 2005 | >4.1 million |
| NES Classic Edition | Dedicated | Nintendo | 2016 | 3.56 million |
| WonderSwan & WonderSwan Color | Handheld | Bandai | 1999, 2000 | 3.5 million |
| Sega Pico | Home | Sega | 1993 | >3.4 million |
| Color TV-Game | Dedicated | Nintendo | 1977 | 3 million |
| Intellivision | Home | Mattel | 1980 | 3 million |
| Mega Drive (Brazilian variants) | Home | Tectoy | 1990 | 3 million |
| N-Gage | Handheld | Nokia | 2003 | 3 million |
| ColecoVision | Home | Coleco | 1982 | >2 million |
| 3DO Interactive Multiplayer | Home | The 3DO Company | 1993 | >2 million |
| Neo Geo Pocket & Neo Geo Pocket Color | Handheld | SNK | 1998, 1999 | 2 million |
| Magnavox Odyssey² | Home | Magnavox/Philips | 1978 | 2 million |
| Sega SG-1000 | Home | Sega | 1983 | 2 million |
| Oculus Go | VR headset | Oculus | 2018 | 2 million (estimate) |
| Atari 7800 | Home | Atari | 1986 | >1 million |
| Atari Lynx | Handheld | Atari | 1989 | >1 million |
| Philips CD-i | Home | Philips | 1990 | >1 million |
| Telstar | Dedicated | Coleco | 1976 | >1 million |
| Atari 5200 | Home | Atari | 1982 | 1 million |
| Pegasus (famiclone) | Home | Micro Genius | 1991 | 1 million |
>Final sales are greater than the reported figure. See notes.
Home consoles[]
Handheld consoles[]
- Main article: List of best-selling handheld consoles
| Manufacturer | Platform | Released | Hardware Sales (millions of units) | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nintendo | Nintendo DS | 2004 | 154.02 | |
| Nintendo | Nintendo Switch | 2017 | 122.55 | [27] |
| Nintendo | Game Boy / Game Boy Color | 1989 / 1998 | 118.69 | |
| Sony | PlayStation Portable | 2004 | 82 | |
| Nintendo | Game Boy Advance | 2001 | 81.51 | |
| Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS | 2011 | 76 | |
| Nintendo | Game & Watch | 1980 | 43.4 | [28] |
| Sony | PlayStation Vita | 2012 | 13 | |
| Sega | Game Gear | 1990 | 12 | [29] |
| Nokia | N-Gage | 2003 | 3 | |
| Coleco | Mini-Arcade | 1982 | 3 | [30] |
| SNK | Neo-Geo Pocket | 1998 | 2 | |
| NEC | TurboExpress | 1990 | 1.5 | |
| Sega | Nomad | 1995 | 1 |
Companies[]
| Company | Home console sales |
Handheld console sales |
Total sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nintendo | 422.28 million | 470.51 million | 896.609 million |
| Sony | 414.89 million | 95 million | 509.89 million |
| Microsoft | 138.9 million | – | 138.9 million |
| Sega | 104.675 million | >14 million | >110 million |
| Atari | 27.13 million | 1 million | 28.13 million |
| NEC | 15.21 million | 1.5 million | 16.71 million |
| Coleco | 7 million | 3 million | 10 million |
| Bandai | – | 3.5 million | 3.5 million |
| Magnavox/Philips | 3 million | – | 3 million |
| Mattel | 3 million | – | 3 million |
| Nokia | – | 3 million | 3 million |
Software sales[]
Software sales is usually a stronger indicator of a console's success than hardware sales. Since most consoles usually sell the hardware at a loss and the software at a profit, it is mostly software sales that drives a console's profits, while the purpose of hardware sales is to establish an install base to sell software to. A console's success thus depends more on the software sales than the hardware sales.
Consoles[]
The following table lists the number of software units sold, and the software attach rate (software units sold per console), for each console.
The consoles with the highest number of software units sold are Sony's PlayStation 2 and PlayStation, each with software sales exceeding 900 million units. The consoles with the highest software attach ratios are Sega's Master System and Mega Drive/Genesis, each with at least 16:1 attach ratio.
Companies[]
| Company | Home console software sales |
Handheld software sales |
Total software sales |
Home console attach rate |
Handheld attach rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nintendo | 2,605.51 million | 2,235.43 million | 4,840.94 million | 8.44 | 4.89 |
| Sony | 5,036.4 million | 461 million | 5,497.4 million | 9.34 | 4.72 |
| Sega | 1,233.63 million | >14.4 million | >1,248.03 million | 12.18 | – |
| Microsoft | 999.48 million | – | 999.48 million | 7.2 | – |
| Atari | 125.64 million | >1 million | >126.64 million | 4.63 | – |
References[]
- ↑ GameCentral staff (June 27, 2013). "Xbox 360 beats Wii as the UK's best-selling console". Metro. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ↑ https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/finance/hard_soft/
- ↑ SIE Business Development | Sales as of September 30, 2021.[1][2]
- ↑ "PlayStation Cumulative Production Shipments of Hardware". Sony Computer Entertainment. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 "Historical Data: Consolidated Sales Transition by Region". Nintendo. April 27, 2017. Archived from the original (xlsx) on 2017-10-26. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ↑ A Sony press release reported 80 million sold as of November 2, 2013. 3.8 million were shipped from 2014 to the first quarter of 2015.
- ↑ https://www.windowscentral.com/xbox
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Fourth generation of video games
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20180322122031/mancunion.com/2017/11/27/microsoft-going-follow-nintendo-switch-house-games/
- ↑ Second generation of video games
- ↑ "Gamers Catch Their Breath as Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Reinvent Next-Generation Gaming". Xbox.com. May 10, 2006. Archived from the original on July 9, 2007. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ↑ 12.0 12.1 Third generation of video games: Sales figures
- ↑ Evans, David S. (2006). Invisible engines: how software platforms drive innovation and transform industries ([Online-Ausg.] ed.). Cambridge (Mass.): MIT Press. p. 131. ISBN 0262050854. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
{{cite book}}: More than one of|author=and|last=specified (help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) (with reference to "Table 2: Worldwide Video Game Console Annual Shipment History - 1989-1998". Video Game Consoles: Sony, Nintendo and Sega Brace for Microsoft Challenge. In-Stat (NPD Group). 2000. Archived from the original on 2001-05-01. Retrieved 31 January 2012.{{cite web}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 2001-06-17 suggested (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)) - ↑ Carroll, Russell (2005-09-06). "Good Enough: Why graphics aren't number one". Game Tunnel. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
- ↑ Snow, Blake (2007-07-30). "The 10 Worst-Selling Consoles of All Time". GamePro. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2007-05-08. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
- ↑ "ColecoVision - 1982-1984". ClassicGaming. IGN. Archived from the original on 2008-02-16. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
- ↑ "Sega Toys Business Strategy". Sega Toys. Archived from the original on December 16, 2005.
- ↑ Sheff, David; Eddy, Andy (1999), Game Over: How Nintendo Conquered the World, GamePress, p. 27, ISBN 978-0-9669617-0-6,
Nintendo entered the home market in Japan with the dramatic unveiling of Color TV Game 6, which played six versions of light tennis. It was followed by a more powerful sequel, Color TV Game 15. A million units of each were sold. The engineering team also came up with systems that played a more complex game, called "Blockbuster," as well as a racing game. Half a million units of these were sold.
{{citation}}: More than one of|author=and|last=specified (help) - ↑ "Intellivision: Intelligent Television". GameSpy. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ↑ Fifth generation of video games
- ↑ Co-opetition (1996), page 238
- ↑ Famitsu, Issue 392, Page 8 (March 1996)
- ↑ First generation of video games
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Japon Previews, Consoles +, issue 73 (March 1997)
- ↑ Schrage, Michael (May 22, 1984). "Atari Introduces Game In Attempt for Survival". The Washington Post: C3. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved July 29, 2009.
The company has stopped producing its 5200 SuperSystem games player, more than 1 million of which were sold.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|subscription=ignored (|url-access=suggested) (help) - ↑ Axlon To Develop New Video Games For Atari (Press Release), Atari (June 1, 1988)
- ↑ https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/finance/hard_soft/index.html
- ↑ Nintendo software and hardware sales data from 1983 to present
- ↑ "Interview: Joe Miller (SOA Senior VP of Product Dev.)". Sega-16. 2013-02-07. Retrieved 2025-08-20.
- ↑ "More Mini-Arcades A Comin'". Electronic Games. 4 (16): 10. June 1983. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
- ↑ https://www.tweaktown.com/news/79015/ps4-is-the-king-of-software-with-1-5-billion-games-sold-dethrones-ps2/index.html
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 https://sonyinteractive.com/en/our-company/business-data-sales/
- ↑ 33.00 33.01 33.02 33.03 33.04 33.05 33.06 33.07 33.08 33.09 33.10 https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/finance/hard_soft/
- ↑ https://sonyinteractive.com/en/our-company/business-data-sales/
- ↑ https://sonyinteractive.com/en/our-company/business-data-sales/
- ↑ Xbox 360 software sales:
- United States – 27 million units [3][4] with 8.9 attach rate = 240.3 million
- Other – 56.7 million hardware units at 7.0 attach rate [5][6] = 396.9 million software units
- ↑ Press release: 1997-06-04: Sega Lowers Price on Hardware, Software
- ↑ Third generation of video games
- ↑ https://sonyinteractive.com/en/our-company/business-data-sales/
- ↑ LTD Tie Ratios, CSFB (June 2004)
- ↑ https://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/images/fotolife/M/MULTi88/20200929/20200929022108.jpg
- ↑ https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File%3AAnnualReport1998_English.pdf&page=9
- ↑ 10.0 attach rate (June 2013)
- ↑ The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge: A Desk Reference for the Curious Mind (2011), page 500
- ↑ 8.0 attach rate
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Play in Today's Society, Volume 1 (2009), page 143
- ↑ http://www.intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/people/askhal/askhal.html
- ↑ 48.0 48.1 http://www.atarimuseum.com/whatsnew/2009-MAY-28.html
External links[]
- List of best-selling game consoles, Encyclopedia Gamia