facetheslayer92
Member
I think it still is in terms of shipments, but not for long I imagine.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Will we ever have another console sell as much (or more) as the PS2?
- Thread starter daTRUballin
- Start date
I think it still is in terms of shipments, but not for long I imagine.
Sorta Maximus
Member
While the PlayStation 2 was the best selling console of all time, no doubt, how many of those owners were playing games versus playing just DVDs? I'm not sure the PlayStation 2 video game market was as big as the install base numbers make it out to be. Of course, with the PlayStation 3 or 4 Sony makes money with PSN movies and TV shows as well.
I mean, that would be like saying behind every Xbox 360 sold are games being bought. As we know a good portion of those where gen one replacement units.
I mean, that would be like saying behind every Xbox 360 sold are games being bought. As we know a good portion of those where gen one replacement units.
PdotMichael
Banned
Well, the PS2 (and PS1 as well) had some historical stupid high software sales and ratio. But but piracy reminds me always on silly Sony vs Nintendo fanboy discussion back in the 90's and early 00's.
D.Lo
Member
What? PS2 has a good historical tie ratio, but about the same tie ratio as Xbox and Gamecube and Wii, and lower than 360 or PS3. PS1 was below all of the above.
They both had high software sales, just because of user base. All three of Wii, PS3 and probably 360 (we don't have full figures) sold more software than PS1.
ScaryShark
Banned
No, because one of the biggest selling points for the console (DVD) will never be so tied to a console in the same way ever again.
MrCunningham
Member
By the end of the PS2's life, there were definitly more people playing games on the system than there were people watching movies on it. But early on, the PS2 most certainly helped the DVD market in late 2000 and throught the year of 2001. DVD sales charts do show spikes durring this period in time. Initially the PS2 was a popular chioce as a DVD player because it was one of the cheapest ones on the market. But that popularity was short lived as DVD players started to drop below the price of a PS2. By about 2005, DVD disc and player sales hit their peak as DVD players were dropping as low as $50 in the North American market.
I think by 2001 and 2002, more people were buying PS2s for GTA3, Gran Tourismo, Metal Gear Solid 2 and even Final Fantasy X than there were people buying the system exclusivly as a DVD player.
Sony tried to recapture that success with the PS3 and Blu-Ray, but failed to do so.
foxdvd
Member
Most points already made..but another factor for a console doing this well is when it dominates all other consoles in that generation. The Playstation 2 absolutely destroyed the original xbox, gamecube and dreamcast in sales.
If you look at it from a generational point..all numbers from wikipedia..
5th generation had around 143 million units sold with Playstation 1 (102 million) Sega Saturn (9.2) Nintendo 64 (32 million)
6th Generation had 209 million units sold with Playstation 2 (155) Xbox (24 million) GameCube (21 million) Dreamcast (9 million)
7th Generation had 268 millin units sold with Wii ( 101) Playstation 3 (83 ) xbox 360 ( 84)
Each generation has had more total console sales, but the success of the Playstation 1, and how it dominated other consoles continued into the Playstation 2...along with all the other factors listed in this thread...but Microsoft did an amazing job even with the red ring getting people playing the xbox, and of course we all know how big the wii was...so while the 7th generation was bigger, the sales were more evenly divided between consoles.
If you look at it from a generational point..all numbers from wikipedia..
5th generation had around 143 million units sold with Playstation 1 (102 million) Sega Saturn (9.2) Nintendo 64 (32 million)
6th Generation had 209 million units sold with Playstation 2 (155) Xbox (24 million) GameCube (21 million) Dreamcast (9 million)
7th Generation had 268 millin units sold with Wii ( 101) Playstation 3 (83 ) xbox 360 ( 84)
Each generation has had more total console sales, but the success of the Playstation 1, and how it dominated other consoles continued into the Playstation 2...along with all the other factors listed in this thread...but Microsoft did an amazing job even with the red ring getting people playing the xbox, and of course we all know how big the wii was...so while the 7th generation was bigger, the sales were more evenly divided between consoles.
By this metric:
1. PS4 is tracking to be extremely successful
3. Any follow-up to PS5, assuming it drops in 2020, should be significantly more powerful and noticeably better looking with a full embrace of 4k/HDR
5. Entry price for PS2 was US$300, which is roughly identical to PS4's US$400 once adjusted for inflation
6. This is a given.
I think the listed factors aren't the big determinants. Ultimately I think it hinges *a ton* a) on whether emerging markets embrace consoles or go to PCs as incomes rise and their middle classes grow and b) the mobile landscape wildcard
PdotMichael
Banned
Wii sold less software than the Playstation 1. And the rest is also smh.
Bl@de
Member
Yup. Asia is mostly PC and mobile so I don't think we will have another PS2. Gaming and entertainment landscape is different now.
Papacheeks
Banned
If Sony doesn't fuck it up for whatever PS5 will be then yes.
Why would PS5 sell more than PS4?
That sounds like it would have been epic.
I feel like MS is missing a huge opportunity in India. My Indian friends/colleagues hold MS in high regard due to cheap, decent Lumia phones and MS software working well on whatever hardware people can scrabble together. MS should do something in India similar to Sony's China Hero stuff.
timetokill
Banned
What is this based on?
Papacheeks
Banned
Based on how PS4 has become the go to console this generation. But mainly how it's done better than PS3 especially over sea's and in market's like Japan where console gaming is suppose to be dead.
Look at the re-insurgence of eastern developers and the sales of those games. Persona 5, Dark souls/Bloodborne, FF, Yakuza, NI-OH, Nier. A lot of those series were not giant sellers prior to PS4. Even persona 5 I believe is the best selling persona, Nier was a sequel to a game that didnt even sell close to a million yet on pc has sold like 500,000 copies on top of it's sales on PS4.
All that coupled with Japan having sold over 5 million PS4's shows that console gaming isn't dead over there and that with games like person, kingdom hearts and the like that it is still viable.
Only thing Sony needs to do is price the box at an affordable price over seas's.
I don't think the box we are getting in 2019-2020 is going to be more the $400. If it is they better convey that price with it's capabilities to give a good value proposition.
Basically games, and regions that we thought were dead for home consoles have actually seen a increase in interest.
Playstation has a better global presence now than they eve had, especially with them having growing markets in China.
If those games help sell systems in CHina then when PS5 or whatever it's called comes out your going to have a really great setup for WW sales.
Not a chance!
PS2 is in a completely different tier to the Wii. Not sure why you bundled them together.
And the PS4 will almost certainly pass 100 million, so that's a pretty bad bet.
I think the Switch has potential to have that level of long term mainstream success if Nintendo could ever figure out how to sell it for under 200 in the next 2 years.
If they can also give it a life as long as the Wii/DS era, it may hit 150 million someday.
Pokémon will be a huge market test for them. They'll need the soccer mom/toddler/teen audience to buy in. Timing a price drop with that game will show what sort of long term success the system could possibly achieve.
If they can also give it a life as long as the Wii/DS era, it may hit 150 million someday.
Pokémon will be a huge market test for them. They'll need the soccer mom/toddler/teen audience to buy in. Timing a price drop with that game will show what sort of long term success the system could possibly achieve.
Papacheeks
Banned
China is a huge emerging market currently. Grey market wise there is like 3 Million PS4's over there.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
No.
Alexander DeLarge
Member
Probably not considering consoles were outlawed for a long time and they are used to the benefits of a PC as a country.
Sony (well, not really, more like AMD) already fucked up with the PS4, i remember reading the specs in 2013 and thinking "that's it? an entrly level gpu and a ultrabook cpu?" and the performance reflected that, but the launch price was good and the Pro came out to fix some of that, so they can still fuck up and sell a lot of units.
And_Gignac
Member
The DS already sold as many.
Switch may get close though.
Switch may get close though.
Mr. Poolman
Member
Well... I had to buy 4 PS2s after all of them burned out.
To this day I'm not sure if it was rotten luck on my side, or just a defective product.
To this day I'm not sure if it was rotten luck on my side, or just a defective product.
By this metric:
1. PS4 is tracking to be extremely successful
3. Any follow-up to PS5, assuming it drops in 2020, should be significantly more powerful and noticeably better looking with a full embrace of 4k/HDR
5. Entry price for PS2 was US$300, which is roughly identical to PS4's US$400 once adjusted for inflation
6. This is a given.
I think the listed factors aren't the big determinants. Ultimately I think it hinges *a ton* a) on whether emerging markets embrace consoles or go to PCs as incomes rise and their middle classes grow and b) the mobile landscape wildcard
Gamecube's value for it's time was incredible. I doubt we'll ever get such an efficiently priced system for such great specs ever again.
daTRUballin
Member
Sorcerer
Member
Doubtful. Video games were reaching beyond a hobby and into the mainstream. The PS2 was the peak of that.
Now video games are much more accepted and mundane. If you miss a gen, no big deal, something slightly better will show up in a few years. Now consoles are even cannibalizing themselves with current gen upgrades of the same machine.
Now video games are much more accepted and mundane. If you miss a gen, no big deal, something slightly better will show up in a few years. Now consoles are even cannibalizing themselves with current gen upgrades of the same machine.
I mean, potentially you could sell 1-2billion consoles if you reach to every household in developed countries. You just have to build one console that people receive the same way they did with smartphones.
Hard to imagine what could be THE thing that could make literally everyone say "i want one".
Hard to imagine what could be THE thing that could make literally everyone say "i want one".
anyone have the final global ltd totals for the DS and PS2 handy?
DS 154,020,000
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/library/historical_data/pdf/consolidated_sales_e1603.pdf
DS 154,020,000
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/library/historical_data/pdf/consolidated_sales_e1603.pdf
LegendofLex
Member
In the US they were basically neck and neck even as Nintendo cut off worthwhile support in 2011 and 2012.
In Japan Wii was behind mostly because people were playing mostly on portables in Japan at that point, a trend that's continued to this day.
And Sony had a massive distribution advantage in Europe and the rest of the world.
Wii was definitely in a similar class to PS2 sales wise, but Nintendo also pivoted away from it way harder than Sony pivoted to PS3.
SkylineRKR
Member
Playstation 2 was alone on the market for a full year. That will never happen again. Something like DVD won't happen again either. Blu Ray was a disc also, as is 4K BR. Its the fact that DVD made those shitty VHS tapes obsolete.
Then we have so many other options to play games today. What did we have in 2000? PC, Gameboy Color and Dreamcast (dead). Perhaps Snake on mobile phones, lol.
Then we have so many other options to play games today. What did we have in 2000? PC, Gameboy Color and Dreamcast (dead). Perhaps Snake on mobile phones, lol.
PS2 also sold gazillions in developing countries of the world because backthen the pirating was easy, cheap and widely available.
All my friends had PS2, all of their friends had it and everybody had it. Controllers were cheap, everybody had a proper TV to run it and everyone wanted a cheap DVD player. Notice, it was time when local DVD rental shops were actually a lucrarive business.
None of those factors exists since PS3 era. Pirating is non existant, consoles are more expensive, nobody of casual users cares about BR, etc. Today, only my gamer friends have PS4. Back in PS2 era, everybody had one.
All my friends had PS2, all of their friends had it and everybody had it. Controllers were cheap, everybody had a proper TV to run it and everyone wanted a cheap DVD player. Notice, it was time when local DVD rental shops were actually a lucrarive business.
None of those factors exists since PS3 era. Pirating is non existant, consoles are more expensive, nobody of casual users cares about BR, etc. Today, only my gamer friends have PS4. Back in PS2 era, everybody had one.
Renegade Frost
Banned
FIREKNIGHT2029
Member
Nah, not likely to anytime soon. PS2 was the perfect storm.
PS4 will easily break over 100 million units at the end of its lifespan but I don't think it will top PS2 sales.
PS4 will easily break over 100 million units at the end of its lifespan but I don't think it will top PS2 sales.