Official shipment data.

like i said to intrinsic, its only ahead of PS2 if you ignore that PS2 was only available in Japan in its first 3 quarters.

Because it's easier to prepare launches by doing one region at a time. The PS4 had a staggered launch as well, in case you forgot.

Aligning the launches by region and then adding them up to global sales makes the most sense to do comparisons. Otherwise you are looking at nonsense like the early PSP vs. PSV comparisons that had people go "Oh, the Vita isn't doing bad. It's tracking at a similar pace.", when in reality Vita's worldwide sales were compared to only the PSP's Japanese sales, because the PSP had a differently staggered launch. Anyone who used the method of aligning launches by region could see how awful the Vita was really doing, because that method painted a more accurate picture.

Likewise, in the case of the PS2 vs. PS4, your comparison shows the PS4 ahead which implies that the PS4 has a realistic shot at matching the PS2. Aligning launches by region, however, shows that the PS4 has already fallen behind by a significant margin which puts the PS4's chances to match the PS2 at very slim to none. The latter method is a more accurate reflection of the situation and allows better analyses as well as predictions.

The launch was staggered.... but you are exagerating here. PS2 had the market to itself in japan for 2 quaters tot 3 quaters.

This whole aligning launches while it may make sense if looking at it from a particular perspective, doesn't really make sense to me in the grand scheme of things. At the end of the day when you look at the PS2, its said it sold 150M or whatever. No one is gonna be talking about where it was released first or second or which countries it was even released in or not. It sold this much, period.

I do not expect the PS4 to sell as much as the PS2 did, but thats because I belive the world we are in now has a lot more competing for consumers money than the world we were in in the time of the PS2. But at the end of the day, when the PS5 is released or the PS4 stops being made/sold, we will say it had sold X amount of units. Simple as that.

This whole aligning launch thing is just a silly way of downplaying how its performing. Kinda as silly as saying nintendo is going to go bankrupt or out of the gaming business because its wiiU was a disaster while ignoring that it has something called the 3DS on the market.

The whole launch aligning thing just doesn't make sense to me. A sale is a sale. Every generation markets and consumer buying habits change. But at the end of the day, a sale is a sale. 

But hey, I know as usual we are gonna disagree with this whole thing. To me though, I just don't see it the way you do. Its never made sense to me before. And its not gonna start making sense to me now because as I have said when anyone looks back at any previous gen hardware, no one says anything about which region it released first or second.

It's no secret that the PS4 Pro has flopped.

I love mine and appreciate Sony's attention to the fanbase that is willing to spend a little extra on better perfomance but us hardcore games are the VAST minority of consumers. 

Most brick and mortar stores like Best Buy and Target only stock the console on their website and even Amazon doesn't even sell it anymore (other than through 3rd parties).

On top of that, Sony, the king of sales figues, has been completely silent since December 6th about the success (or lack there of) of the PS4 Pro.

With this idea failing, do you think Sony will attempt something like this mid-cycle upgrade again sometime in the future, or just focus on the success of their main system?

I know there will be some die hard Sony fans in this thread saying things like, "Another April Fools post.", but to those of you, like me, who like the idea of the Pro but understand that it has flopped, what are your thoughts?

Nope, 3 quarters. PS2 released in Q1 in Japan and Q4 in America/Europe. Thats 3 quarters of being exclusively in Japan.

Its not downplaying, its simply pointing out that PS4 is not outselling PS2 in the same timeframe by using the most logical way of comparing them.

If the whole launch aligned thing doesnt make sense to you than why did you bring it up in the first place?

PS2 released in march 2000 in japan, october 2000 in nothr america (april, may, june, july, august, september = 6 months = 2 quarters) and in november in europe.

Wait, the most logical way of comparing is not to simply just look at how long both machines have been on the market but instead look at whne they were released in their respective territories? Ok..... got you.

I brought up the launch aligned thing? i think you have me mistaken with somoene else. All I did was point out to you that contrary to what you said, the PS4 wasn't tracking behgind the PS2. You and someone else chose to use the whole launch aligning thing to negate my point.

I dont see what part of this you dont understand. March is Q1, October is Q4..........that means PS2 was exclusive to Japan for 3 quarters.

Are you kidding me.... I literally spelt out the months for you between the launches. a quater is 3 months. There was exactly 6 months between its release in japan and north america. 6 months is two quaters. You are using some serious quaters twisting to arrive at 3 quaters based on dates as opposed to the actual time between the months. But to each their own.

Intrinsic said:

errrr........ ok.

The PS4 is still tracking better than the best selling console of all time. 

Yes, you brought up the launches aligned discussion.

And wait..... me saying the PS4 is tracking better than the best selling console of all time is your idea of me "bringing up the launch aligned discussion? lol.... ok.