Every year from the mid-80s to the mid-90s, Nintendo sold the most hardware. Then, Sony entered the competition, and it became a lot more even. From 1995 to 2000, the Ps1 sold 100 million. Then, the Ps2 sold somewhere around 140 million up to 2005. In the same time, Nintendo sold 30 million N64s, 20 million Gamecubes, ~ 60 million GBCs and ~ 80 million GBAs, leading to Sony selling roughly 240 million vs Nintendo's 190 million. Whether Sony sold the most every single year, or if Nintendo sold the most some years, I can't really tell without doing some more research that I'm not going to do. From 2006 to 2012, Nintendo sold the most by a very wide margin, peaking in the middle 4 years, selling more than twice as much hardware as Sony.
This year, however, it is - for the first time in quite a while - completely even. So far in 2013, Nintendo has sold 10.43 million machines, while Sony has sold 10.15 million. A difference of just 3%!
The first quarter went in Sony's direction. Sony sold 3941k, while Nintendo sold 3606k.
The second quarter was dead on even, with Nintendo selling 2850k and Sony selling 2755k
The third quarter, went Nintendo's way, with them selling 3276k, and Sony selling 2723k.
(This doesn't add up to the exact same as the "yearly" numbers, as VGChartz counts the week ending January 5th as part of 2013, while I count it as 2012, as it's so big it skews up the start of 2013 comparison otherwise)
So, Nintendo has a slightly bigger momentum going for them at the moment, with both the 2DS launch and Pokemon coming right up. They'll most likely have to build up a lead by November 15th/29th, as the Ps4 launch is going to chip in on any lead they might have gotten.
What do you think: Will Nintendo add an 8th year to its streak of being the top dog, or will Sony return to the top, for the first time since the DS lite?
