yo33331 said:
Maybe no. However no other console has also done what PS2 has done. For a few years after it's successor's launch (2006) PS2 has steep declines in yearly sales as well as sales (or shipments rather) well above 10M (14 and 13M for the years 2007 and 2008) when it's successor was already released and the gen was in full swing. Even in 2009 and after PS2 was selling 8, 7 and 6M respectively. In it's 7th and 8th year PS2 sells 14 and 13M and in it's 9th and 10th years PS2 did 8 and 7M. Even in it's last years PS2 has been doing 4 and 2M units per year which now consoles do in their second year after it's succesor or third at best. PS2 did around 2M the year before it's successor's successor launched. So when we talk about mountains Switch has a lot more to catch and conquer. |
That's a dual edged sword though. The PS2's continued success post the launch of it's successor is a bit of a knock on the PS3. The PS3 was priced so high, that people just getting into gaming around that time vastly preferred to grab a PS2 over plunking $599 down on a video game console (which would be like spending $868 on a console today). And the PS3's early losses managed to wipe out 2 generations of profit (PS1 & PS2 combined), so Sony didn't really benefit at all from those late gen PS2 sales. The PS2 was selling for $149 by '04, reduced again to $129 in '06, and was just $99 in '09. It's unlikely we see end of life pricecuts like that again. The PS4 never dropped to that $199 pricepoint everyone was so sure would eventually come. Even the Wii U, during its lifelong struggle, never saw significant price reductions. So, the Switch will have to achieve its end of life sales at a much higher price point (although the Lite option does help offset that). And I'm pretty sure Nintendo would prefer the Switch's successor to be successful out of the gate, rather than be a reason for legacy hardware to continue selling at a high level for years afterwards. Would it be amazing if the Switch managed to sell over 158 million units? Of course. Is that Nintendo's going concern right now? Doubtful.
In the end, the # of units sold is just that, a number. Nintendo could have found a way to move a couple million more Wii's to move it past the PS1 in lifetime total. Just like they could have supported the DS more at the end of its life to push its total past the PS2 and claim "most units sold of any videogame system (handheld or console)". Just like Sony could have sold a lot more PS4's in the past year instead of having it stall right below Gameboy on the lifetime hardware chart. But, units sold at the end of a consoles life don't drive profit or revenue. Which at the end of the day, is a hardware manufacturer's primary concern.
