I got to wondering about something. How the platforms fluctuate and compare to themselves over the course of their generations.
Sony
PS1 102m (their initial outing as a new platform)
PS2 158m (increased unit sales by 56m [55%] compared to initial)
PS3 87m (lost over 70m units [45%] compared to previous and 15m compared to initial)
PS4 117m (gained back 30m [26%] they had lost previously and increased 15m compared to initial)
PS5 21m (currently tracking behind PS4 but ahead of other previous platforms)
Microsoft
Xbox 24m (their initial outing as a new platform)
360 85m (increased unit sales by 61m [255%] compared to initial)
XBO 50m (lost 35m units [35%] compared to previous but still more than double the initial)
Series 16m (currently tracking ahead of all previous platforms)
Nintendo
NES 61m (their initial outing as a new platform)
SNES 49m (lost over 12m [20%] compared to initial)
N64 32m (lost an additional 17m [35%] compared to previous and nearly half compared to initial)
GCN 21m (lost another 11m [35%] compared to the previous and now over 40m compared to initial)
Wii 101m (increased by 80m [480%] compared to previous. That is everything they lost plus another 40m over initial)
WiiU 13m (their biggest loss with 88m [87%] compared to previous. This one is 48m below initial)
Switch 111m (their biggest gain compared to previous with over 98m [750%] and counting)
The takeaway from this is Sony may have the most units sold (158m), but they only managed about a 55% increase over their initial release at their height.
Microsoft had the 3rd highest comeback with their 360 compared to their first system. Increasing units by over 255%.
The biggest surprise (well, maybe not) is Nintendo. they have been around longer and have seen ups and downs (mostly downs) with each platform having been lower than the previous, until the Wii. Wii had a pretty big comeback with 480% increase over the Gamecube, but then they followed it up with the biggest decrease of 87% (way to go Nintendo) with WiiU. Currently they are on the rebound once again with the Switch sitting at 111m (and counting) which is biggest increase compared to the WiiU with over 750%.
Last edited by darthv72 - on 17 August 2022
