Pretty much people just blindly looking at numbers without putting zero context or thought into those numbers.
If the PS2 had the same thing happen to it that the DS did (Sony choosing the cut PS2 shipments to a trickle after its 7th birthday) ... the PS2 would've finished at 125-128 million LTD.
The PS2 benefitted from the PS3 being a turd out of the gates because it was an expensive turd ($600, almost $900 today with inflation) and Sony thus decided to keep selling/shipping the dirt cheap PS2 because the two products were miles apart in pricing/audience. Might as well collect whatever ancillary profit the PS2 was bringing in while the PS3 was struggling.
The 3DS on the other hand got punished for no reason because the 3DS had a poor launch and Nintendo axed the 3DS price within 6 months and then wanted to steer all buyers towards the $169.99 3DS instead of the $129.99 DS (no where near the price difference there).
That's not a fair 1:1 situation both machines were in (for factors outside of their control) and has nothing to do with their respective "demand". DS gets punished for the 3DS starting poorly, whereas the PS2 got massively rewarded for the PS3 starting like shit. Which isn't anything to be that proud of, like Sony or Nintendo would not want to repeat the PS2-to-PS3 scenario in any way, shape, or form (it's why in the modern market, Sony just killed the PS4 outright ... you're buying a PS5 or nothing from Sony is their message).
Last edited by Soundwave - on 07 May 2023
