I'm wondering based on your guys life experiences and perspectives, which consoles did you feel like were more popular than they actually were or less popular than they actually were?
When it comes to consoles that I felt like were more popular than they actually were:
Gamecube:I felt like the Gamecube felt way more popular than it actually was, I see many people around my circle and even the internet talk about the Gamecube and how much they loved it but at the time it was considered a pretty big sales failures. I think a big reason why I probably felt like this was cause I was 5 years old when I first got the GC in 2005, so naturally my social group would be the extremely younger audience the Gamecube was appealing to the most that gen so amongst by social circle closest to me, the Gamecube was probably relatively popular, but I'm sure if I were to be with the older crowd of teenagers and adults at the time, the Gamecube would've felt very unpopular and a joke of a console to that demographic, which was the biggest demographic in gaming at the time.
Also Idk if this is true or not and it's hard to tell with no real numbers, but I felt like the GC over the years as of recent well after it discontinued has sort of seen a bit of a resurgance in interest again, as I think many adults who missed out on the Gamecube are looking back at the console more fondly and has been getting more hype within the retro community, and I'm sure the resurgance of Nintendo gamers coming out of the Wii/Switch generation is really generating more interest in the GC well after its discontinuation, which is probably why I felt like the console was more popular than it actually was.
Wii: Even by how popular the Wii was selling 101 Million, it surprised me that it's only the 7th bestselling console in history when the Wii in its prime felt like a hype phenomenom like I've never seen with a console. It truly felt like everyone had one, and so may non-gamers too like grandmoms which makes me surprised that 6 other consoles still managed to outsell it. Even today nearly 2 decades after its launch everyone still talks about the Wii, post memes about it.
I guess it probably was sold less than I pictured because while the Wii in its prime was huge, it had a relatively short prime. By 2010 Microsoft & Sony already had their answers with the Wii with the PS Move & Kinect which at the time may have been seen as more impressive tech, so 360/PS3 owners had no reason to buy a Wii now and neither did more casual consumers since the main selling point of the Wii was already replicated. I felt like the Wii later in its life also began to look more and more like a passing fad and once you got over the motion controls it wasn't that impressive of a system, it was underpowered, 3rd party support was mediocre and Nintendo after 2010 had very little impressive software for it to keep people engaged and excited about the Wii which is why sales fell off a cliff quickly after its prime. With the other consoles ahead of the Wii, they kept getting compelling software for years longer and they weren't carried as much by a gimmick considered a fad.
Also, I probably felt like the Wii sold more than it did because in I live in the U.S where the Wii was a huge success where it was the 4th bestselling console in U.S history & 3rd among home consoles (Until the Switch). However, the Wii wasn't as strong in other regions. The Wii did successful in Europe but no where close to the other top consoles in that region while in Japan it wasn't even big over there, mainly cause Japan has moved away from dedicated home consoles for the most part, so the Wii doesn't have that same advantage like other handhelds ahead of the Wii had.
I'll expand on this list a little bit later...
