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SvennoJ on 15 July 2025
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RolStoppable said:
SeaDaVie said:

According to all available data, including GDP figures, price indexes and standard of living, life in the 90’s Europe did not change significantly from the period before nor did conditions improve at a faster rate compared to the periods after. You wouldn’t know any of that though, because you were too busy looking at gameboy sales data to defend your made up theories that you’re trying to pretend resulted in a growth rate of 130%, like that’s some sort of normal event. You’re being ridiculous and not arguing in good faith. It’s clear you’re biased and not capable of a reasonable and balanced analysis of the facts. 

I’m actually 41(not 31, my account age was a typo) and live in Europe, so I do in fact remember. I was 12 when the PlayStation released, in first year of high school, and witnessed first hand the seismic shift in attitudes. The release of the PlayStation in Europe was the single most important event in the history of the video game market here, and will never be surpassed. Or, you know, being in the EU meant the price of cheese fell by 3 pence so 30 million people, who’d never previously owned a console, went out and bought a £299 PlayStation. It’s probably a 50/50.

Also, the fact that the Gameboy’s sales pick up at the exact moment the PS releases, rather than 2 years earlier when the seismic event of the single market formed is kind of weird, no? Maybe it just took people 2 years to realise cheese now cost 3p less.

I doubt you've looked at data. It has been a clear advantage to be a part of the European single market for every country that got added. Since you've now admitted to living in the UK, it's clear why you lack the perspective for mainland Europe and how fractured it was as a trade zone before 1993.

Also, the PS1 started slow. It wasn't until 1997 that it really got going, so the initial uptake in GB sales preceded the uptake of the PS1. 1997 was the year when the launch price of the PS1 had already been slashed by around 50% depending on the country.

The uptake of the SNES indeed shows the expanded markets

1994-1995 SNES         0.6m            GameBoy 2.2m
1995-1996 SNES         1.1m 193%   GameBoy 1.7m 74%     
1996-1997 SNES+N64 1.4m 125%   Gameboy 2.8m 171%  PS1 3 million shipped
1997-1998 SNES+N64 3.4m 236%   Gameboy 3.8m 134%  PS1 sales surge, doubling shipments so far in just 6 months.

Clever marketing, FF7 and of course a price cut helped





Anyway the PS1 went on to sell over 40 million in Europe, N64 6.34 million and 10 million Gameboy.

You can argue all you want, Sony's strategy worked. It took a few years to get going but quickly left Nintendo behind until the Wii. Which also got a huge boost from expanding the market!


To go back to the OP, without Sony the market would have kept growing as well, just more slowly. Same as video games would be all around us today as well without the NES saving the games industry. (All those bedroom coders that grew up with ZX-Spectrum etc would have gone on in video games anyway) And smartphones would have been big today as well without the iPhone boosting smart phone adoption.