I recently made a list of the bestselling consoles in the U.S each year since 1986. Went through numerous different sources to find the most accurate data. 

Some of these were estimated before 2005, but these estimations came from reasonable sources and are likely still for the most part completely accurate. Between 2002-2005 though does get a little bit tricky since the GBA & PS2 were both so close in U.S sales those years, but Nintendo in e3 2004 showed that the GBA outsold the PS2 in the U.S since the GBA launch so it's definitely safe to assume that at least somewhere between 2002 & 2003 the GBA outsold the PS2, I assume it was both years but PS2 may have outsold it possibily one of those years. For 2004 & 2005 the GBA was still hot with shipments and majority of the sales in it's lifetime came from NA while the PS2 had similiar shipment numbers but had sales more evenly distributed which made me assume GBA most likely outsold the PS2 those years as well.

This list surprised me in several ways:

-For one thing, I wasn't aware how dominant the Genesis was in the U.S in it's prime, despite being a newcomer against the dominant Nintendo for 3 consecutive years the Genesis outsold both the SNES and GB in the U.S. Really goes to show how much Sega fucked up in the future by once being the king of consoles in the U.S to completely irrelavant the very next generation

-What's also surprising is that 22 out of the past 38 years a Nintendo console was the bestselling console for the year in the U.S, nearly 60% of the time. It's amazing how much some people exagerate Nintendo's failures as if flops like the Gamecube, N64 and Wii U are the norm while their successes are the exception. When it's the complete opposite, Nintendo consoles being successful is the norm while their failures are a major exception.

What do you guys think about this?

GBA beating multiple years of the PS2 is what surprises me the most, since the narrative surrounding that era treats the home console situation as the whole story with Sony dominating and Nintendo struggling.

Good to see that the 3DS fought his way into this list and got a little space among the best-selling consoles

Too bad the Nintendo Wii never made it to the list. But the DS was a monster, so it's understandable.

That definitely surprised me too, and everyone wanted to make it seem like Nintendo was struggling hard those yeasr when they were absolutely killing it with the GBA, outselling the most successful console of all time for several years and the only thing that stopped the GBA from selling close to PS2 numbers was Nintendo themselves with an even more successful platform the DS taking off early. This really goes to show Nintendo was really never in difficult times despite what the media wanted to make it seem like. 

If you watch Nintendo E3 in 2004 in it's entirely back when companies still treated them like press events and gave charts. Nintendo bragged GBA was the best-selling system in the US and matching PS2 overall sales at that point. GBA was killed early. Nothing too surprising. Genesis was kicking ass in the US but in Japan, it was a flop.

I do believe the list is incorrect, in 2008 the Wii sold 10.17 million to the DS' 9.95 million. From InstallBase:

Some data i compiled

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* Estimates as of November 30, 2023.

PS2 won 2002 and 2005

The back and forth between the SNES and Genesis is interesting. The SNES in particular was part of fairly different marketplaces in 1991 and 1995.

If I had to make a narrative out of this:

• 1991 - Sonic 1 is released and does well, but only sells a million copies in the USA during 1991. Meanwhile, we know the SNES sold at least 4.5 million in the USA that year, thanks in large part to being bundled with Super Mario World, the most anticipated game of the gen up to that point.
• 1992 - This was the year when the Genesis took the lead in the USA. Sonic became the staple bundled game with teh Genesis, its price dropped from $149.99 to $129.99 (or $99.99 sans Sonic), Sonic 2 was arguably the biggest exclusive of the year, and we know that sorts games were having a field day on the Genesisat the time (Madden NFL 93, NHLPA Hockey 93, and Real Deal Boxing were each best-selling games later in the year on the Genesis). The SNES was doing fine during this era between first party titles and Street Fighter, but it was a strong year for the Genesis.
• 1993 - This was the year of the Genesis 2, Sonic 2 bundles, Disney's Aladdin, Mortal Kombat, X-Men, Madden NFL 94, and the Sega CD. Note a particularly strong Q4. Meanwhile, the SNES was sort of between system sellers this year, with Super Mario World and Super Mario Kart in the past and DKC in the future.
• 1994 - The Genesis's last big year in the limelight. The big games of 1994 were largely multiplatform games like NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat II, but you also had Sonic 3 & Knuckles. THe big SNES game of the year, DKC, came too late to turn the tide.
• 1995 - Sega was floundering with the Saturn and the PS1 only launched in September. Meanwhile, the SNES was enjoying a Renaissance with games like DKC 1 & 2, Yoshi's Island, Killer Instinct, and Mortal Kombat 3.