Nintendo's profits from the Switch also dwarf Sony's profits from the PS2.

This is so irrelevant. When you reach success in life, there is no matter how or in what way. You just reached it. Of course there will be people that reached it in different ways or time. The fact is they reached it. You can't neglate the fact just because you give some reasons. Everything has a reason for it's succes. Switch for example didn't have any direct competition, while PS2 had. Switch went through a pandemic where sales of consoles in general boosted. Switch was the only console Nintendo had to maintain since 2017 (they did 3DS too, but even in those years after 2017, it was like 20% of their work, they almost exclusively concentrated on the Switch) While Sony had maintained a total of 4 consoles during the PS2 life on the market. There is also no need of DVD or some innovating media because for a handheld you don't need that. Also the times are so different. Now you can obviously went on to sell many units from one console without pricecut or 1 at most. Back then you needed pricecuts and you could afford them almost every year. Also the Switch Lite is version of price cut. Yes it's not the full Switch experience however how much of the people really use both the modes extensively in a long period of time and how much bought it because 1 of them or to use both of them is unclear, and although the Lite model is only handheld, it is still playing the Switch games and it is still a cheaper alternative. So it's not like there hasn't been a price cut at all. Just another version of it, not the traditional one. Also let's not forget the inflation. It's much more cheaper to buy 300$ console now or even 1-2-3 years ago than it was 2017. The inflation wasn't so big in the 2000s with PS2. This is like second price cut effect. PS2 sold 160M or close to it also. Don't lowball the final result. Yes it sold less gaming copies per game but it sold more software lifetime. Even if Switch reach the lifetime software number we live in a different time. Software is much more affordable and we also have digital sales as well which are way easier for people, than only the disc copies back then. Also the digital versions very often are way way cheaper and are way more often on sale. Of course if PS2 as successful as it was was selling now (not the same console with the old hardware of course) the software sales would be much higher than they were back then. The fan base is very subjective thing. You can't really measure a fanbase and say which is bigger. However the sales lifetime you can. For the moment Switch is still in 3rd place and there is no guarantee if it will pass the PS2. But I know one thing. It's very easy to sit there and to throw some reasons at only the 1 console. and to not give it any credit, and only praise the other one. You can find a better things in a given console even if it is much lower selling one. Because they are different. Every machine has a prons and cons. But you can't deny a success or excuse it because of this and that. Does it happened ? It does, then no matter what it is where it is. Just like there is different people with different strong sides and weak sides, there are the consoles, and every other tech if you want.

Great post from Xtreme, we don't have to disrespect a platform just because we are cheering for another. PS2's success was absolutely astounding and the reason why it still is the highest selling in history. I have been clearly cheering for Switch and yes its over but by no stretch of the imagination did I actually believe it would be an easy task and if it doesn't surpass PS2 then I'm not sure I can say it was more successful than PS2. Xtreme is right, financially it's hard to compare directly because they are from different eras. Also we can point out all day about the pros and cons of each but that simply comes with different circumstances like Xtreme was pointing out. So yes let's dial back on the downplay of each and appreciate the runs each had.

Thanks. Obviously both systems are very good, no doubt about it. And whether Switch reaches the PS2 or not, it is still very successful and legendary console, just like the DS.

You're clearly angry(hence the huge meatwad of text post), and your information is incorrect.

PS2 had the market to themselves for two console generations as Nintendo and Sega's offerings tanked and Xbox has never been competitive outside of the 360. Not so for the Switch who had to overcome the PS4, PS5, Xbox X/S, Steamdeck and similar handheld copycats, Mobile gaming, Piracy(specifically targeting Nintendo games), a chip shortage, and the WiiU failure.

How can you say the pandemic sped up sales when none of these systems were available during that period? Make it make sense. 

The inflation argument is weak and in this case is just wrong. People today are broke because of the high cost of living and don't have nearly as much disposable income as back then as the dollar is rubbish now. 

You're comparing Nintendo selling a nerfed iteration of the Switch which takes away it's home console function to the fully furnished PS2 being half off in year 4. Apples to cheeseburgers(they did the same for the PS1). You also conveniently leave out how the OLED raised the price by $50 and how it's the best selling iteration of the Switch. 

The Switch has already equaled the PS2s lifetime software sales number of 1.2 billion and has probably surpassed it as Nintendo reports actual sales and not shipments like the PS2.

Facts are always relevant my guy.

BTW, the PS5 is the PS2 being sold in the modern day. All Sony has done since the beginning is give you the same gamebox with better graphics and more functions.

There is no reason for me to be angry. At what exactly ? I am simply telling you that giving reasons for some success doesn't neglect it (I like to write big posts and I do that often, I am not angry) . The PS2 is the best selling console of all time, no matter what reason you can say. This is fact. Which is more successful of the two and especially profits, can't be measured since there are two completely different times and eras. I don't know why you include PS1 too. We are strictly talking PS2 here, and Switch. And no my information is not wrong. Also what is the meaning of "PS2 had the market to themselves for two console generations as Nintendo and Sega's offerings tanked and Xbox has never been competitive outside of the 360" ? The fact that PS2 lasted 2 full generations does not mean it had them for themselves. They just beat the other consoles to the punch in it's generation, however the 7th gen, PS3, 360 and Wii and DS, were selling very good and no PS2 didn't have that gen for it self, there were 5 other consoles selling at this timeframe (2006-2013). First of all there were competitors, the fact they didn't perform better is maybe because PS2 was more successful than them. Just like Switch is more successful than other consoles selling at the same time. Also you can't compare Switch with xbox and PS, because they are pure home consoles and target different groups. Switch didn't had any direct competitors. The last one being the Vita was a 3DS competitor, not Switch. Steamdeck came 4 years or so after the Switch launched, and you can't really call that direct competition. Mobile gaming has been available since 2009 or even before that and didn't stopped the DS, the PSP or the 3DS. So with the same reasoning didn't stop the Switch either. It's not even a factor. All of those are just excuses. And you can excuse the situation with inflation how much you want, but the fact of the matter is people buy consoles just as much as before you can clearly see it, PS and XBOX sold more in this 4 years timeframe than PS2 and XBOX did till 2004, and Switch sales are even better than the previous handhelds and the Gameboy too. With even doing stronger peak years than PS2 too. So no the inflation doesn't stop people from buying consoles. And no I am in no way comparing Switch selling cheaper Lite variant to PS2. All I am saying is that this is a version of a pricecut. So don't tell it has never receiver a price cut. I don't leave the OLED out. In fact this is also one more reason why Switch is at 140M, because the model boosted some millions more because there are many owners of the original model that bought the OLED model which is actually increasing sales, by one person at least two times. The Switch is still far from total software sales of the PS2 since those are 1537M which is about 300 more than the Switch. So don't rush the things and get ahead of yourself. You as might tell Switch already passed 160M Lifetime won't you ? Facts are relevant but you neglating the success of one console, and praising other is irrelevant .. As I already said, there is no matter what and how. The success is success. And at this time Switch is still under PS2 and under the DS. So don't get ahead of yourself. And again there are reasons for every success, no matter how you rotate it, the facts are facts. PS2 is the most successful console to date. That is measured by both hardware and software sales. When Switch passes them both, then go ahead, name it the best. As of this moment is not the best. Also other thing is that I give those examples (there may be more too but I don't want to go deeper) just to show you that for every console can be given some reasons why it's successful. However I am not neglecting Switch success, with them or without them it is still a success. But you do neglect the PS2 success, like it's some mediocre 80M sales console, and it just went on to sell more because luck, exact timing and dvd and pricecuts. There is no matter why and you also can't be sure that without those things it wouldn't sell the same or almost the same. No matter what reason you give the fact of the matter is PS2 is at the top. DS is second. Switch is third. Whether it will become 2nd or 1st the time will tell. If we start with the reasons we can find them in all of the consoles, we can also find why this and that console didn't sell more and what could've happened if this and that. Those are only empty discussions. Happy or not, those are the facts.

And no PS2 is not PS5 in modern days. PS5 is very far from PS2 at it's time by almost every criteria.

Again, You're just wrong...sorry.

I Know where you got that 1537million number from and it's wrong. We actually don't know how many copies of software the PS2 sold because that number has never been reported. We only have shipping numbers which is 1.2B. The 296 million you're trying add to it is included in the 1.2 billion shipment figure. For all we know they sold way less than 1.2B. Meanwhile Nintendo's 1.23B figure is actual sales numbers. This would make sense seeing the PS2 didn't have even one 20million seller while the Switch has 9. Also PS2 had only 4 10million sellers to the Switch's 21. You probably don't understand the difference between sales numbers and shipping numbers.

The N64, GameCube, and Dreamcast were commercial flops. The market was Sony's free and clear with all the momentum in the world from PS1. On the flip side, People were talking about Nintendo giving up the ghost and going 3rd party like Sega before the Switch released because of how bad the WiiU did and the PS4 was doing gangbusters. The Dreamcast came out 4 years into the PS1's life cycle and still got washed by the PS2 which came out a year later. Also, the first Xbox came out 4 years after the PS2 and didn't hit on anything. So no, the release window excuse doesn't work.  

The "Switch isn't competing" argument is a goofy take. They do not target different groups. All 3 gaming consoles are competing for the same market. Handheld gaming is simply rendering home console gaming obsolete. It's as silly as saying CDs weren't competing with cassette tapes or 8-tracks. New and better ways of doing things emerge and old ways fade away.

People buy more games today because gaming is more popular than ever before not because of inflation or people having more money. mobile gaming hasn't been more popular than during the Switch's lifecycle.

Saying selling a product with half the features missing for less is a pricecut is yet another goofy take when comparing it to another product which cut the price by 50% 4 years in on the exact same product. 

The Switch is more profitable than both the PS2 and the DS and sold more software than both. It's already won. The sales record is for the fanboys. 

Me saying the Switch has already overtaken the PS2 is definitely not irrelevant to you as you've already written 2 huge globs of text trying to argue with me and will soon put up a 3rd.

All PlayStations have essentially been the same. They just upgrade the graphical capability and add multimedia functionality.

The DS already beat the PS2 in my mind anyway, PS2 needed several extra years to sell just a few million more units, DS hit 100 million and 150 million way faster than the PS2, it's not even close actually. The fact that Sony let the system hang around in budget markets for $99.99 for several years on end because the PS3 was selling like a turd to start with made the PS2 a phony champ to begin with IMO.

Nintendo could've kept the DS on storeshelves for an extra 3-4 years too and crawled to 165 million or whatever too, that would've proved nothing.

The DS should be the measuring stick for sales excellence, not the PS2, the DS smokes the PS2 in average sales per year. 

That is completely false for the Switch. It sold extremely well in 2020 and 2021 and those are its two best years.

Correlation doesn't Equal causation. The demand was already there and there were supply shortages for everyone including Nintendo. If anything, if not for the pandemic Nintendo would already have this goofy sales record.