I come here to get news on exclusives and other things that just seem to show up here first. The sales thing is something I've been kind of following recently because it's interesting to see the market.... But I was just wondering why some people seem to place the worth of the system or game by the sales... Or get extremely excited that the game is selling well, like it makes a quality difference... Just curious as to why...

That's quite simple. Firstly, videogames companies make games to sell them, and sell games to make more of them. So what sells defines what will be done in the near future. That's why games sales are VERY important.
Secondly, videogames companies make games for a console, then adapt them to the other consoles if they feel like it. So if the console you bought sells well, it means more games for the console in the future, more exclusive games than on the other consoles, and better use of the hardware by the developers. That's why consoles sales are VERY important.

Because console sales and the sales of the games on the console directly influence just how many games or the quality of the games the system will get. Plus we all love to cheer for our favorite system.

Because it's like supporting a football team. It may be fun to go to matches and watch the game (Playing computer games). But what can be just as much fun (if not more) is following how your team performs in the league (tracking system sales etc...)

How does that analogy work for you?

For me, it's an excuse to talk about games and pretend I'm smart.

(Edit: Plus I gamble on VGChartz numbers with my bff)

The higher the sales, the more support from 3rd parties.

that really doesn't answer why it should be important to me as a gamer... It only explains the obvious reasons a company would track them. I own a PS3 and the sales of MGS4 couldn't matter less to me. That's why I'm wondering. The games great, even if it only sold 250k life time. So why do people follow sales like it makes the game better?

(it's been answered better since the first post, the football team reference works for me I suppose)

It's because this is a sales site.Sales don't really matter to the average gamer or on any other forum.

Did you really read what kuraobi and Montana said? If we say a game I love gets released, but sells poorly, then I won't see that kind of game anymore. The sales are what form the market into what it is. If I have to choose between three consoles, and I choose one that does poorly in sales, it most likely won't get many games that the other two get. Might be games I'd really enjoy. So I'll be missing out on them because the console doesn't sell well. Sales are extremely important for consumers, to get as much as possible out of the money they spend.

@highwaystar101, The analogy of supporting a sports team is correct for the most part.