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Forums - Sales - Reconstructing Gaming History: NYTimes From 6/1/1991 - NES @ 9m in 1989?

BKK2 on 26 July 2008

It could also be that the 4.1m is financial year, and 3m is calender year. Hard to know as it's not usually specified.



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BKK2 on 26 July 2008

This graph of WW sales seems to contradict the 4.1m figure too, but I don't know how accurate the graph actually is. I'm leaning towards 4.1m FY87 & 3m CY87, but more research is needed to be sure.

It highlights well the cyclical nature of the industry I mentioned in a previous post.



*note: Post 2001 data is forecast, not actual.



BKK2 on 26 July 2008

The Washington Post Nov 24, 1989

Probably of greater interest are the two 16-bit entries, Sega's Genesis and NEC's TurboGrafx-16, flashier and more .expensive home video systems that are close to arcade quality. Nintendo's system utilizes eight bits; the increase to 16 bits allows more characters to be used in the games, provides more realistic-looking images and games with more depth of play, special effects and challenges. Sega introduced its system in Japan last year as MegaDrive, selling half a million units. It has the usual accessories, including an optional converter so that players can use eight-bit cartridges from the Sega Master System.



BKK2 on 26 July 2008

Miami Herald - Nov 17, 1991

Sega now leads the 16-bit US market -- it sold more than 1.7 million Genesis units in this country through Aug. 1, and more than four million worldwide.



BKK2 on 26 July 2008

Yay! Some US Master System figures.

The Palm Beach Post May 12, 1989

The Sega system is the NES in a somewhat sleeker package. While the company has only been in this volatile business since 1987, it has sold more than half a million systems and they expect their now 10 percent share of the market to increase. And for good reason. Inside Sega's futuristic control deck-- call it a "power base"-- resides a heavy-duty processing unit with 128K of memory, which is in the sophistication neighborhood of many personal computers.



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Orochimaru on 27 July 2008

I´ve found some UK numbers long time ago in a PDF - file, the source is "EA Internal", but I can´t find the PDF - file, sorry, but here´s the data.


We have ChartTrack figures for the PSX, so don´t adhere these numbers.


The numbers in brackets are LTDs:

Here´s the full picture: http://i33.tinypic.com/ruzdj8.png

 



BKK2 on 27 July 2008

^ That's a fantastic coincidende, I've been trying to compile UK sales from 1987 today and that helps to fill in a few gaps. I have more accurate figures for some of those dates, but the NES & Master System ones are very helpful.

With regards to the US '87 figures, after further research it appears that 4.1m was the total hardware sales across all systems that year, and NES had 3m of those, so it seems that the article I quoted is actually mistaken.



quigontcb on 27 July 2008

Great work people. :) I'm really enjoying all these numbers, even if there are some contradictions here and there.



"I feel like I could take on the whole Empire myself."

Orochimaru on 27 July 2008

And here are LTD's for very old video game systems / arcade systems:

 

 

Release System Units Comment

1988 Sega Mega Drive 30.000.000 till end of 1997 games
1977 Atari 2600 30.000.000 numbers till end of 2004 / discontinued 1992
1982 C64 17.000.000 - 22.000.000 discontinued April 1994
1986 Sega Master System 13.000.000
1985 Atari ST 6.000.000 till end of 1994 games / discontinued 1993
1980 Intellivision 3.000.000 discontinued 1991
1987 TurboGrafx-16 2.500.000 numbers for the USA
1993 3DO 2.000.000
1977 Color TV Game 6 1.000.000
1978 Color TV Game 15 1.000.000
1995 Virtual Boy 770.000 discontinued 1996
1991 Philips CD-i 570.000
1993 Atari Jaguar 500.000 till 05/15/2005
1978 Space Invaders 350.000
1972 Magnavox Odyssey 340.000 discontinued 1975
Pac-Man 293.822 numbers from 1980 to 1987
1994 Sega 32X 200.000
Ms. Pac-Man 115.000
Asteroids 100.000
Pong home television version 100.000
Street Fighter II 60.000
1981 Donkey Kong 60.000
Defender 55.000
1980 Centipede 50.000
1979 Galaxian 50.000
1995 Apple Pippen 42.000 discontinued 1997
Mr Do! 30.000
Donkey Kong Jr. 30.000 First arcade game sold as a conversion kit only
Popeye 20.000
Q*Bert 20.000
Atari Breakout 15.000
Midway Sea Wolf 10.000
1972 Pong 8.000 - 10.000
Pong (Midway) 9.000
Dragon's Lair 16.000 8.000 in 1984
Donkey Kong 3 5.000
Sea Wolf 2 2.000
Radarscope 1.000 only USA - numbers
Death Race 1.000


Relias on 27 July 2008

Great Reading. Thanks.



Boycotting the following:

1. Yoshi: He ate my car and spit out a toaster.

2. Igglybuff: Totally false advertisement. You can have as many as you like they don't buff nothing.

3. the Terms Hardcore/Softcore... We're talking Video Games. Not Porn.

4. The term Casual as relates to Gamers: We make them sound like outsider's that happen to play games.  If that were the case they'd own a PS3.

5. Donuts.... Beacause I drink Beer...... and the biggest fan of Donuts hates Beer.

6. Boycotts: Their so lame.