The five biggest-selling gaming consoles

Since online game consoles first emerged within the early Seventies, tons of of hundreds of thousands have been bought to gamers desperate to immerse themselves of their favourite franchises, from Murderer’s Creed to Zelda.

The 5 hottest consoles have bought round 700 million models between them.

PlayStation 2: 155-160 million

Japanese tech and leisure big Sony sparked a worldwide frenzy with the discharge of PlayStation 2 in 2000.

A midnight launch in america stoked pleasure and in some areas individuals stormed the retailers to ensure they bought their palms on a unit.

Its preliminary success was constructed on its again compatibility—gamers may nonetheless take pleasure in unique PlayStation video games—and its skill to play DVDs.

Paradoxically critics had been unimpressed with the preliminary slate of video games for the console.

However a string of hits from franchises together with “Grand Theft Auto”, “Grand Turismo”, “Final Fantasy”, “Tekken” and “Metal Gear Solid” helped kick the console into stratospheric reputation.

Former Sony Interactive Leisure CEO Jim Ryan mentioned earlier this 12 months gross sales had reached 160 million—although the corporate’s official rely has stayed at 155 million.

Nintendo DS: 154 million

The Nintendo DS revolutionized the world of gaming when it hit cabinets in 2004 and 2005.

Its foldable two-screen design, full with built-in mic and web connection, improved on the already unimaginable Nineteen Nineties success of the Sport Boy.

Its success was constructed on a strong steady of hit variations—Mario, Zelda and Pokemon amongst them.

But it surely additionally turned well-known for breakout cultural phenomena like “Animal Crossing” and “Nintendogs”—a real-time pet simulation sport the place gamers groomed and just about walked their canines.

The Japanese agency mentioned it had bought greater than 154 million models.

Nintendo Change: 143 million

The Nintendo Change, launched in 2017, has a pill format that permits customers to play on a big display at dwelling or on public transport, serving to to show it right into a sensation.

It burnished its success with stellar gross sales of the most recent chapters of the “Zelda” franchise.

And “Animal Crossing: New Horizons”—a sport about social interplay—turned a worldwide mega-hit after launching in 2020, when a lot of the world confronted some form of confinement because of the COVID pandemic.

The Change, nonetheless the Japanese big’s present premium product, had reached 143.4 million gross sales by the top of June this 12 months, the agency mentioned.

Sport Boy: 118 million

The Sport Boy and its 1998 Colour spin-off had been a cultural phenomenon within the late Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s.

The tiny handheld consoles helped launched among the world’s most recognizable characters.

Pokemon’s Pikachu first appeared on the Gameboy in 1996, spawning a globe-conquering franchise of movies, sequence, video games and toys.

With hits like “Tetris” and “Super Mario Land”, it helped crown Nintendo as a market chief within the Nineteen Nineties, and finally recorded greater than 118 million gross sales, based on the agency.

PlayStation 4: 117 million

Whereas the PlayStation 2 helped kill Sega’s Dreamcast on the flip of the millennia, the PlayStation 4 did battle with Microsoft’s Xbox sequence—and received.

Released in 2013, it bought 117 million models, based on the Japanese agency’s information from 2022, far outstripping its Microsoft rival.

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Success was secured with well-received additions to well-liked franchises like “Grand Theft Auto” and “The Last of Us”.

Movie spin-offs like “Marvel’s Spider-Man” and “Star Wars Battlefront” additionally did strong enterprise.

© 2024 AFP