Topic: The Nintendo Switch has outsold the PS2

I’m seeing people claiming that the original Switch has finally crossed the 155m units needed to dethrone Sony, but I can’t find hard evidence this is true as al the results still show the 154.1m (990k short) number.

Can anyone provide evidence that it happened or was made up?

Also before anyone says “the PS2 sold 160m” no it didn’t.

Switch might dethrone PS2 in term of sales number.
But, Switch cannot dethrone PS2 in term of games variety in my opinion.
There are so much diversity of PS2 games including some of my best PS2 games like Dance Dance Revolution, K-1, Monster Rancher 4, etc that will never exist on Switch.

@Anti-Matter the big advantage Switch has over PS2 is that we've seen the big indie boom.

Hundreds of fantastic indies are on Switch and Switch 2 that aren't on PS2.

Also genres that simply weren't even present on ps2. Roguelikes, lites, for example.

@bixente
I admitted there are some new genre was born from Switch / PS4 era such as Dragon Quest Builders, Overcooked, Epic Chef, etc but PS2 have the game genre that I like the most and didn't exist on Switch like DDR, K-1, Monster Rancher 4, Para Para Paradise, Beatmania IIDX, etc.
PS2 also have a lot of 3D Platformer games.

The PS2 wouldn't of sold nearly as well if it werent for it's DVD player.
But then, the NS1 probably wouldn't of done anywhere near as well if it weren't a hybrid.

The really impressive thing is that Nintendo never really dropped prices on the NS and hit that number in a normal amount of years, whereas Sony was selling PS2s for many a moon after the PS3 dropped at rock bottom prices, and with that DVD multimedia capability, to hit the 155 number.

It’s crazy how well the console sold during Black Friday after both the release of the switch2 and a price increase when you can get a lite for like $100 on eBay in near perfect condition.

I know you have a penchant for this kind of thing and in any case have blocked half the users on here so me replying is for naught. However it is worth noting that according to Wikipedia the PS2 had 4344 games while the Switch to date is at 4052, which excludes stuff like Arcade Archives and NSO Classics

Basically, the IMO in your post is load bearing

Sony moved the goalpost a while back, 160m is the number.

https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/playstation-history/2000-ps...

We know it's passed the DS, as the official Nintendo reported numbers had it at 10k behind as of September 30. It sold more than 10k the following week in Japan.

As for PS2 the only hard numbers we have are 155m in 2012, then 160m because they didn't report the pure profit of 5m PS2s made in the final year of production in 2013 for some reason. That number only came out when the Switch was getting too close for their comfort.

I think the final PS2 ever produced has a number on it though.

Also worth noting it took PS2 price cuts, the cheapest DVD player, and 12 years, to hit 155m. Switch is at 154m in 8.5 and it just plays games, and never really got cheaper.

Depends how you measure success doesn't it?

PS2 was selling at a different time, into a smaller market. Nintendo won't beat PlayStation 2 ever, because they didn't beat it during that era. The PS2 was discounted, just as all consoles received discounts across the generation, back then. Nintendo discounted their console bundles. They discounted Gamecube, their direct competitor to PlayStation 2, and it still topped out at 22 million officially recorded sales. Maybe they actually made 28 million. They still lost. They were crushed by PlayStation 2, in that era. For god's sake, let it go.

@Magician

Ah yes they sold 5 millions units when it hasn’t been for sale for 20 years, all of this with no evidence.

I can never tell what that Wikipedia article is counting as 4,000 given that the actual Nintendo.com webpage mentioned when they hit 10,000 unique games... years ago. Nintendo Life lists about 18,000 Switch 1 games for whatever it's worth.

In terms of variety, I wonder what percentage of the 4344 PS2 games have a port/collection/remaster/remake/sequel on Switch.

According to Deku Deals, the Switch library stands at 17,389 games. That probably includes some that haven't come out yet and different editions of the same game, but we're easily looking at over 16,000 in total.

That's more than the PS2 and indeed more than any human being could play in a lifetime. Given that most of them are abject shovelware, you probably shouldn't try.

@Matt_Barber When I filter by Switch 1 games on Deku, it gives me 18,303. Maybe different because of the different regions?

@FishyS Yes, that would do it.

If you wanted to reconcile across all eShop regions, the number would be higher still.

Sony suddenly boosting the sales number to 160 million when the Switch started nipping at the PS2s heels is one of the most pathetic, gross things I have ever seen. Like it is even possible for a console that hasn't been manufactured in over a decade to magically sell millions more units. Give me a break.. I still can't believe more people weren't outraged over that BS.

@vio It wasn't even that. They stopped reporting hard numbers in 2011/2012, and ceased production in 2013.

The last hard numbers they gave was 155m+. Not 156m+. Not 158m+. Specifically 155m+. To investors

Now that implies one of a few things:

1) They didn't actually know how many they produced - at which point any sane investor would ask how

2) They produced and sold 5m in that final year - at which point anyone sane would ask how

3) They always undersold the actual amount they sold - at which point why bother?

Yes, and while Nintendo are generally more accurate than Sony when it comes to reporting consoles shipped, we don't really know how many of those go on to sell at retail.

So, the true answer to the question is that nobody knows. So long as the accounts get signed off and they turn a profit, I don't think they're that fussed about the bragging rights either.

It's a fact they didn't sell 160 million because the number on the last system produced said 160 million and change. That's all systems created.

Now.

Account for all the systems that were sent out as replacements for units broken under warranty, or as a paid service replacement. All units produced account for all of that. They account for systems given away, they account for dev kits, they account for warranty replacements, all that jazz.

It absolutely is not equivalent to units shipped/sold. We may not know how many of those produced units fall into those other camps, but it's likely about 5 million, meaning about 0.65% of total units sold/shipped were replacement units, giveaway units, lost inventory, etc.

They are being incredibly disingenuous and people are eating it up. There's a reason their numbers were at 155m for a decade after they ceased production. Because that was the actual number shipped/sold. If they had really sold more, those numbers would have been accounted for back in 2012.

And look. It doesn't really matter at the end of the day. It's just bragging rights. But it's for that very reason it irks me so much. It's the most petty thing I've ever seen in my 3+ decades as a gamer.