Wii breezes by N64 to become 5th best-selling console of all time

Gaming

Two years is all it took for the Wii to slide on past its grandfather and sneak into the number five spot on the all time best-selling console list. That’s right folks, the spunky young newcomer rang up an impressive 34.55 million units sold around the world and it still has plenty of lifespan to go. Comparatively, the classic it replaces on the list, N64, has sold 32.93 million units since it was released over twelve years ago. Sure the Wii still has plenty of fight in it but the five-spot was pretty easy to snag. Fourth place on the all time list shouldn’t be a problem either as the SNES holds that position with only 49.1 million systems sold. Then comes the hard part. NES is sitting pretty at number three all time with 61.91 million units sold, and is preceded by Sony’s Playstation with an impressive 102.49 million. Sitting atop the pile is the Playstation 2 with a remarkable 140 million systems sold worldwide. It’s doubtful that the Wii will ever reach that mark but if it can somehow manage to keep up this pace, who knows? To further emphasize the accomplishment, the Playstation 3 was also released in 2006 and to date it has sold 16.84 million consoles. Yup, the Wii has more than doubled its sales. After all these years Nintendo has finally figured out that gamers actually want to move. Who knew?

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17 Comments
  • dugcam

    who knew?

    wii knew…

  • http://www.k5live.com likeabite

    @dugcam…hahahaha classic!! That’d win the beat 360 challenge easily (AC360 on CNN btw)…But the real reason isn’t because people want to move. Nintendo just marketed the Wii to young kids and older people who wanted a communal experience. Harcore gamers don’t buy the Wii, they get a PS3 or a 360. Problem is there are a lot more younger kids and older people than there are hardcore gamers, hence the success of the Wii. That said I don’t think it can reach the Playstation’s mark let alone the PS2′s but we’ll see.

  • emag

    To reach the PS1 or PS2′s levels, Nintendo *really* needs to step up production. Or…maybe not. After all, I still see signs various places that say “Limit 1 Wii console per customer”. Meanwhile, there are always plenty of 360s and PS3s around with no limits on the number purchased.

    And as a casual gamer (who barely touched the PS2 after a week or two), the other consoles just leave me lukewarm. Sure, I’d love to see the new Civilization game, probably LittleBigPlanet, and a few other titles on the Wii, but then I also mostly just play games that my wife or company can also participate in, as nothing’s more boring than watching someone else play a game.

  • illa

    atari 2600 redux.

  • Rosario

    That’s crazy that the PS2 sold that many but I mean I have 3 in my house so I can see why. Its still crazy how much the Wii is selling, and say its because of the casual gamers but all that matters is that Nintendo found the people that will buy one and that means money.

  • Joe The Plumber

    Who didn’t have a ps2?
    But seriously… a ps2 is one of the best inventions in technology history. What a great piece of Asian tech.

  • Nate

    Where does the Gameboy fall on the all time list. I know it’s more than the PS2, but this list is, obviously, non-portables.

  • Nate

    Answered my own question. The original GameBoy & Gameboy Color sold 118.69 million units. All versions of the GameBoy Advance have sold 81.36 million.

    That’s a lot of damn GameBoys.

  • Nate

    @ Joe the Plumber

    The PS2 is the only major console of the past twenty years that I never purchased. I really don’t know why. I guess I was heavy into Xbox.

  • http://www.k5live.com likeabite

    @ Nate…wow how did u not have a PS2?? And you can’t even make the XBOX excuse cause it came out waayy later lol wow.

  • B

    This is in no way a Nintendo hate post, but I will never account for a Wii sale. Good for them with the numbers, but there will never be a day when I’ll have one in my home. PS3 and 36o is holding me down. Well my PS3 is anyway.

  • Nate

    @likeabite

    I had a Dreamcast, leading up to the Xbox release. And, really, it took like two years for any good games, aside from Devil May Cry, to be released on the PS2. So, by the time a lot of good games started coming out for the PS2, I was already heavily into Xbox.

  • http://www.k5live.com likeabite

    @ Nate…Yea I understand, I had a Dreamcast too but quickly got the PS2 as soon as it came out then got the XBOX…there were wayyy to many titles on PS2 to just have an XBOX instead though…Games like Rival Schools, Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha…the list goes on and on.

  • irfan

    i never had a ps2 either… nor did i have a ps1… went NES-Genesis-N64-Xbox-Wii-Xbox360 and soon a PS3

  • brak

    “After all these years Nintendo has finally figured out that gamers actually want to move. Who knew?”

    I dunno about y’all but i used to wiggle and move with Mario and Bases Loaded and such… i’ve always wanted to move :D

  • Neel

    well am a playstation fan n am confident that ps3 will beat Wii. From my point of view, Wii games just reflect the game in the 80s.. I have a ps, ps2 n a ps3 at home, n am proud.

    viva ps3….

  • Sami

    Wow 140 million PS2 sold worldwide!? I still remember when i first got it for my 13th b-day back in 2001. Great memories…and the collection of great titles for the system is astounding. FFX is my favorite exclusive from the PS2 and one of my favorite games of all time =)

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