There’s life left in the PlayStation 4, but it’s already outpaced the PSone’s eye-watering 102.49 million units install base and established itself as the second best-selling home console ever made. It’s got some work to do before it catches the PlayStation 2’s mind-blowing 155 million units, but the fact that it’s already ahead of a cultural phenomenon like the Nintendo Wii (101.6 million units) says a lot about the success of the current-gen console.
Perhaps most impressive of all to me is that of the top five best-selling home consoles, four of them are PlayStation systems. We all know that the PlayStation 3 is the black sheep of the family: its 87.4 million install base is the only one to be under 100 million units. But even then I can’t help but look back to the abysmal start that the Japanese giant got off to, and how it rebounded so successfully in 2009 and beyond.
Make no mistake: the PS3 was a disaster at launch. It was over-engineered, overpriced, and poorly marketed – that it currently stands as the fifth best-selling home console of all-time says a lot about Sony’s prowess in the space. I also think that the recovery it made from 2009 onwards – releasing quality exclusive after quality exclusive and revising its entire marketing philosophy – paved the way for the stratospheric success of its, well, successor. Lessons were learned.
I occasionally see this notion in hardcore gaming communities that PlayStation is merely a lucky brand; it’s argued, for example, that if Microsoft hadn’t messed up with the Xbox One launch, then the PS4 wouldn’t have been anywhere near as popular. It’s a reductive statement that sits contrary to the evidence that we have; if Sony’s success is luck, then it must have hit the jackpot to have four of the five best-selling home consoles of all time.
No, I think the manufacturer’s achievements can be attributed to a few things: consistency, quality, and a global outlook. It often gets ignored in the American-centric media, but PlayStation’s ability to establish itself in regions such as the Middle East and Continental Europe has made up for declining interest in, say, Japan. It’s one of the reasons that the PS3 was able to maintain pace with the Xbox 360, despite the Sony system receiving a pasting in the USA.
I know there were plenty of people eager to point to the Game Boy and the Nintendo DS in our article today; depending on how you categorise consoles, then, yes, the picture looks a little different. But at the end of the day it’s impressive whichever way you paint it: aside from a minor blip with the PS3, this is a console manufacturer that’s been outrageously consistent over the past two decades and a bit. Who wants to bet against the PS5 continuing the trend?
Have you been impressed by PlayStation's consistency over the years? Which of Sony's consoles is your personal favourite? Do not underestimate the power of PlayStation in the comments section below.
Comments 48
I’m still impressed how the ps3 sold badly during most of its life and than all of the sudden in 2010 and onwards got a boost and overtook the xbox360.
Ps3 is by far my favourite home console (counting the switch as a portable) and my third favourite console in general (psvita, than switch, than ps3)
So many hidden gems, exclusives and unique concepts were released on the ps3.
Also half of my physical game collection is playstation based. Over 140 ps3 games, over 120 ps2 games, over 70 psvita games, over 30 ps4 games, over 30 ps1 games and over 20 psp games.
Putting "home" in the title assures 75% fewer comments in this thread. 😎
Having owved all 4 - still regret trading in my PS2 - Sony done did good.
Nice article.
I do not appreciate you indirectly calling me out from what I and many others said earlier. /s
In all seriousness, I do congratulate Sony on being consistent and getting to this point.
But but but Ps4 had like three versions.... Well N fanboys the DS and 3DS had multiple versions ( Nintendo DS lite, Nintendo Dsi , Nintendo DSI XL, 3DS, 2DS, 3DS XL, New 3DS and New 3DS XL). This is a response to the first comment on Nlife.
@IronHammersFC No one was called out. I was trying to say the record is impressive whichever way you look at it. Game Boy and Nintendo DS were beasts.
@Sanquine you say that but the guy who said that on NLife was called out for it.
No need to do it here, let us act like grown ups.
Also why is that PS2 covered with liquid?!
Ps3 is as great as all the PlayStation consoles.i was there day 1 in September 9 1995.and the graphics on ps3 blew me away.been gaming since atari.playstation is the reason why i still play video games.from grand theft auto.god of war.ratchet and clank.resistance.crash bandicoot.syphon filter.etc the king of gaming since day one.word ☝ up son
Nintendo must regret turning Sony away from collaborating with them on a CD ROM for the SNES.
Akin to turning down stocks in Google in 1999.
@get2sammyb I probably should have indicated the sarcasm as it wasn’t that clear, so for future reference am gonna have to slap a /s in
I ate all my brother's PS1 discs for some reason when I was teething. It's a shame, some proper classics in there like Metal Gear Solid and Crash Bandicoot.
@nessisonett I gave my PSone to my brother when I upgraded to the PS2, along with two or three games I never thought I'd wanna play again, just to get him started. Syphon Filter was one, and I think Time Crisis was another.
Imagine my horror when I found him using the discs as drinks coasters a couple months later.
Why? Because he'd completed them.
Apparently, nothing says "I owned you" quite like "hold my beer".
Playstation has been consistently great, you know when you buy a PS console you'll be set for the next few years. I'll be there day one for the PS5😁
I owned a SNES and Genesis when the Saturn and PlayStation launched. I was predisposed to buy Sega since they were the known commodity. My experience with Sony up to that point had been my Walkman.
Rather than blindly jumping in and buying the familiar brand, I decided to try the goods first. I went to my local Blockbuster and rented a Saturn and the game D. I enjoyed it...I got all the special bugs to see all of the cut scenes that told the backstory. I was happy with the experience.
I returned the Saturn and rented a PlayStation, along with a game called Resident Evil (RE wasn't ported to Saturn until the next year). Needless to say, I ended up buying a PlayStation.
I had a Saturn in the PS1 era. A lot of friends had a PS1 though, so I played it thay way, PS1 was a great console. I moved on to Dreamcast, Xbox, Gamecube and Wii.
The late PS3 Super Slim brought me over to PS consoles and back into modern gaming. I bought a PS4 close to launch, and PS5 would be my next console of choice as Im sure Sony will have loads of great games lined up. I would like to get into PS2, but its difficult to get a good picture of out a retro console on a modern TV.
At least two of their four home consoles rank among my favorite home consoles of all time. Their record of excellence is indisputable.
My brother had the original PlayStation but I wasn't bothered with gaming back then.
It was only really with the 360 that I got into gaming and I bought that because all my mates had one.
With this gen I wasn't sure which way to go until I saw a trailer at the cinema for Horizon Zero Dawn and thought "Yeah, I'd love to play that!"
My choice was made and I don't regret it for one second. Now? Gotta get a PS5, only machine to play HZD2 on as well as sequels to God of War and Spider-Man and more.
My favourite two games this gem are both MP (The Witcher 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2) but the PS4 exclusives aren't too far behind.
I'm not a Sony fanboy but I'm pretty darned close to being one.
Yea it's ridiculous when people say ps4 is at the top because Ms screwed up xb1 reveal. Both actually had a strong start. PlayStation is in the long run though.
@JJ2 Yeah Microsoft actually did pretty good at the beginning of this gen. They had like 4 exclusives at launch, even 2015 was a better year for Xbox than Sony interms of exclusives, but 2016 Sony just started releasing games, and haven't really stopped since then.
@thefirst The Wii had many stand out titles. One of Nintendo's strongest consoles.
Super Mario Galaxy 1+2
Punch-Out
Epic Mickey
Red Steel 2
No More Heroes 1+2
Kirby's Return to DreamLand
Super Smash Bros Brawl.
Metroid Prime 3
Sonic Colors.
@koaeinferno
Nope PS4 2015 was awesome. I think a lot of people don't remember or didn't realise at the time. What I meant was related to the article and of course the sales.
Edit
Even if of course I agree xb1 had a good start regarding games too
My favorite was the PS1, PS4 PS2 a draw. Im still gratefull for the PS3 Bluray player Ko switching discs and almost im possible to scratch discs. Unless you are a idiot of course.
The Sinclair ZX Spectrum and the original Playstation are my to 2 favourite gaming platforms of all time. Simply because they each in their own way have the best libraries ever.
The ZX Spectrum has the best library of 2D games (it HAS! - many of its arcade conversions simply play better than the originals - and it also have many other truly classic games in other genres - its library consists of over 14.000 games - and still very much counting - after all).
The original Playstation has the best collection of action adventures ever IMO (Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Tomb Raider, Parasite Eve, Fear Effect etc.).
But the PS3/Xbox 360 generation was also very good, because it took 3D action gaming to a whole new level IMO.
The Vita and the Nintendo 3DS are also very good platforms, partly because of their ability to play many great games from the past on the go.
I wish it was 5 out of 5 The internet Haters and 99% of gaming sites in the PS3 days really did hurt the PS3 which is a shame. Oh well. Hopefully the PS5 can do 100 million easily(it should do)
I say this as an owner of a GC, DS, 3DS, Wii and Switch, plus Xbox and 360, but Sony's strength is in avoiding gimmicks unlike Nintendo, and having a wide variety of true exclusives and console exclusives, unlike Microsoft.
That said, it's not so much about pure exclusives as much as it is about how few games a console lacks. Yes Nintendo have some great exclusives but they also lack almost every game released in any given generation from the N64 onwards.
Sure, the N64 had OoT and Mario 64, but it lacked so many things, or got them late, like FFVII (also on PC in 1997), Tomb Raider (launched first on Saturn) and MGS (on PC around the same time IIRC). Lots of games that weren't exclusive to PS1 but which Nintendo lacked. GTA being another significant one. Then you add in actual exclusives, FFVIII and IX, Gran Turismo, Tekken 1-3, RE1 and 3 (2 eventually came to the N64), Vagrant Story, Crash Bandicoot... something for everyone.
@Carl-G It WAS too expensive at first, but when the first Slim was released (great piece of hardware btw.) it slowly recovered and caught up with the Xbox 360.
@get2sammyb Sure thing and all they needed to do was have Game Boy, Game boy in different colors, Game Boy with back lit screen in Japan, Game Boy Color......And DS had the DS, DS Lite, DS XL, DSi, DSI XL and 10 different colors of each on top of Nintendo cult members who have this sickness to rush out and get each and every variation they release of them....
Besides that Handheld consoles and home consoles are counted as two completely separate things and neither of them outsold the PS2
I owned exactly 1 game on PS1: Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style. Back then I was a Nintendo die-hard. Only bought a PS2 because they were so hard to find and I was working in Walmart’s entertainment department back then and had 1 come in. Scooped it up and have been Sony fan ever since.
Came in around the PS2 and I couldn’t skip a Sony system ever these days. Gotta tip a hat to what they’ve accomplished, much as I might prefer Nintendo.
I don’t fully agree that the PS3 was overpriced at launch in 2007. Yes, in console terms it was expensive, but it was also a Blu-ray player. In the UK, I think a stand alone Blu-ray player back then was around £900 to a £1000, so in those relative terms, the PS3 was an absolute bargain for the consumer at £425 as a high end electrical product.
Still not one dead Playstation in the house and by ranking
1# PS3
2# PS4
3# PS2
4# PS1
Sony home console is the safest console to own, if the price isn't outrageous like $600 ps3, you can't go wrong buying a playstation.
I like that playstation console is the only place where's usa and japan games sells, xbox users mostly buy usa games, nintendo users only buy nintendo 1st party games (and indies), playstation is the only place where usa games like cod <and> japan games like monhun world sells great.
Also I don't understand why wii is cultural phenomenon while it's only the 3rd best selling console, and now it's the 4th. Playstation 2, 4, 1 is more cultural phenomenon than the wii I think 😉
My first console was PS2, then I've got Xbox360 and was so hyped about Xbox one... But... Then I've heard, that most of Xbox One games will be on PC also. Big disappointment for me, IMO. I have a gaming PC, so I was all set for those games. Logical choice was to buy PS4 with all those great exclusives. Now, if you think about Sony's strategy with PS5 - to be able to play (almost) all games from PS4 (and I have a huuuuge digital collection on my account), only logical choice is to buy PS5 day one.
PS. Can't wait to startup Ark Survival Evolved (got all expansions) on PS5 in 60FPS/1080p ultra settings!
PS1 is still in my opinion one of the finest consoles ever made alongside the SNES.
And it's disgusting that not many websites will talk about this in 2019. But when Switch, for the last and a half years, is just barely keeping up with PS4 sales, people keep saying ridiculous things like "Switch is gonna overtake PS4 soon" lol.
The only great thing about Switch is that that it wasn't a massive blunder like Nintendo's 4 blunders, the SNES, N64, Gamecube and Wii U.
@Neolit. Oh yeah motostorm was amazing its the best PlayStation racing games ever.ps5 motostorm would be amazing.word up son
@andrewsqual You don't seriously think the SNES and N64 were blunders, do you? Heck even the Gamecube is only marginally behind the original Xbox in terms of sales.
@wiiware why you called yourself wiiware.aint that from the Nintendo wii.i call myself PlayStation1995 because was there on day 1 with the ps1.and yes i agree with you the PlayStation was a and still is a phenomenon.word up son
@crazykcarter That’s a good point about the reliability. I was going to come here and comment that the strength of their exclusives is the main reason for success, but the reliability of the PS4 is also quite impressive. They learned from past mistakes with the PS3 and others. At this point in the life cycle last generation I had fixed my PS3 once and then when it was still dying I finally replaced it with a slim unit (which I still own). I also had to replace my original PS2 once during the PS2 days. Yet, just like you, my launch PS4 still runs without a hitch [knocks on wood] which speaks volumes that the 100 million+ sales are not falsely bloated with people having to replace broken machines like they did for PS3 and XBox 360. The ease with which the memory can be expanded and the unit taken apart to do maintenance has been a nice developmental design. Here’s hoping PS5 stays with the theme of hardware reliability.
@YozenFroghurt Cheers, will look into it. My other thought was buying a first gen PS3... would be good to collect some PS2 games.
I had the N64, and watched with jealousy as the Playstation owners got more adult orientated games, whilst all I could say was that the N64 graphics were better. I got the PS2, with the DVD, then the PS3, with the blue ray, 3d, wireless internet connection, built in Netflix and You Tube, I got the PS4, its had all the PS3 innovations, just a bit faster, I suspect the PS5 will be the same, and I'll still buy it...because they will deliver a new GTA game, a new GT game, Assassins Creed games, plus some surprises. The PS3 was the best in terms of a technology leap to a true, complete home entertainment system, mine is still plugged in, next to the PS4, and used for dvds, and old games. I wouldn't even consider moving to Xbox.
@playstation1995 Nintendo wii is the first console that I sold online at some forum, when registering my account there, wiiware is the first name I can think of 😄
@JVCIOM70. Yep i still got my ps3 also.it was the best.word up son
@wiiware PlayStation legend should be your name playa.word up son
"Make no mistake: the PS3 was a disaster at launch."
False. And demonstrably so. The PS3 outdid the 360's first year, and that was considered a successful launch. It did cost more, but it was worth it.
@shgamer There was no slow recovery. It had catching up to do because it was a year behind, but the PS3's first year was better than that of the 360, and it only took a year or two before PS3's sales were better than anything the 360 did.
Think of it as spotting the 360 a ten minute head start in a marathon, only to beat it to the finish like by about five seconds.
@Arugula You don't think that argument is a bit tiring? If that was to take into consideration, the Xbox One S would have sold around 200M units because it's the cheapeat 4K Dolby Atmos Dolby Vision HDR10+ Blu-ray player in the market right now. They would use it in cinemas, educational establishments, hell even home theatres made great use of it.
Since the PS1 have have only ever owned Sony consoles. Had an old wooden Atari2600 back in the day, then a sega master system but as soon as ps1 came out and I had FFVII spinning I was hooked. Bought my PS2 with my grant money and spent the whole of my 2nd year at uni playing FFX. Didn't buy a PS3 at the time of launch as I was a poor working class peon and for the first few years out of uni didn't really have time to game. Found my way back to gaming via the PC but didn't buy a PS4 until last year. But i love it. I love it very much. Might even love it more than my PS2 (which I still have and it still works.) picked up a used PS3 last year also so I could play a few PS3 games (FFXIII, Mass effect etc) but will probably buy a PS5 pretty quick. Maybe not day one but certainly within the first 6 months.
I should just call myself Sony Pony really.
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