Gaming

Look: Here are the seven best-selling game systems of all time

The Nintendo Switch just joined a very exclusive club.

by Hayes Madsen
7. Nintendo Wii — 101.6 Million

Released in 2006, the Wii was Nintendo’s best-selling home console until very recently.

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The best-selling game for the beloved motion-controlled console is Wii Sports, partly due to it being a pack-in title at launch.
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PS1

6. Released in 1994, Sony's first PlayStation console has sold 102.5 million units to date.

PlayStation

Some of the most iconic games for PS1 include Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy VII, and Crash Bandicoot.

PlayStation

5. Nintendo Switch — 103.5 million

The hybrid console has reached the 100 million benchmark faster than any other, just five years after its 2017 launch.

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Switch’s best-selling game is Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, with a whopping 43 million. Meaning nearly every 1 in 2 people with a Switch owns the game.

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4. PS4 — 116.9 million

The 2013 console is Sony’s second-best seller of all time.

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Even though the PS4 hasn’t sold as well as the PS2, it takes the top spot in terms of software sales, with over 1.5 billion titles sold across its lifetime.

3. Game Boy — 118 million

The Game Boy (1989) and Game Boy Color (1998) have collectively sold just over 118 million units. These were replaced by the Game Boy Advance in 2001.

Digitally Downloaded

The Game Boy Color came in seven different basic colors, as well as a handful of special editions, like the bright Pikachu version.

2. Nintendo DS — 154 million

The DS family, which launched in 2004, is Nintendo’s best-selling system to date. There were four different iterations of the portable console.

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The top three best-selling DS games are New Super Mario Bros., Nintendogs, and Mario Kart DS.

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1. PS2 — 155 million

Released in 2000, Sony’s second console the best-selling console of all time with over 155 million units.

The PS2 had a longer life cycle than most, with the last game released for it being PES 2014, 14 years after the console’s debut.

We wouldn’t be surprised the see the Switch move up another spot or two on this list — particularly with the sequel to Breath of the Wild due out in 2022.