Talk:List of best-selling game consoles

Potentially incorrect total Nintendo console sales

I couldn't help but notice this a while back. Towards the top of the page, it is said Nintendo has sold 998.1 million consoles worldwide. Yet, even with the note that the number includes the Virtual Boy's 770,000 units, that doesn't make sense to me. Multiple times, I've added the sales numbers of every Nintendo console together, and every time I got the same number, which was well below 998.1 million. In this case, 944.195 million. In this case, I've added the Color TV-Game series' 3 million, the Game & Watch's 43.4 million, the Famicom/NES's 61.91 million, the Famicom Disk System's 4.4 million, the Game Boy line's 118.69 million, the Super Famicom/SNES's 49.1 million, the Virtual boy's 770 thousand, the Nintendo 64's 32.93 million, the Nintendo 64 DD's 15 thousand, the Game Boy Advance's 81.51 million, the GameCube's 21.74 million, the Nintendo DS's 154.02 million, the Wii's 101.63 million, the Nintendo 3DS's 75.94 million, the Wii U's 13.56 million, the NES Classic's 3.56 million, the SNES classic's 5.28 million, and the recently-updated 155.37 million for the Nintendo Switch and 17.37 million for the Nintendo Switch 2. Even in this case, including things such as the Game & Watch and add-ons like the Famicom Disk System and Nintendo 64DD, the number is nowhere near the 998.1 million mark, and I'd honestly like to know who added the 998.1 million number, and how they even got to it. If you object to my inclusion of anything I've listed, just subtract that entry's number from 944.195 million to get a new number. 944,195,000 is simply the highest possible number for total Nintendo console sales, according to my calculations. JcubH06 (talk) 18:42, 20 February 2026 (UTC)

If we don't have a source that clearly states the figure, I'm not sure we should have the statement in the article in the first place. Sergecross73 msg me 20:32, 20 February 2026 (UTC)

It falls under WP:CALC. No, we do not need every number in the article to have its own individual source when all we're doing is saying basic data point like "Nintendo has sold the most consoles overall, when all thsir consoles are added together. But an incorrect result of a routine calculation does need to be corrected. oknazevad (talk) 23:34, 20 February 2026 (UTC)

I understand that. But do we have any explanation about this concern? If there's anything remotely contentious getting to this (or any) figure, it's no longer a routine calculation. Sergecross73 msg me 01:08, 21 February 2026 (UTC)

I made a routine calculation by adding up all the numbers in the list (+ Virtual Boy), if I got something wrong here please tell me:

(All units are in millions, and I've ordered them from best to worst selling,

155.37 / Switch 1 + 154.02 / DS + 118.69 / GB and GBC + 101.63 / Wii + 81.51 / GBA + 75.94 / 3DS + 61.91 / NES + 49.1 / SNES + 32.93 / N64 + 21.74 / GC + 17.37 / Switch 2 + 13.56 / Wii U + 5.28 / SNES Classic + 3.56 / NES Classic + 3 / Color TV-Game + 0.77 / Virtual Boy = 896.38

I think I accidentally counted something twice when I made the original calculation, I'm correcting the number on the page to 896.38 HenriDeadMort (talk) 15:30, 21 February 2026 (UTC)

This is what I keep getting concerned about. It's a "routine" calculation to say that, every time, 3 plus 6 is going to equal 9. No issues there. But when we keep having issues like this, where we don't know if "3" is the right number if if it should be 4. Or that maybe in addition to 3 and 6, there should be another 5 in there added on top of it, we are no longer in "routine calculation" territory. We're getting into WP:SYNTH/WP:OR territory. Sergecross73 msg me 15:49, 21 February 2026 (UTC)

Oh no no there's no issue, I think JcubH06 (user who started this topic) was wondering where my number came from, as I've explained I accidentally counted something which inflated the number by over 100 million.

If the initial number written on the page was 896.38 this topic wouldn't have been made in the first place, I'm positive about it.

I mean the source for each console (units sold number) is always something that can be debated, but the calculation that was made was adding all the numbers on the present page (+ Virtual Boy), anytime those sources are updated with different numbers, WP:CALC needs to be done. HenriDeadMort (talk) 22:47, 21 February 2026 (UTC)

...Why exactly was your math off by almost 100 million...? Sergecross73 msg me 23:09, 21 February 2026 (UTC)

Probably accidentally double added the Game Boy/GBC number. Double checking someone's arithmetic is not a bad thing, as we're all human and can make mistakes, but it doesn't put it outside WP:CALC. oknazevad (talk) 23:52, 21 February 2026 (UTC)

Doing "our own math" literally lead to a being off by a massive amount. That's absolutely a problem. It's precisely why we should be sticking to figures reported by reliable sources. Sergecross73 msg me 00:22, 22 February 2026 (UTC)

If nothing else, the note needs to be expanded to explain all this. Clearly "including Virtual Boy figures" is not a sufficient explanation. I don't believe we should be reporting figures not published by reliables sources, but the if we are, at least explain the calculations so goofs like this are caught faster. Sergecross73 msg me 17:19, 22 February 2026 (UTC)

I edited the footnote to be more explicit about that. HenriDeadMort (talk) 19:22, 22 February 2026 (UTC)

That's not enough. To be clear, we are making a very bold claim here. Not only are we claiming to know how many units they've sold, but we're also claiming its more than any other company. I'm thinking of notifying that video game's WikiProject of this discussion to get more input on this, as it doesn't feel like we're on the right track in properly handling this... Sergecross73 msg me 16:38, 23 February 2026 (UTC)

I tried double checking by adding all officially licensed Nintendo hardware that I could think of, which have sales figures reported somewhere, and it gives me about 944.158 million… which is not far off your 944.195 million calculation. Still, not near the 998.1 number. Maybe adding the unverified (???) sales figures, the GBA player for Gamecube, the Gameboy player for SNES, the gameboy player for N64, and the Lodgenet tvs (SNES, N64, Gamecube) they could have gotten 998.1, who knows.

Switch2: 17.37

Switch: 155.37

WiiU: 13.56

Wii: 101.63

NGC: 21.74

Panasonic Q: ~0.100

N64: 32.93

64DD: ~0.020

iQue Player: ~0.012

Comboy64: ~0.005

VB: 0.770

SNES: 49.1

Super Comboy: 0.080

SharpSF1: ~0.020

NES: 61.91

Disk System: 4.4

Comboy: 0.360

Sharp C1: ???

Twin Famicom: ~1.0

Color TV: 3

3DS: 75.94

DS: 154.02

GBA: 81.51

Gameboy Comboy: ???

GB/GBC: 118.69

G&W: 43.4

SNES Mini: 3.56

NES Mini: 2.3

Modern G&W: ???

Pokemon Pikachu 2 GS: ???

Pokemon Pikachu: ???

Pokemon Mini: ~1.0

Arcade machines: ~0.361 WOWLWOWL 05:13, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

Many of the items on your list are either 1) not manufactured by Nintendo or 2) not a video game console - both of which are crucial to the specific claim being made here. It does reinforce my argument that these are not routine calculations though, because this is yet another alternate approach to it. Sergecross73 msg me 15:11, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

We had a similar problem on the highest grossing video game franchise page, in that it starts to become OR of what actual consoles to include. Obvious things like NES, Wii and Switch should be in this sum but Pokémon Mini? Panasonic Q? That begs if we are just artificially inflating numbers to make Nintendo look better. We really want sources to do the math for us here. Masem (t) 15:59, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

Masem For what its worth, I don't believe anyone besides WOWL is considering some of the obscure stuff like "Pokemon Minis", but I think that the very fact that editors keep posting different console combinations like that is proof that CALC does not apply and that we should be sticking to figures published by sources. Sergecross73 msg me 16:20, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

CALC applies because we're only including the consoles on the list (+ the virtual boy, but I guess to make things explicit I could remove the numbers for that). HenriDeadMort (talk) 19:24, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

Hey I’m not considering anything. It is an attempt to see where the number could have come from. Maybe you did not understand.

Officially licensed is not the same as solely manufactured even though what these licensed products change is mostly some aesthetic on the outside. Pokemon mini is in fact a console with 10 released games, but notice how there arent any official sales numbers for them. Anyways thats all besides the point.

Just trying to see where these numbers could have come from. WOWLWOWL 01:38, 25 February 2026 (UTC)

It's fine. Your comments are actually quite helpful in illustrating the need for specific sourcing for this claim. It's too complicated to apply WP:CALC. I think there's a reason why no source is making this claim. Sergecross73 msg me 01:55, 25 February 2026 (UTC)

Yeah i figured this list would be shocking and stretching it for some of you. Bear in mind this is not an argument for anything just a double check of the numbers being said.

But since you mentioned it, these are all officially licensed nintendo consoles. Either 100% assembled by nintendo or providing most of the parts for someone else to assemble them. Referring to the “obscure” ones. WOWLWOWL 01:47, 25 February 2026 (UTC)

Section break

I've brought this up on the video games WikiProject here, and while they've neglected to comment here (probably because this discussion is long, winding, and full of calculations) but three separate, experienced editors there have also voiced SYNTH concerns. And we have Masem's concern above as well. Considering there was no real consensus to ever have it in the article, and we certainly don't have it now, it really needs to be removed until we come to a consensus on how to proceed. Sergecross73 msg me 16:49, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

No big loss. After all, the list is of best-selling consoles, not best-selling manufacturers. oknazevad (talk) 17:56, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

Yeah, I didn't really get into that in the discussions above, but I agree. It was really a bit more of a factoid or bit of trivia in the first place. Sergecross73 msg me 18:07, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

This entire topic existing merely because I accidentally counted the Wii twice :/

I included that bit of factoid because we had 3 of them, and since the DS became obsolete (to the Switch) I thought we needed something nonetheless.

Which therefore makes me question, do we really need those 2 boxes? I mean the information for both the PS2 and the Switch is literally right below them, if it was something in the list ranked at number 33 I could understand having that box but otherwise what is the point?

We could change them to other kind of information perhaps, like say "All of Sony's home consoles are in the top 10 best selling consoles" or "The Coleco Telstar is the oldest console to have sold over a million units".

I don't know, food for thought. HenriDeadMort (talk) 11:40, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

Again, if we're adding anything, it should be things reliable sources are reporting on. You've got to start thinking more in line with WP:STICKTOSOURCE when you're editing Wikipedia. Sergecross73 msg me 12:53, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

The sources are already included in the article (under/next to each entry), I can always copy them to the infobox for redundancy.

I mean I didn't say that we should absolutely do these things I was just saying that the 2 infoboxes we have seem kind of pointless, so if we are to keep some we could maybe change them or just remove them.

Or not, again, just an idea. HenriDeadMort (talk) 23:08, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

I'm just saying, if you can't find a source that makes an observation like "All of Sony's home consoles are in the top ten all-time", it shouldn't be in the article. Sergecross73 msg me 23:18, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

The source is the article itself, you can see the PS2 at number 1, PS4 at number 5, PSX at number 6, PS5 at number 8, PS3 at number 9.

As I said, I can copy the sources that are used for each of those consoles in the list which are already present. HenriDeadMort (talk) 23:17, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

You have sources for each individual sales figure. You do not have the sources stating the overall rankings in comparison to the rest of the industry. Again, stop brewing up your own statistics and stick to statistics reliable sources actually report upon. Sergecross73 msg me 23:29, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

We don't need to point out things the reader can easily see for themselves. We're here to present facts, not analysis. In fact, such analysis has already been removed from the article for this exact reason. oknazevad (talk) 23:31, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 17 April 2026

remove green on playstation 4 and the hashtag ButterDuckyGMD (talk) 17:05, 17 April 2026 (UTC)

Already done Day Creature (talk) 20:58, 17 April 2026 (UTC)

Was it fully, wholesale discontinued? I thought it was only stopped on some region? I could be wrong though, I'm honestly unsure. Sergecross73 msg me 21:01, 17 April 2026 (UTC)

Yes. It is no longer possible to purchase a new unit from Sony's online stores anywhere in the world. Though only Japan got an official announcement, the console ceased production over two years ago. The fact that it was still marked in green here (and the fact that I had previously removed the green only to have it restored with no justification other that it was green here, which is totally circular and incorrect) was just a failure on our part. oknazevad (talk) 21:07, 17 April 2026 (UTC)

No it was not fully discontinued, there is no source that can back this claim up. It was only discontinued in Japan, and without a source we cannot just ASSUME that it has been discontinued worldwide. TJD2 (talk) 07:36, 19 April 2026 (UTC)

TJD2, please comment here. oknazevad (talk) 02:59, 19 April 2026 (UTC)

This should not be done because it was not discontinued fully. Japan announced the PS2 was discontinued in December 2012 in Japan, but we considered it a console still on the market until the full announcement of worldwide discontinuation, which happened in January 2013. The same thing happened in the case of PS3. We should follow precedent and not jump the gun on this. TJD2 (talk) 07:35, 19 April 2026 (UTC)

Yeah, I've got to admit, this was closer to my understanding of the situation and how we generally handle things... Sergecross73 msg me 12:18, 19 April 2026 (UTC)

Atari 7800

The summary for the edit removing the console outright said that the official figures show that at least 1 million units sold, so it should still be included even if the number needs to be fixed. Indrian, if you have a source for the 1 million+ sales number, it should be re-added. oknazevad (talk) 18:48, 24 May 2026 (UTC)

PSP sales

What's the most widely reported final sales number? Someone reverted it back to 76 million (??) but I've generally seen low 80s.

• 80+ million - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/sony-halts-psp-shipments-in-japan
• 80+ million - https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/after-80-million-units-sold-the-psp-is-finally-discontinued
• 82 million - https://www.timeextension.com/news/2026/01/apparently-the-psp-counts-as-a-failure-to-some-people-now

Input? Sergecross73 msg me 14:57, 28 June 2026 (UTC)