Will Sony ever sell 150 million PlayStations again?

if it wasnt for the xbone id say almost surely ps4 could sell 150 million units but the competition is pretty tight and microsoft takes a lot of potential sales from sony. i didnt vote because i dont wanna say for sure either way

I believe PS2 finished at 158 million.

Certainly feasible. It has none of the hurdles the PS3 did and more people are buying consoles now than in the heydays of the PS2.

What data do you have to show for this, Floppy_Jim?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_2_sales

155mil in March 2012. 158 mil is a more recent figure I've seen floating around. But it's Wikipedia. Sony's nonsense of combining PS2/PS3 sales muddies the waters somewhat.

Sorry, I meant to say "What data do you have that says more people are buying consoles now than before?".

Sony/MS/Nintendo sales reports. PS4 and Xbox one just had the biggest console launches ever. More consoles were bought in the 7th gen than the 6th gen. More were bought in the 6th gen than 5th gen and so on. Gaming has pretty much been growing with each generation.

If they continue to do what they are currently. They will reach it. Sony is king again

@The_Last_Ride: At least this time, unless in the next generation Nintendo comes up with something like that people can't resist like the Wii, or even if Microsoft does. Sure, Microsoft hasn't won any generation, but they can at least try.

Well they technically won the most share the last gen having only built one console before. Nintendo has its ups and downs. But MS gained a lot last gen.

Yes, I suppose they did.

For some reason I keep seeing lots of sales increases for the PS4 console, but none of it's games are making it into the weekly top 10s.

No, the pool is too diluted

Remember, the thing that sold the PS2 was it's DVD players. That's the ONLY reason it did so well.

Back then it was cheaper to buy a PS2 then it was to get a DVD player. DVD was new tech and everyone wanted one and when they went to buy one they bought a PS2.

Sony tried to recreate that with the PS3 and BluRay and failed miserably but was able to accomplish a strong third place victory last gen.

If they continue on coming with pointless first person shooters then no, unlike the ps2 era it had so many vast different games for everybody. Be creative and bring many new franchise to the table, with that said some sequels wouldn't hurt also.

Shenmue 3, Bushido 3, Rival Schools, Last Blade 3, Xenogears 2 ect.

@Jaysonguy: I know. It's a shame that the PS2 did so well, but not for the same reason as the original PlayStation.

Sony didn't make any of those games......

I think the PS4 will probably run away with the lead this gen. I think that the console market will shrink. Probably 100 million PS4 systems over 5-6 years, maybe 30-40 million Xbox One systems and probably 20 million Wii U max.

Once the mobile game market crashes, which it looks like it will in the next few years and all of the small developers looking to make the next big hit leave mobile and return to consoles I think we'll see consumers stop thinking mobile devices can satisfy their gaming fix and will also return to consoles. I'm not sure if that will happen during this generation.

If PC gaming, flash games, facebook gaming didn't kill console gaming I don't think smartphone games will either.

Though with services like Playstation Now it will be impossible to track the true amount of Playstation users. Sony may sell 50-100 milion PS4 systems and like 10-15 milion Vitas when all is said and done but they could have 50 million players streaming content on non-Sony devices.

100 million its possible

@Jaysonguy: The DVD was a part of it's success but played a rather minor part to it's overall long term success. If that was the case the Xbox would have sold much much more. The PS2 had a strangle hold on the U.S, European, and Japanese markets. It literally went unchallenged. There was very little competition from the GameCube, and Xbox in those respective markets. It also had some of gaming's biggest blockbuster titles locked up, you we're at least guaranteed to to play them first on PS2 before it was ported to the Xbox several years later.

The PS2 had 150 million, Xbox million 24, and GC I think are 21 million sold. Sony began losing it's exclusives when the Xbox 360 built a significantly large user base before the PS3 launched. Sony came to the party late, with a huge price difference that kept the 360 rolling. If it had launched as the same price point of the 360, Sony's momentum would have carried on mostly due to the strength of the PlayStation brand.

Once the 360 continued to extend it's lead, developers decided it was much more financially viable to release huge franchises on both systems due to the sluggish PS3 sales, and healthy 360 sales. A lot of developers knew the PS3 would have a respectable user base over time, but the 360 couldn't be ignored(not to mention rising costs of developing games). At that point there wasn't a console that stood above its competition like the PS2, thus forcing game developers to end exclusive third-party titles on Sony's platform and releasing them on Xbox as well. The Xbox, and GC launched and walked right into the PS2's juggernaut lineup in 2001 which included GTA3, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid 2, and Gran Turismo 3. It literally propelled the PS2 above the Xbox, and GC that holiday season.

As for selling 150 million, no. I could see 100 million consoles sold, but definitely not 150 million. The game industry is much different now than it was during the 6th generation. Microsoft really took a huge chunk from the U.S market and has established itself among the U.S as the preferred platform. If Sony would have launched at a lower price-point, not waste all it's money on the Cell processor, it most likely would have become the next PS2 considering the excitement from PlayStation leading up to the PS2's launch which featured the same price point as the PS when it launched at $299, and it was backwards compatible. It would have carried Sony's momentum once again into the next generation.

It's too late now to reverse Sony's lost market share with the way the game industry is, and the Xbox's popularity in the US. It's not because "Bluray failed miserably". The sales are extremely close between the 360, and PS3 because Microsoft struck at the right time. It's not rocket science.

No, the DVD was the only reason it won.

The console launched before all others and was the only console to play DVDs out of the box. When the Xbox was finally released later on Sony had the DVD market almost saturated with it's players.

The fact that so many PS2's were out in the wild made devs and publishers push out ANYTHING for the console knowing that even limited runs could be profitable for more obscure games.

That's why the PS3's run was so much more impressive. It didn't have a gimmick away from games that made it sell. BluRay players were cheaper elsewhere so Sony didn't have an ace in the hole to get extra customers. Sure, it finished last last generation but it was still a viable platform pushing games and only games.

i don't think they have much of a chance in the next few generations. the biggest thing going is that gaming is ever growing so there are more and more people buying consoles. however, microsoft was only building its presence in console gaming when the PS2 was selling so well. microsoft has since built up the XBOX brand enough so that sony isn't going to be able to sell 50% of all consoles or whatever they pulled off with the PS2. even besides microsoft, you have to entertain the possibility of steam boxes taking some of the market too.

@Jaysonguy: Negative, DVD player's were much cheaper and affordable in 2001. One of my uncles bought a Toshiba-SD 2800 DVD player for $300 October of 1998. You could easily buy an affordable DVD player in 2001 if you we're just interested in watching movies. It was in reality a "icing on the cake" to buy the PS2 because it was a DVD player, and could play games as well. Look at the marketing of the PS2, and it was all about VIDEO GAMES not about it being a great DVD player during the PS2's era commercials.

Think about it-- you had a great experience with the PlayStation it sold over 100 million units, the hype around the PS2 was off the charts, so I would imagine majority of those gamers would opt for a PS2 over an Xbox, or GameCube. Perhaps you probably have hundreds of PS titles playable on the PS2 which didn't hurt throwing down $300 for a brand new PS2.

The Xbox could play DVDs but spending $30 extra bucks is not deal breaker. DVD prices we're practically affordable in 2001 by the time the PS2 started pumping out great third-party exclusive games. Not to mention, you seem to have forgotten the price drop in June 2002 which dropped the price of the PS2 for $199 which skyrocketed PS2 sales, because it was a game machine first and foremost not because it could play DVDs.

In other words, the PlayStation 2 had very little competition especially when the ball dropped to $199 in June 2002. Fast forward to 2006 the PlayStation 3 was late to the party, and Microsoft was enjoying the year lead it had on Sony. The Xbox was nothing to the PS2, but the 360 built a great portfolio of games during it's first year on the market alone, and growing popularity of Xbox Live. The popularity of the Wii didn't help Sony either.

The market is much different now than it was in the 6th gen. People expect online multiplayer, streaming services, and all these nifty features, back than not so much. To say it was only successful because of it having a built it DVD player is rather foolish, because Sony and Microsoft knew it was inevitable due to size of next-generation games, CD's wouldn't have had enough space over time. Sony gave it a slight push than anything. The PS2 was successful because of the original PlayStation, and didn't ask for a insanely steep price.

You are wrong, jasonguy. In 2001, the average DVD player was only $193. In 2002, the DVD players were under $100. Playstation 2 was selling for $299.99 until may 2002. Puff! There goes your silly theory.

http://news.cnet.com/DVD-players-no-longer-go-it-alone/2100-1040_3-820169.html

@BH14: He's always over the top and silly with his comments. Nothing is inherently wrong with any of his opinions, he just clearly prods at people just to get a rise out of them. He's awfully good at it, gets a rise out of me often. Its odd because he doesn't appear to behave that way on other sites I've seen him on. Then again, GameSpot is known for having easy to agitate users so that's probably the reason he still comes here

Yep, i see PS4 getting over 200 million life time sales.

Its a bit early to say, however, the PS4 is showing very impressive numbers for its first 2 months. If it continues at this rate with very good deals and great advertisement, 150 million shouldn't be a problem.