Top 10 Best Selling Video Game Consoles

5. Wii (Nintendo) – 101.18 Million

The first console on our top 10 best selling video game consoles list to break 100 million units sold is the Nintendo Wii. Released in 2006, the Wii became somewhat of a global phenomenon. Featuring an emphasis on motion control the Wii uses the Wii remote and Nunchuk controllers to allow players to stand, move and replicate various activities like bowling and tennis. Due to the uniqueness of this control approach, the Wii became a hot commodity, even breaking one month sales records in the United States during December 2009. The Wii would receive multiple iterations including the Family Edition and Wii Mini.

4. Playstation (Sony) – 104.25 Million

Sony’s first console to break the 100 million mark was the original Playstation. Released in 1994, the Playstation boasted a huge library of titles on release date. Sony heavily invested in 3rd party game development unlike rivals Nintendo and Sega, causing the library of titles available to gamers to grow to a staggering 7, 978 (all regions counted) by the consoles end of life. Playstation games focused heavily  on delivering a 3D experience adding something new to the gaming market. The Playstation was the first ‘computer entertainment platform’ to ship 100 million units which took 9 years and 6 months from launch. The success of the Playstation solidified Sony’s place within the gaming ecosystem and made the company beloved (and hated) by gamers around the world.

3. Game Boy/Game Boy Color (Nintendo) – 118.69 Million

The birth of Nintendo’s affinity for handheld gaming (card games aside) stems from the creation of the Game Boy. By creating a mobile gaming device in the 1989, Nintendo allowed gamers to play their favorite Nintendo games on the go. This phenomenon would grow hugely successful for Nintendo making handheld gaming a large part of the company’s success. Due to the Game Boy’s success, there was a bunch of iterations of the handheld created.

The device spawned what appears to be a million iterations from the Play It Loud! variants, the Pocket edition, the Game Boy Color and the Game Boy Light. The Game Boy is arguably the most pivotal console that Nintendo has ever created as much of the technology has been reworked into more recent Nintendo Consoles (Wii U, Switch). Selling a ridiculous 118.69 million consoles puts the Game Boy at number three on our top 10 best selling video game consoles list.

2. Nintendo DS – 154.88 Million

Two Nintendo handhelds back to back? It’s a crazy world we live in. As mentioned above, the Game Boy really kicked things off for Nintendo in the handheld department. After the success of the Game Boy Advance Nintendo announced that a new console was coming for gamers in 2004. This console code named the Nintendo DS, would boast two separate screens and touch capability. At launch in 2004, the DS was met with approval by fans. In total, the DS line has sold an incredible 154.88 million units. The DS line is currently the line Nintendo is creating handhelds in, with the release of the 3DS and 2DS in recent years.

1. Playstation 2 (Sony) – 157.68 Million

Spot number one goes to Sony’s Playstation 2. The amount of PS2s Sony has sold is kind of amazing…Okay really amazing. 157.68 million units. Let that sink in for a moment. Irregardless of whether or not you are a Sony fan, this number is incredible. There are so many PS2s in the world. Created as the follow up to the already successful PS1, the PS2 was launched in 2000. For those of you who remember, the PS2 was in high demand during the holidays. Featuring a library of rich games, online connectivity and a DVD/CD drive, the Playstation 2 became a highly sought after console.

The Playstation 2 also boasted having a little known title called Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas that was console exclusive. To this day there remains a large following around the system. Sony even continued to produce the system up until 2013, giving the console a life span of 13 years. At an incredible 157.68 million consoles sold, the Playstation 2 is the top selling video game console of all time.

There has been a bunch of great consoles over the history of gaming. Some video game consoles have been instant hits, while others have failed miserably. With a new consoles on the horizon for Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft it is a good time to be a console gamer. Who knows which new console will break the top 10 best selling Video Game consoles list next?

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I owned 6/10 of these consoles in some form or another. What about you? Let me know what consoles you own/owned from this top 10 best selling Video Game Consoles list in the Pit.

*Article has been updated with newer statistics.