Cliff Notes – What is the best-selling video game console?
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The Nintendo Switch 2 has likely surpassed the lifetime sales of the Nintendo DS and may have exceeded the PlayStation 2’s total of 155 million units, raising questions about Sony’s reported figures.
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There is a growing concern regarding the quality of lower-budget Nintendo games, with recent titles receiving poor reviews, indicating a shift from Nintendo’s previous reputation for guaranteed quality.
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The gaming industry is seeing a trend towards remakes, with calls for classic titles like Resident Evil 1 and Zelda: Ocarina of Time to be updated, reflecting a desire for nostalgia combined with modern gameplay experiences.
Games Inbox: What is the best-selling video game console?
Is it impossible to beat? (Sony)
The Wednesday letters page worries at the quality of lower budget Nintendo games, as a reader hopes for a Resident Evil 1 remake on PS6.
Rough total
So, the Nintendo Switch 2 has probably beaten the lifetime total of the Nintendo DS already, since the latest sales numbers are from September. It may even have beaten the 155 million total that used to be the PlayStation 2 amount up until last year, when Sony realised that their best-selling console was going to get beaten by a rival.
Now that total is ‘over’ 160 million, which could mean anything from 160 million to infinity. Or I should it will mean infinity, because no matter how much Nintendo sells it’s obvious that Sony will miraculously ‘remember’ that the PlayStation 2 sold even more than they said before.
Officially, there’s no doubt that the PlayStation 2 is the best-selling console at the moment but when the Switch 1 passes the old total of 155 million are we really going to pretend that it’s not the new number one? Seems to me that Sony are trying to squat on the number one spot and nobody can prove they’re not just making it up as they go along.
Onibee
Two-tier guarantee
I wonder where the people who say GC are bias towards Nintendo are now? Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment is the third Nintendo game they’ve given 5/10 or less to this year and I suspect Kirby Air Riders with be the fourth. I have no idea if those are fair scores because, for obvious reasons, I have not played them, but I’m willing to bet they’re accurate.
The fact is, Nintendo used to be a guarantee of quality but this gen they’ve moved from that to a likelihood of quality. Or rather, if it’s a big budget game the guarantee is still there but if it’s a lower budget title then you need to be cautious.
Expert, exclusive gaming analysis
Hard to say why this is but I guess the most likely answer is that they’re rushing out as much as they can for the Switch 2’s launch year. Although Dynasty Warriors is always the same no matter what, so I don’t know. Maybe Drag x Drive would’ve got more options if they’d left it longer, but it all seems to be treated a bit too much like shovelware for my liking.
Cranston
Take your turn
What I don’t get about Hyrule Warriors is why Dynasty Warriors and Koei Tecmo? If Nintendo wants to make a Zelda action game then fine, that’s a perfectly good idea, but why pick literally one of the worst developers in the world to do it? And then do it three times as well!
At the very least give others a chance at the same idea. You could make it the Zelda action series or something, with a chance to spotlight a different developer each time. PlatinumGames seem the obvious choice to me but don’t like them? OK, it’s Capcom afterwards, then the devs behind Stellar Blade, and then… I’m struggling to think of a Western developer that would be good at that sort of thing but maybe the Sifu guys?
I know Nintendo won’t do it but I think it’s a good idea.
Grackle
Pulling back
It feels to me that it’s a long time since we’ve heard anything from Final Fantasy. There’s no word on the third Final Fantasy 7 remake, no sign of a new mainline game, and Square Enix in general seems to have been pretty quiet lately. We’ve had more on Dragon Quest recently than Final Fantasy.
I hope it’s building up to some good news though. I know they’ve been talking to the makers of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but as much as I’d love it, I have a real hard time imagining Square Enix going for a turn-based game that has anything less than top notch graphics.
I hope they do though because backing themselves into that corner, where they have to spend so much on the games, and then have to try and appeal to as many people as possible, is what’s got them into the current trouble. All publishers need to scale back on the budgets and I hope that Square Enix is one of the first to prove it and show it can work.
Mikey
Remake it all
If publishers are tempted into making more remakes, I’m actually fine with that. I’m really not one for going back and playing old games, as I find it difficult to put up with their old-fashioned aspects, but a remake is perfect because you get a shot of nostalgia and basically a brand new game.
It’s also something publishers kind of have to make an effort with too. EA will try and half-ass anything, but they realised that Dead Space had to be done well or there was no point, especially if they were looking to revive the series. Just a pity it wasn’t a hit.
I think a remake of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time is definitely the most wanted remake at the moment but I’m also really keen to see what Capcom would with another crack at Resident Evil 1. I’m going to guess they’re waiting for the PlayStation 6 for that though.
Placebo
Calamity pricing
This is the problem with gaming at the moment, Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment is a 4/10 game with a £58.99 entry point which makes the whole thing seem obscene. I’ve never played one of these games, but GC never gives them a good review, I know that much.
Yet you can pick up something like Ball x Pit for a pittance and have loads of fun with it, severe value for money, which is why I don’t see the need for the next gen of consoles yet either.
I think Nintendo has actually played it safe with their machine power since the age of the N64, often ridiculed for it by the hardcore and it’s now starting to benefit them. The Switch 2 sales are crazy and let’s face it, there’s hardly any games for it yet. Lower specs and keeping game development costs down. They must be laughing now looking at the state of the competition.
I’m a gamer through and through but I won’t be paying £700 plus for any new consoles for further graphical prowess.
Nick The Greek
The real Lara Croft
What a weird self-own those Tomb Raider action figures are. The idea was really good, but I agree they’ve most likely been 3D printed, which is why the material quality is so poor and they don’t seem to be articulated.
It’s a shame, because to me this is the classic Tomb Raider look and I kind of miss it. Nowadays, Lara is just photorealistic and that really misses a part of the charm. They really should’ve made a CGI movie with this look back in the 2000s but the moment’s passed and now they can’t even make a decent toy of it.
Bluto
New contract
Some interesting takes in the letters and features recently, regarding new hardware and the like. It seems a lot of the readership still think in the old world of console generations, game exclusives, and tech leaps. It makes more sense today to treat console hardware like a smartphone upgrade. People on average upgrade their smartphones every three years, but why do they given the new phone just does the same stuff as the old one? The answer should be the logic applied to buying new consoles, it seems slightly odd to me that games consoles are still treated like DVD players from 25 years ago.
If there was a new PlayStation or Switch as often as a new iPhone or a new PC GPU, how would the market react? Would gamers feel the need to upgrade every year and complain about it?
Smartphone users don’t after all, most are happy to sit out an upgrade cycle. The PlayStation 5 will likely last the whole next generation of consoles, just offering lower technical performance to the PlayStation 6. Just like with a smartphone you’ll upgrade if you want a better experience, and if you don’t see the point… then wait till the next one. I’m sure Xbox are thinking this way with their PC in a box strategy.
Cost is obviously a factor, but smartphones are significantly more expensive than games machines. It’s the way we pay for them that is different. Console makers have dabbled in monthly payments before (see the bizarre Sony lease system) but it’s never caught on. I wonder why? If the contract worked the same way as with phones, keeping the device at the end to pass on or trade in… it doesn’t seem so bad to me.
Marc
Inbox also-rans
Warhammer fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 in the same game? They really are spoiling us. But seriously, seems a bit late for a Vampire Survivors clone but I’ll take. Just make sure Dawn Of War 4 is good.
Meister
Ghost Of Yōtei is absolutely not a game of the year contender. I have the game and enjoyed but come on, it’s just a good game. Which is fine. Now, Ball x Pit on the other hand…
Lemmy
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