From the first video game consoles of the 1970s to the Nintendo Switch 2 due out on Thursday, hundreds of millions have been sold to players eager to immerse themselves in their favourite franchises from “Assassin’s Creed” to “Zelda”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The five most popular consoles have sold around 700 million units between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japanese tech and entertainment giant Sony sparked a global frenzy with the release of PlayStation 2 in 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A midnight launch in the United States stoked excitement and in some areas people stormed shops to make sure they got their hands on a unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its initial success was built on its backwards compatibility — players could still enjoy original PlayStation games — and its ability to play DVDs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ironically critics were unimpressed with the initial slate of games for the console.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But a string of hits from franchises including “Grand Theft Auto”, “Grand Turismo”, “Final Fantasy”, “Tekken” and “Metal Gear Solid” helped kick the console into stratospheric popularity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On its website, Sony says it sold more than 160 million units of the PlayStation 2 around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Nintendo DS revolutionised the world of gaming when it hit shelves in 2004 and 2005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its foldable two-screen design, complete with built-in mic and internet connection, improved on the already incredible 1990s success of the Game Boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its success was built on a solid stable of hit adaptations — “Super Mario”, “Zelda” and “Pokemon” among them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it also became famous for breakout cultural phenomena like “Animal Crossing” and “Nintendogs” — a real-time pet simulation game where players groomed and virtually walked their dogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Japanese firm said it had sold more than 154 million units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Nintendo Switch, released in 2017, had a tablet format allowing users to play on a large screen at home or on public transport, helping to turn it into a sensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It burnished its success with stellar sales of the latest chapters of the “Zelda” franchise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Animal Crossing: New Horizons” — a game about social interaction — became a global mega-hit after launching in 2020, when much of the world faced some kind of confinement as a result of the Covid pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Switch, still the Japanese giant’s current premium product, had notched up 152.1 million sales by the end of March this year, the firm said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Game Boy and its 1998 Color spin-off were a cultural phenomenon in the late 1990s and early 2000s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tiny handheld consoles helped launch some of the world’s most recognisable characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pokemon’s Pikachu first appeared on the Game Boy in 1996, spawning a globe-conquering franchise of films, series, games and toys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With hits like “Tetris” and “Super Mario Land”, it helped crown Nintendo as a market leader in the 1990s, and eventually recorded more than 118 million sales, according to the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the PlayStation 2 helped kill Sega’s Dreamcast at the turn of the millennium, the PlayStation 4 did battle with Microsoft’s Xbox series — and won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Released in 2013, it sold 113.5 million units by 2020, according to the Japanese firm’s data, far outstripping its Microsoft rival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Success was secured with well-received additions to popular franchises like “Grand Theft Auto” and “The Last of Us”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Film spin-offs like “Marvel’s Spider-Man” and “Star Wars Battlefront” also did solid business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From the first video game consoles of the 1970s to the Nintendo Switch 2 due out on Thursday, hundreds of millions have been sold to players eager to immerse themselves in their favourite franchises from “Assassin’s Creed” to “Zelda”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-trending-now"],"yoast_head":"\n