Inexpensive Video Gaming Consoles that Made a Huge Impact on Gamers

The 2013 launch of the Xbox One and the PS4 ushered in the next episode of the gaming console war. We’ve seen this war play out in the past with the Xbox 360 going up against the PS3 and the original Xbox going up against the PS2. One of the things that gamers will notice as they compare the two new entrants to the gaming console war is their prices. The new Xbox has a release price of $499 while the new PlayStation is priced at $399. While many will be shocked by the price of these new consoles, many will also remember how much money they took out from their savings or how much their credit cards were charged when they bought previous versions of these consoles.

Fortunately, Statista came out with an infographic that makes it easy to compare the launch prices of the new Xbox One and the PS4 with previous consoles as they’ve adjusted the prices for 2013 dollars. Statista’s graph shows us that the $499 Xbox One’s price comes in second only to the Sony PlayStation 3 which at 2013 dollars would’ve cost $579. The high price of the PS3 is not that shocking if you consider how the 3rd, 4th, and 5th place in Statista’s analysis is taken up by the other versions of the PlayStation so Sony definitely knows that their consoles are in demand and people are willing to pay a premium for a single unit.

Cheapest Home Gaming Consoles and the Best Selling Home Gaming Consoles in History

Despite the high price of PlayStation models, we find that three out of the five best-selling consoles in history are made up of the first three versions of the PlayStation. The Wikipedia entry on the best-selling game consoles in history shows that the PlayStation 2 is the best-selling game console in history with 154 million units sold. Gamers’ credit cards were charged the equivalent of $407 in 2013 dollars to get first crack at this gaming console when it was released in 2000.

The PS2 was followed by the original PlayStation that was released in 1994 with 102.5 million units sold. Nintendo’s Wii broke the PlayStation’s trifecta by coming in third with 100.3 million units sold. The Nintendo Wii also stands out as one of the most inexpensive gaming consoles that managed to sell very well as this console was released in 2006 with a price of $250 or equivalent to just $286 in 2012 dollars. The PS3 was able to sell 80 million units since its release in 2006. The Xbox 360 took fifth place with 80 million units sold.

While the first PlayStation may have ushered in the era of cd-rom based gaming consoles, any discussion of the best-selling home gaming consoles should include classic gaming consoles that used game cartridges. Gamers born in the early 80’s will remember the endless hours they played the iconic Super Mario Bros game on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game helped sell close to 62 million units of the NES which was released in 1983.

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was released in 1990 and the console saw many games released featuring Mario. Over 49 million units of the Super NES were sold by Nintendo. To compare the price of these best-selling consoles to today’s prices, Statista had another chart that adjusted prices to 2012 dollars. That chart shows that the NES sold for $200 back in its release or equivalent to $428 in 2012. Super NES, on the other hand, sold for $199 in its release which is equivalent to $337 in 2012.

Before the console war became a battle between Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation, it was a battle between Nintendo and Sega. Coming in at number 8 on the list of top-selling game consoles is the Sega Genesis. This console sold 40 million units and people spent $190 in 1989 or equivalent to $353 in 2012.

How Much PS4 and Xbox Ones Will Be Sold in the Future

More PS4 and Xbox Ones will be sold in the coming years and we will see if these new consoles will be able to match the sales performance of their earlier versions. What gamers will look for from these next-generation consoles are more stunning games. With four of the five top selling game consoles being released after 2005, this shows that people are buying more consoles and playing more games on these units so there’s a good chance the PS4 and Xbox One will reach at least 80 million units sold each at least if they prolong the availability of these consoles on the market.

These next-generation consoles will see stiff competition from other entertainment platforms like smartphones and tablets especially since people are also playing games on these devices. These devices are getting more powerful and developers are eager to create games for these devices. Many casual games are offered on these devices are offered free but gamers will still flock to dedicated game consoles for their gaming fix.



Author’s Bio
Ryan Del Villar is a writer at MoneyMax.ph, Philippines’ leading online comparison portal. MoneyMax is an independent and impartial comparison portal that helps individuals in making important decisions by comparing different Credit Card, Broadband, Mobile and Insurance providers.