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The most profitable and unprofitable consoles of all times

amc

Member
Not really buying this thread. Seems pretty amateur collation and probably very wide of each machine's actual S/H profitability.

Final numbers like these probably need many, many, many sources and a fucking super computer to finalise.
 

Hunnybun

Member
81BAIWfQPZL._SL1500_.jpg

You have to remember they literally sold cardboard for 70 dolars

Lol the greatest conmen ever.

I'm still not convinced the Switch isn't just another Wii style gimmick, that built ungodly momentum off the back of launching with Zelda and has basically just ridden the wave ever since.

It's not like I ever see people playing them in public.
 

Shut0wen

Member
I take it this is based soley on the actual console sales and nothing else?, because game attach rates were huge on 360, same with PS1 and PS2.
PS3 and 360 being in minus would make sense because of the RROD fiasco on 360, and PS3 selling at a loss most of ts life, but both consoles will be well into profit when taking into account game sales, licenses, and controllers, Kinect, etc. But it only makes sense if this is based SOLEY on console hardware sales.

Nintendo being where they are is no surprise with their continued low end hardware at high prices strategy.
Didnt the ps3
I take it this is based soley on the actual console sales and nothing else?, because game attach rates were huge on 360, same with PS1 and PS2.
PS3 and 360 being in minus would make sense because of the RROD fiasco on 360, and PS3 selling at a loss most of ts life, but both consoles will be well into profit when taking into account game sales, licenses, and controllers, Kinect, etc. But it only makes sense if this is based SOLEY on console hardware sales.

Nintendo being where they are is no surprise with their continued low end hardware at high prices strategy.
Not sure about the statistics but as i remember ps3 struggled for a long time purely because of the price of the console while xbox was selling left right and centre, ps3s did start selling well until after afew price cuts, i think even after taken in game sales ps3 would of still struggled to break even, especially since at the time sony wasnt charging for online and afew exclusives ended up not selling as well as predicted
 

Shut0wen

Member
I find that whole console fucking baffling.

$60 for glorified indie games like Metroid Dread and Yoshi's Crafted World.
Tens of millions of units of a fucking Animal Crossing game.
Tens of millions of units of a fucking port of a Mario Kart game.
No price reductions EVER.
A portable

I find that whole console fucking baffling.

$60 for glorified indie games like Metroid Dread and Yoshi's Crafted World.
Tens of millions of units of a fucking Animal Crossing game.
Tens of millions of units of a fucking port of a Mario Kart game.
No price reductions EVER.
A portable console flourishing in the time of ubiquitous smart phones.

I don't get it. Do they just move loads of software cos there's fuck all other games on there?
Nothing really baffling about it, its a console aimed at all ages and genders though id argue that animal crossing wouldnt of made the sales if it wasnt for lockdowns, dont know how many people i know that brought a switch purely for animal crossing
 
What's good for Nintendo IS good for the gamer. I wouldn't want to partake in a gaming industry that didn't have Nintendo in it.
Nope, I have not had a Nintendo console since the Wii... Did not feel like I missed anything except for physical DLC (the amiboos and the like)... And overpriced old games.
 
Didnt the ps3

Not sure about the statistics but as i remember ps3 struggled for a long time purely because of the price of the console while xbox was selling left right and centre, ps3s did start selling well until after afew price cuts, i think even after taken in game sales ps3 would of still struggled to break even, especially since at the time sony wasnt charging for online and afew exclusives ended up not selling as well as predicted
Nah, the ps3 outsold the 360 pretty much every day it was on the market... But if you looked at NPD numbers (us only) you would never have known. There were huge fights about local (in the few territories the 360 was winning) vs global numbers.
 

Hunnybun

Member
Nothing really baffling about it, its a console aimed at all ages and genders though id argue that animal crossing wouldnt of made the sales if it wasnt for lockdowns, dont know how many people i know that brought a switch purely for animal crossing

You could say the same about the WiiU.

Worst flop ever to biggest success ever. Kinda weird.
 

Sorcerer

Member
Surprised the 360 lost money and the ps2 had so little profit.

Not surprised with switch, such little money must go into making those games. Especially all those ports and refreshes like Mario Kart that sell 10’s of millions. And games that look worse than alot of indies must be cheap to make.

Be interested to see there next console/hybrid that will require newer games made and possibly more expensive because of graphics etc
Might have been a different story for the 360 had it not been for RROD.
 

Reallink

Member
What's the supposed source of this? Quite unbelievable that the over 150 million unit PS2 with like 2 billion games sold would be the least profitable console by a wide margin. I think PS4 only just passed it in software sales a few months ago. It's hardware wasn't particularly esoteric or a big loss leader. DVD was a commodity by its 2nd year on market and not an outsized expense for 90% of its lifespan.
 
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Deerock71

Member
I find that whole console fucking baffling.

$60 for glorified indie games like Metroid Dread and Yoshi's Crafted World.
Tens of millions of units of a fucking Animal Crossing game.
Tens of millions of units of a fucking port of a Mario Kart game.
No price reductions EVER.
A portable console flourishing in the time of ubiquitous smart phones.

I don't get it. Do they just move loads of software cos there's fuck all other games on there?
The Grinch Film GIF by The Good Films
 
Nah just factual, I own 2 Switch’s. It‘s ok to talk truth about companies you like, you don’t have to lick there ass all the time…

There games are cheaper to make and games like Mario Kart have sold like close to 20million compared to the Wii U version, its bound to be pure profit.
You telling me Animal Crossing cost the same as Halo Infinite to make? Or Porting Mario from the Wii U cost the same as God of War? Or big sellers like Pokemon with used assets from a 3DS game.

And apart from Mario Odessey and Luigi’s Mansion there games look worse than alot of indies

Stay mad friend.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
Stay mad friend.
Yeah because Im mad Nintendo is making money?… Ive had every Nintendo Console ever. And the only one I dislike was the Wii.

Im just explaining why I think they’ve made so much money with the Switch and why the Nintendo next machine might require a little more effort unless the commercial success carries on. Its not always guaranteed (Snes to N64 and Wii to Wii U) but personally I think the way consumers are now days it will carry on if its another Hybrid/Portable. Animal Crossing and Mario Kart are too popular along with Pokemon. Just those games will make it succeed probably.

Overall since after the Gamecube they have gone the cheaper route in game development And its served them well twice (Wii/Swich and not so well Once (Wii U).

When Nintendo does well, the non hardcore fans buy almost everything at a super commercial level, DS/Wii/Switch etc. Has anything ever sold the way Mario Kart and Animal Crossing has on the Switch? Only Pokemon probably.
When they don’t do “well” they only have there hardcore fans like the Wii U era (like myself).

Either way I buy there games, I love Zelda, 3D Mario, Fire Emblem, Pikmin and odd games like Luigi’s Mansion. I will always buy them regardless if people think Nintendo is cool or not. But overall there are more Hardcore Xbox and Playstation fans then Hardcore Nintendo fans in my eyes. As in there least selling consoles have sold more than Nintendo’s least selling consoles.

Why the Switch has been so successful. Making it Hybrid was the biggest reason, there handhelds have always been successful and it allowed them to carry on making WiiU tech games. Lots of console sales, lots of 3rd party sales. And there 1st party games have sold more than ever. Great advertisement too. They struck gold

But like I said the 1st party games they made have been pretty cheap to develop compared to the Xbox or Playstation 1st party games. And some of there biggest sellers didn’t even need developing this generation.

I might be wrong but the only game on the PS4 top 20 selling games from PS3 generation is TLOU1. The rest are new games that cost hundreds of millions to make. For Xbox the only Gears and Halo Collection made it in the top 20.

For the Switch…The biggest sellers have been updated ports of Wii U games. Huge numbers and pure profit.
Zelda BOTW
Mario Kart
New Super Mario Bros
Super Mario 3D World
Donkey Kong Country
Beyonetta 2
Captain Toad
Smash ( kinda )
Pikmin 3
Pokken
Hyrule Warriors

Why not tell me why what Im saying is incorrect? Nintendo games are cheaper to make and they made most there profit on the Switch from ports. It a strategy that worked phenomenally. It wasn’t a guarantee though. And Most there games are tech wise and graphically worse than alot of indies. Its not a dig, its true
 

Shut0wen

Member
Nah, the ps3 outsold the 360 pretty much every day it was on the market... But if you looked at NPD numbers (us only) you would never have known. There were huge fights about local (in the few territories the 360 was winning) vs global numbers.
Really? I remember ps3 lagging behind after launch and xbox were ahead in the millions, especially when halo 3 came and the cod trend started then once uncharted 2 came out ps3s were picking up, im sure sony rereleased the ps3 that couldnt play ps1 and 2 games but it was almost £50 cheaper
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
Surprised to see the PS3 so low. I know it was crazy expensive with the cell and the HD DVD/Blu Ray war but I always figured they earned a good profit when Sony started making a comeback in 2009.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
There games are cheaper to make and games like Mario Kart have sold like close to 20million compared to the Wii U version, its bound to be pure profit.

MK8 sold 8m on Wii U, 38m on Switch.

Doesn’t matter if the games look like a bunch of stick men, the gameplay is always top notch.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
Surprised to see the PS3 so low. I know it was crazy expensive with the cell and the HD DVD/Blu Ray war but I always figured they earned a good profit when Sony started making a comeback in 2009.
I think game wise they started making awesome games like Uncharted 2,3 TLOU, God of War 3, Killzone 2-3, Infamous 1-2 etc but they’d lost lots of money making the PS3 and the games. Im more surprised with the PS2 /PS1 profits
 

Bragr

Banned
And this is why Nintendo doesn't make high-end consoles.

When you are big like Sony and Microsoft, you can afford to build monsters that are worth more than what they are selling for, that later on, they cover with other revenue from stuff like subscriptions.

Nintendo can't take that chance, so they build less powerful machines that they don't lose money on and focus on key franchises to bring in the cash.

Sega never learned this.
 
MK8 sold 8m on Wii U, 38m on Switch.

Doesn’t matter if the games look like a bunch of stick men, the gameplay is always top notch.
I'd also say that MK8 is visually gorgeous though. So glad it's the best selling Mario Kart now.

I love the series generally but Mario Kart Wii is one of the weaker entries in the franchise to me, it bothered when that was the Mario Kart that had been played by the most people. MK8 is sensational so I'm glad the WiiU isn't holding it back anymore.
 

Dr Bass

Member
Also when you break software and hardware sales records.
I'm really bummed you asked for a permanent ban. Just spending too much time here, or couldn't handle it? Not that I'll get an answer. I thought you were a good poster if a little over zealous about Nintendo sometimes, but it sure did balance out some of the other over zealous folk from time to time. :messenger_smiling_with_eyes:

Gonna miss your posts.
 
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