Switch Outsells PS2 in Japan in First Calendar Year - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 January 2018 / 6,459 Views

The Nintendo Switch has outsold the PlayStation 2 in Japan when you compare the first calendar year of the two platforms, according to figures from Famitsu.

The PlayStation 2 sold 3,016,622 by the end of December 2000, while the Nintendo Switch has sold 3,258,083 units as of December 24. With one week still remaining for 2017 the Switch will grow its lead on the PlayStation 2.

Both platforms launched in March with the PlayStation 2 selling 885,023 units in its first month and the Nintendo Switch selling 524,371 units.

Thanks DualShockers.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.

28 Comments

Ryng (on 28 December 2017)

This is good, but expected. Switch real goal is 3DS which should end with over 25 million units lifetime. So far his first year was by far worse (1m) but because of stock problems. 2018 will be the real test.

CaptainExplosion Ryng (on 29 December 2017)

Considering what the PlayStation 2 did, I'd say it's pretty shocking.

Gamer147 (on 28 December 2017)

Nice. Those are huge numbers.

ROCKY223 (on 28 December 2017)

This thing is gonna outsell the wii easily

DialgaMarine ROCKY223 (on 28 December 2017)

-6

xMetroid ROCKY223 (on 28 December 2017)

Meh Wii didn't have much third party support, had a lot of backlash and bad headlines like "The only console not in HD". Switch is only receiving love all over the internet since few weeks after launch and adult/gamers/casual players all want one where the Wii mostly got interesting for families and kids.

OTBWY ROCKY223 (on 29 December 2017)

DialgaMarine, the Switch will get more support than the Wii because it's going be Nintendo's handheld machine as well as it's home console. The DS got massive support, so you have to take that into account.

CaptainExplosion (on 29 December 2017)

Sell less than the Wii U they said.

Just another gimmick they said.

Good thing Nintendo didn't listen to shit like that. :)

Redguy (on 28 December 2017)

It is following the footsteps of 3ds in terms of sales so this is not too surprising at least in japan

OTBWY (on 29 December 2017)

Next up is Gamecube with 4.04 Million.

johnsobas (on 29 December 2017)

too many people here seem to be confused between Japan and worldwide numbers. Switch will probably outsell ps2 in Japan, it's actually not that hard for a handheld nintendo system to do that. Without some kind of disruption to the switch from Sony or other handheld technology the switch is on track to do this it's not even controversial.

TheSource (on 29 December 2017)

PS1 sold 5 million in Japan in 1997. That's the real test for a console in Japan - no one has ever matched that.

ampersand (on 29 December 2017)

Nintendo sold 15 million units in 2017 - https://mynintendonews.com/2017/12/29/us-nintendo-switch-was-the-fifth-best-selling-tech-product-in-2017/

AlfredoTurkey (on 29 December 2017)

Kind of hard comparing the two since one is a hybrid and the other is a traditional home console. I feel like we need to start dividing these things into proper categories. Dedicated handhelds in one, home consoles in the other and hybrids in the last. If we try to do direct comparisons, there are too many variables and it ends up making little sense.

-3

Jranation AlfredoTurkey (on 29 December 2017)

People have been comparing it to PS4 and XB1 since it got released.

StreaK (on 28 December 2017)

AngryLittleAlchemist StreaK (on 28 December 2017)

PS2 sold 21.8 mil in Japan. The 3DS beat the PS2's sales in Japan last year, and it took 5 years to reach that number whereas it took the PS2 nearly 8 years to do so.

StreaK StreaK (on 30 December 2017)

Isn't the PS2 like more expensive than the 3DS when the PS2 first came out? I researched it. The PS2 launched at US$299 which today would cost $428. The 3DS launched at US$249 which would be $274 in today's dollars. A difference of $154.
Also, the 3DS has more room to sell per household where most people would only buy ONE console per household.
Obviously Japan prefers portables to consoles seeing as the 3DS beat the PS2 only in Japan.

-1

AngryLittleAlchemist StreaK (on 30 December 2017)

I don't care about any of what you just said. For me it's not a war of profit or success, because obviously we already know the PS2 was more successful. I was almost word for word copying an article, which is why it sounded like I was bragging. Just reporting the facts and explaining why beating the PS2 in Japan isn't impossible and will probably happen. It is interesting though that you say "obviously Japan prefers portables" when talking about the 3DS "obviously" beating the PS2, but then think the Switch has little chance of beating the PS2. I don't think that logic quite follows through.

Shubham@vgc (on 28 December 2017)

roadkillers Shubham@vgc (on 28 December 2017)

Meh, it depends on third party. Nintendo fell behind on third party for the last... Since N64. It just got Skyrim, what if Square Enix tries to cash in? Then Nintendo will be getting FF7-15 for the first time, Kingdom Hearts 1-3, Dragon Quests that were not released on Nintendo, Tomb Raider, Dues Ex, and a ton others. I'm making a topic about this, just to rile everyone up

DialgaMarine Shubham@vgc (on 28 December 2017)

I don’t think Switch is going to fall flat in Japan. It’s got the Japanese third party support, which will make a top seller there for a good while. Worldwide, I doubt it’s going to do as well as say the Wii, due to its lack of strong third party support and not having the strong gimmick benefit, but it’ll do very well regardless. I’m thinking 80-85 million LT.