NS, PS4 and XOne vs Wii, PS3 and X360 - Aligned Sales Comparison – March 2018 Update - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 15 May 2018 / 5,923 Views
This monthly series compares the combined aligned sales of the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with the combined aligned sales of the Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Gap change in latest month: 1,829,075 – 8th Generation
Gap change over last 12 months: 7,700,722 – 8th Generation
Total Lead: 12,450,295 – 8th Generation
7th Generation Total Combined Console Sales: 27,775,366
8th Generation Total Combined Console Sales: 40,225,661
The aligned sales 8th generation has been able to grow its lead over the aligned sales of the 7th generation when you use the Nintendo Switch, instead of the Wii U. In the last month the 8th generation has grown its lead by 1.83 million units and in the last 12 months it has grown its lead by 7.70 million units.
The 8th generation remained between four and six million units ahead of the 7th generation for the first nine months. After that point the gap has continued to grow.
The 7th generation of consoles in its first 13 months sold 27.78 million units, while the 8th generation of consoles sold 40.23 million units. The 8th gen currently leads by 12.45 million units.
The 7th generation of console sold a combined 274.35 million units during their lifetime, while the 8th generation has sold 132.71 million units through March 2018.
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.
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I'm fine with having the Switch along with PS4/X1 for this chart, but this should not be labeled as 7th gen vs 8th gen. The Wii U is the 8th gen Nintendo home console. You can't just pretend it doesn't exist just because it failed miserably.
Wii U is Wii's sucessor. Wii is a 7th gen console. Wii U is a 8th console. It's really simple.
A manufacturer can have 2 consoles in a generation. Examples are the Atari 2600 and 5200, or the PC Engine TurbographX and SupergraphX. And like Froster noted below, with the Wii U being fully compatible to the Wii, including all it's peripherals, one could even consider the Wii U being still a 7th gen console, as it's concept is pretty close to the Pro and One X, being a more powerful version of the Wii
Switch is Gen 9.
But it's not.
The switch have the technology of the 7th gen, but ist the 9th console. (Sorry, but touchscreen is not new. PSvita and nDS have it since 7th gen)
It isn't Gen 9, otherwise that would be admitting it's either Gen 9 Console or Gen 9 Handheld.
It's Gen 8 Hybrid.
All sources I can find state that Switch is considered an 8th generation platform. Being a slight step up from the Wii U.
See? The Wii U was the only reason 8th Gen previously wasn't comparing to 7th Gen. With a proper unit in there, 8th Gen has the lead.
Not just the Wii U, the XBO too. PS360 started very slow, unlike the PS4 and the Switch. When they will start gathering steam, this gen will be hold back by the weak XBO sales
True, but it still won't come anywhere close to 360 sales figures. With the Wii U being Switched out, the XBO is the console to drag the sales down now
I never said the Wii U didn't hold sales back, I'm just saying that so does the XBO. And since the Wii U isn't part of the graph, but the XBO still does, it's the only one remaining to hold the total sales of this gen back
Wii U is 8th gen, not Switch.
Wii U is Nintendo's 8th Gen Home Console.
3DS is Nintendo's 8th Gen Handheld Console.
Switch is Nintendo's 8th Gen Hybrid Console.
Mystery Solved.
Whatever you have to do to fluff 8th gen numbers.
And whatever you have to do to shit on them.
Where did I shit on them?
Implication in which someone has to include 8th Gen to "fluff" 8th Gen is that you would prefer the shit numbers.
I'm stating a fact. Wii U/XOne/PS4 won't get anywhere near Wii/360/PS3 in terms of sales. So the only way you could get close to those numbers is by adding Switch.
It's a good thing Nintendo mulligan'd. And no one "added" Switch, it took the place of a console better suited for the butt of jokes.
The Wii-U is an upgrade from the Wii, like Xbox one X to XBox one, and PS4pro to PS4. Nothing more. According to this Switch is Gen 8. Nothing more
Considering the Wii U's full backwards compatibility including all the peripherals, very similar look and also some precedence (NEC SupergraphX, same gen as the TurbographX yet vastly expanded capabilities and full BC, and also the Atari 2600 and 5200 during the 2nd gen), I wonder how nobody (including myself) thought of it that way before. Wii U really seems closer in concept to the Pro and One X than to a real new console - with the exception of the Gamepad, making it all blurry again.
