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Forums - Sony Discussion - Is PS One overtracked on VGChartz (serious and honest question)

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Did the original PlayStation sell over 104 million units?

Yes, 104.25 is the correct number. 39 46.99%
 
No, 102.49 is more likely. 44 53.01%
 
Total:83

Okay, serious and honest question here as stated in the subject line.  Is the original PlayStation overtracked on VGChartz? 
I was looking at the Platform Totals charts one day, I saw that the PS1 is listed as having sold 104.25 million units worldwide during its lifetime.   What struck me as odd is that this number is contrary to everything I have seen almost everywhere else on the internet.  Out of curiousity, I started digging, thinking maybe I missed something.  Here's the timeline I came up with:

12/3/1994 - PlayStation releases in Japan
9/9/1995 - PlayStation releases in North America
9/29/1995 - PlayStation releases in Europe
1998 - PlayStation sales reach 50 million units
3/4/2000 - PlayStation 2 releases in Japan (NA & Europe follow later in same year)
7/7/2000 - Sony releases PSOne redesign
9/2005 - Sony announces PlayStation + PSOne surpass 100 million sold milestone.
3/31/2006 - PlayStation/PSOne is discontinued

Now, almost everywhere I look on the internet come up with the same final tally for units sold of the original PlayStation + PSOne redesign combined.  That # is 102.49 million units.  That's almost 2 million units less than what is listed on VGChartz platforms total.  And the places that I do see the 104.25 million unit total are citing VGChartz as their source.  Which still begs the question, where does the 104 million+ number come from?  If VGChartz is correct, baring in mind that Sony had just announced PS1 crossing 100 million units in 2005, and then discontinuation in 2006; then Sony would have sold 4 million PS1's in the 12th year of its lifespan (6 years into PS2 being on the market)?  For perspective, in the first year of PS4 being on the market, PS3 did not even manage to sell 4 million consoles in 2014 (the 8th year of its lifespan).  The dates and the numbers just don't add up for me.  So, am I wrong?  Did the original PlayStation surpass 104 million units sold?  Or, is it more likely that 102 million is the more correct number?

Now, I freely admit that my original inspiration for looking at VGChartz Platform Totals that day was to see how close the Wii actually was to reaching/passing the PlayStation's total.  Even if adjusted down to 102.49 million, it would still be very difficult for the Wii (currently listed at 101.17 million) to reach this number considering its sales have slowed to a trickle (selling just over 500,000 units in all of 2014, down from almost 2 million the year before).  So, I'm not muck-raking here in the Wii's favor.  I'm honestly curious about the discrepancy at this point.

(By the way, this is the first thread I've created on this site after strictly commenting on posts as a member for some time.)

The below sources don't represent every site/article I looked at, but they do set-up the timeline above for reference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_(console)
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/dec/01/playstation-20th-anniversary-sony-1994
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/sony-stops-making-original-ps/1100-6146549/
http://scei.co.jp/corporate/data/bizdataps_e.html">http://web.archive.org/web/20110722094946/http://scei.co.jp/corporate/data/bizdataps_e.html
http://www.nextpowerup.com/news/19896/there-have-been-370-million-playstations-sold-since-1994/
http://www.vgchartz.com/analysis/platform_totals/



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If is true, can the Wii outsell the original PlayStation?

 



Ka-pi96 said:
Mandalore76 said:

Which still begs the question, where does the 104 million+ number come from?  If VGChartz is correct, baring in mind that Sony had just announced PS1 crossing 100 million units in 2005, and then discontinuation in 2006; then Sony would have sold 4 million PS1's in the 12th year of its lifespan (6 years into PS2 being on the market)?

That's not necessarily true. Discontinued just means they stopped making new ones, they still would have had old stock to sell so the rest of those sales wouldn't all have been in 2006.

However that said, it does look like you are right and it is overtracked.

100% agree with you, but sales would have decreased significantly from that point on.  Could it have really added up to another 4 million units after that point is what I really mean to say.



There is no way to know for sure. Also companies do not say they sold 1 million at 1,000,001 units sold they wait until 1.1-3 million so they are sure they are correct. But as I said there is no way to know for a fact



Ka-pi96 said:
Ryng_Tolu said:
If is true, can Wii outsell PlayStation? :O

Considering the Wii has already been discontinued it seems unlikely.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-10-21-wii-has-officially-been-discontinued

I agree, it would be extremely difficult/unlikely.  That's why I don't pose that question.  Strictly trying to assess whether the PlayStation did sell 104+ million units, or if in the 102 million range is more likely.  (However, if the latter is true, it does bring the two totals much closer together.)



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Nope, Playstation is not undertacked.



Dr.Vita said:
Nope, Playstation is not undertacked.

Any input on why you think so?  Looking for alternate viewpoints on the subject that can be discussed.



Ryng_Tolu said:

If is true, can the Wii outsell the original PlayStation?

 


It would be still lower



Ryng_Tolu said:

If is true, can the Wii outsell the original PlayStation?

 


Highly unlikely.



I have said this like a hundred times already, Sony never shipped more than 102.49.

Though VGC is a bad reference for old consoles that aren't Nintendo (Nintendo blatently mentions the numbers on their site, so if even those were wrong...) in general. Better just to look at Wikipedia, which actually has sources. PS1's Wikipedia's source links to an old financial report buried somewhere on Sony's site, several quarters after the PS1 was discontinued, hard to argue Sony themselves. All SEGA consoles, the PS1 and the Atari consoles, also all wrong on VGC.