It is set to be a huge year for game consoles with the Nintendo Switch 2 having been announced and Grand Theft Auto 6 arriving on PlayStation and Xbox ahead of PC.
Whether your first experience of playing games was on a handheld device or on a more traditional home machine, consoles have only gotten better as time has went on.
While the PlayStation 2 continues its reign as the best-selling video game console of all time, sales of Sony’s PS5 have climbed since it first came out in 2020. Despite this, the current generation console hasn’t been able to beat out its predecessor and the newest console to make the top 5 is the Nintendo Switch.
With the Switch 2 hitting shelves later this year, here we take a look at the best-selling games consoles of all time.
17. Sega Genesis – 34.06 million
Official sales numbers for the Sega Genesis – or the Mega Drive as it is also known – are highly debatable, ranging between 30 to 40 million units according to various sources. It was released in 1988 before being discontinued in 1997 by Sega, though many still remember it for its excellent library of games. | Luciano_Marques - stock.adobe.com
18. Nintendo 64 (N64) – 32.93 million
A firm favourite console of many, the Nintendo 64 was released in 1996. According to Nintendo 32.93 million N64s were sold before it was discontinued in 2002 to make way for the GameCube. | Luciano_Marques - stock.adobe.com
19. Atari 2600 – 30 million
While there are plenty of modern platforms included in this list of best selling consoles, none are older than the Atari 2600. Released in 1977, the Atari 2600 was the dominant console of its time selling 30 million units worldwide. | Milton Buzon - stock.adobe.com
20. Xbox – 24.65 million
Microsoft released their first console, the Xbox, in 2001. Set to compete against the PS2 and others such as Sega’s Dreamcast and Nintendo’s GameCube, the console brought games such as Halo to audiences, with more than 24 million estimated to be sold. | Getty Images