Talk:Console wars

US sales figures
Why is there a such section in the handheld wars? There is already global statistics, so why are the statistics of one country included separately? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.217.18.61 (talk) 12:46, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Ans: US is the largest market for consoles among other things and it's statistics largely influence the global scenario. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.197.128.126 (talk • contribs)

The US sales figures for the 7800 are wrong! It sold 3.77 million in the US alone - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/144552-happy-25th-7800-sales-figures-attached/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by RetroLaird (talk • contribs) 22:52, 26 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Forums are not reliable sources (WP:RS)  Alphathon  /'æɫ.fə.θɒn/ ( talk ) 20:11, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Generation names
These generation names are really terrible. I can see why you've done it for the PS2 et al onewards as there is no '128 bit' but prior to that the generations do have definate names. They are the 8-bit and 16-bit consoles. Read anything on the console wars not based upon this wikipedia article and you will see talk of 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit consoles. This 'third generation' stuff is purely a wikipedia creation and not a very good one. At the very least we should give the eras with proper names their proper names (8 bit, 16 bit, 32 bit). Ideally we should have better names for the generations after too- Wii et al is the 'current generation' so we don't have to worry about that for the next few years. For the PS2 et al though...I think we should adapt a desciptive name. Maybe the 'DVD era' or 'enter Microsoft' or something of the sort- with the current gen likewise being renamed a few years down the road depending on what defines it (maybe it'll be HD, maybe motion sensing, who knows). But thats irrelevant. The main point for now- 8 to 32 bit eras deserve their proper names!--Josquius 14:12, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Those aren't the proper names on Wikipedia, and at the very least this article should follow the format set forth by the other articles this one summarizes as to not be confusing. Beyond that, in things like your "32-bit era", we see a 64-bit game console. - ZakuSage 15:29, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

This is one of the main 'hub' articles however. This is a article that sets the trend. If we only followed what was 'correct' on wikipedia then nothing would ever get changed as articles are all inter-reliant. The current naming structure despite being terrible also goes against this rule. The N64 doesn't really belong in the 32 bit console war. As I said ages ago there were two seperate console wars there- the main one between the PSX and Saturn and a lesser one when the Saturn was a non-issue between the PSX and the N64 several years later.--Josquius 12:40, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
 * This is not an article to set trends, this is one that follows a scheme set many months ago after deliberation in the respective articles for the console "generations". This article was brought to properly match such articles way back on September 16th. Basing the naming on "bittage" is seriously a horrible idea, and for stylistic purposes at the very least there should be a consistency between articles on Wikipedia. Additionally, please stop removing all references to the American dollar on this page, it's a very childish thing to do. Furthermore, you edits to the Seventh Console Generation, while constructive (the previous version was far to verbose for a summary in that it was longer than the article it links to...), is non-neutral, contains un-encyclopedic opinions (Edge magazine?), contains weasel words, and for some reason makes use of HTML when you don't need to be causing poor formatting. As such, I've re-written much of it. - ZakuSage 21:33, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

Edge is the industry magazine. Very well known and respected. And weasel words? In favour of whom? I have little interest in next gen consoles right now and have yet to get involved. Feel free to rewrite it though, the previous version was just on totally the wrong thing. Again you are using the argument that as it is the current standard it is right. That is not the way wikipedia works. We had this sort of naming structure a year or so back and then we decided to change it back to bits once more. Bits is the standard unit of measurement for consoles back when bits mattered. Go and read anything on past consoles. The NES is 8-bit, not '3rd generation'. This current naming structure is original research. And yes there should be consistancy, it all has to start somewhere however.--Josquius 23:41, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

Here just look, google tests don't always work but in this case I think they prove my point. 80,700 hits for consoles "fifth generation". And if you'd notice most of the early ones seem to be wikipedia clones. 1,460,000 hits for consoles "32-bit". A few seem not to be about computer games though so... 277,000 hits for consoles "32-bit" playstation. Even with a extra qualifier its got quite a bit more there--Josquius 00:10, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
 * http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=consoles+%22fifth+generation%22&meta=
 * http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=consoles+%2232-bit%22&meta=
 * http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=consoles+%2232+bit%22+playstation&meta=
 * I don't feel that Wikipedia should simply go by the current standard, however this argument has already been had, and the version I've again brought back is the one chosen as a compromise on other articles. Seriously, other then being as a summery for those articles this one has very little purpose other than to simply to define what a console war is (see below for more details). Also, blindly reverting will get this going nowhere. - ZakuSage 03:51, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Furthermore, it really doesn't matter what Edge magazine or analysts think, their opinions shouldn't be included in an encyclopedia. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by ZakuSage (talk • contribs) 03:55, 22 December 2006 (UTC).

You realise flatly reverting isn't the way to go yet you still do it... And Edge's comments certainly do belong in a encyclopedia article, they are what classifies as 'leading analysists'.--Josquius 09:07, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
 * You're the one who's been consistently reverting over constructive edits. Your most recent one now just brings back those improper inconsistent names names, once again adds the opinions of Edge magazine (non-encyclopedia information), and adds false information (PS3 came out 2 or 3 days before Wii...). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by ZakuSage (talk • contribs) 19:13, 22 December 2006 (UTC).


 * You are the one who started flatly reverting constructive edits.

And your information is incorrect- the PS3 came out before the Wii if we look at the earliest available anywhere- 11th of November for the PS3, the 19th for the Wii. And if you consider that the PS3 is not due out until March in Europe I think enough of a case can be made for the Wii being first (it only being second in the US). And how the hell do you figure that Edge is not relevant to wikipedia? It is THE games magazine in Europe. Its in the league of Famitsu, perhaps even more relevant as its a industry magazine as well as a standard games magazine. What it says carries a lot of weight, go look around computer game articles on wikipedia and you'll find a lot of references to what Edge has to say.--Josquius 19:37, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Not everyone lives in Europe. The PS3 has come out on the 11th in Japan and the 17th in North America, that's more than reason enough to say it came out first. And it really does not matter if they are respected or not, the opinions of a magazine, person, or other entity do not belong on an encyclopedia and should be removed from any article that has them. - ZakuSage 19:55, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

Blah, got my words mixed up on which came first there. Yeah not everyone lives in Europe but a lot of people do. A few days difference either way in Japan and the US doesn't make much difference, PS3 was first in one and the Wii in the other. Half a years difference stands between them elsewhere though which certainly does mess up the averages. You seem to be failing to grasp the concept of sources if you don't think something written in a popular magazine on the subject in question is relevant. The entire point of sources is they are good, if it was just me saying this then fair enough but as it is its a major authority on the subject in question. Why are you so against that being in anyway? I think its a rather good theory consistant with established facts about the way computer games are heading.--Josquius 23:51, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Since when do you look at averaging all the release dates for a console to determine when it came out? The sentence from Edge magazine, besides not even being directly sourced, as I have already said is of a matter of opinion not fact, which makes it un-encyclopedic. It's also speculation! - ZakuSage 00:00, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

You are really being quite ignorant here. Europe exists you know. Theres about 400 million people here. Perhaps if instead of flatly reverting everything I write you let the article MENTION that the PS3 came out first in Japan but second elsewhere? And no its not speculation, its deducted reasoning. And how can I properly source a paper-based source?--Josquius 00:08, 23 December 2006 (UTC)
 * In this case it literally doesn't even matter if Europe did exist; the PS3 saw a release before Wii, and besides that it's in alphabetical order. Again, regarding the Edge thing, if you can't find a proper source then it definitely shouldn't be in there. - ZakuSage 00:11, 23 December 2006 (UTC)
 * I'm interested to know why Edge would not be considered a proper source. Is there a Wikipedia policy on this? I was under the impression that newpapers and magazines were considered proper sources. I admit that I am not sure, and I am quite open to any evidence that this is not the case. It seems like the easiest way to settle this dispute is to cite a source for this rule. I would agree that from the exchange above, PS3 came out first and "it literally doesn't even matter if Europe did exist", but what is the objection to including the suggested clarification that it only came out first in Japan but second elsewhere? It seems like information people who are researching the topic might like to know. LFAS 22:18, 6 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Newspapers and magazines can be used as sources for factual information, but not for speculation as it doesn't belong on an encyclopedia in the first place. As for specific dates of PS3's release, if someone wanted to know that they'd go to the PS3 article - ZakuSage 01:36, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Possibly the use of generational titles is misleading, but much, much less than the use of bit counts to describe them. If the industry still uses this convention, then it's shockingly out of date for an industry that renews itself every few years. Wikipedia is not obliged to reflect some magazine's shortcomings, no matter how many insider connections it supposedly has. For one thing, using bitcounts oversimplifies the hardware differences-- what of the nintendo 64? It's not a 32-bit system, but putting it in the 'next generation' category pulls it out of its historical context. It also overlooks significant differences between, yes, eras of hardware-- To lump everything since the Playstation into one "next generation" category is woefully uninformative. In fact, the very existence of so nebulous a term shows how uninformative the '8, 16, 32, everything else-bit' categorization is.

Finally, to imply that the use of bit counts is 'objective' terminology is a joke; singling in on bit counts as the defining characteristic is purely subjective. Why not focus on memory size, clock speed, or storage media? The focus on 8-bit, 16-bit, etc. is not an especially useful distinction; if anything it is a hangover from console marketing campaigns past. For all the fuzziness between the eras-- and there is a significant amount, particularly in the vastly important Japanese market -- it is a far more useful distinction than arbitrary selections hardware differences. LFA's suggestion of timeframes might be more useful, though even that neglects the differences in release dates between regions. --Gastric leperlicker 23:46, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

That I believe we should call the PS2 et al the 128bit era is a strawman created by Zaku that I have never once agreed with. I've no idea why they use bits to define consoles, they just do. Its the way it has always been. Nintendo even went as far as to call their console the N64 to draw attention to this.

I suppose to take a wild guess the reason it was done as its something that competing consoles have in common with each other. Clock speeds, memory sizes, etc... are usually pretty big numbers and competitors rarely (have they ever?) have the same number as each other so you couldn't have say the '133mhz processor wars'. But thats not impotant, its done and its the convention whether it makes sense or not.

The N64 does not fall under the 32 bit war. That was purely between the Saturn and the PSX. When the N64 came out many years later there was a new less intense (due to the PSX already being utterly dominant) war between it and the Playstation, it never really competed in a console war against the Saturn.

I agree with your assessment of lumping everything post Playstation into next generation...Where is it someone said that? Has it since been removed? That would be silly as there has been at least 2 wars since then, maybe more (N64 vs. psx, DC vs. PS2) --Josquius 15:58, 17 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Might be best to bring that up here. - ZakuSage 01:42, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Straw Poll
As means of solving the current dispute, I am conducting a straw poll on the changes proposed by Josquius with regards to section names the bulk of which can be found here. This should be left open for a week at the very least, and the page revert war should end (IE I will stop, you will stop until we can get some other users input). I realise this is not the most frequented page on Wikipedia, so it may take longer than a week. - ZakuSage 20:09, 22 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Oppose - Such naming is inconsist with other articles on Wikipedia which have had their names set through community consensus and deliberation. This article acts as little more than a quick summary for those other articles, and it is therefore imperative that there is consistency between them. - ZakuSage 20:09, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Comment - Could you link to the discussions which led to the consensus? That would greatly affect my opinion. Right now, I'm tending to side with Josquius on the OR point. We can't make up new names for things just because the established ones aren't as accurate. But your point about consistency is definitely important. Perhaps this should be brought up at CVG, instead. Dancter 21:34, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Comment - The immediate moving of the articles then labeled along "bittage" generation resulted out of a discussion from the talk page of the second generation article. The choice to simply list the generations chronologically followed after a realization that commonly consoles in certain generations didn't have the right bittage, and were merely placed there because of their release dates (example: Turbografx 16 has an 8-bit processor yet was in the "16-bit era", the aforementioned N64 being placed in the "32-bit era"). The idea was backed up by a similar idea found in a book and subsequent article, although the numbering was one off because of the "golden age". There have also been plenty of confusion and discussion over this before these moves were done way back on March 14th    . - ZakuSage 23:54, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Comment- I don't support that naming structure in any way even though it wasn't entirely arbitrarily invented (being based off one existant book rather then the entirity of literature on video games) however the arguments for that naming structure seem to revolve around out of place consoles such as the PC Engine- fair enough in a article discussing just what consoles existed however it was not a part of the console wars. The console wars were only between the big companies which generally did follow a established pattern of having the same 'bit'ed consoles out and competing with each other at the same time.
 * Also looking at those links I fail to notice a concensus, just discussion and a bunch of mms and ahs over what's what--Josquius 00:00, 23 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Comment- What about using the current terms referring to numbered generations but having "8-bit" or "16-bit" in quotes in parentheses to give partial consideration to the terms?--Crossman33 22:53, 1 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Comment- There is a suggestion earlier on this page of using "Console Wars 2001-2003" (These years are off, I know nothing about console wars beyond what is in this article, so imagine a more appropriate time frame). I think it would be easier for people to find the information they want in the article if you use this sort of naming structure, or the brackets with "8-bit" or "16-bit". LFAS 22:29, 6 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I basically agree: I really don't understand why this is not simply resolved by making the generation name headings to include both the generation titles and the 8-bit or 16-bit names (or other useful designator). Gepstein 00:45, 8 January 2007 (UTC)
 * sorry: I just noticed ZakuSage's comment.Gepstein 00:47, 8 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Support- If every article edit had to be consistant with what was already established then no progress would ever be made on wikipedia. The current naming structure constitutes original research which has no place in wikipedia.--Josquius 23:51, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

In hindsight it may have been best to structure this poll differently. I think it's safe to say that this survey is not going to reach any sort of consensus or even a majority when more people are commenting than voting, and as such it should be considered closed. - ZakuSage

Moving discussion to CVG project talk
Since any changes to generation names here would have to far reaching effects on many more wikipedia articles, I'm opening up further discussion on this topic at CVG project talk. Refer there from now on. - ZakuSage 01:52, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Merge this article into Video game console
Why do we need two different articles that essentially deal with then exact same thing, and in most cases contain the exact same information? - ZakuSage 21:54, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

They shouldn't deal with the same thing. Video game console should deal with what a video game console is. Console wars deals with...well the console wars. It seems to me that someone over at video game console decided to rip this article off to improve that one thus sending it in totally the wrong direction.--Josquius 23:43, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
 * At this point, either merging these articles together or simply gutting this article down by removing all the individual console wars and placing a "see also" section at the bottom to link to those individual console wars articles is really the only useful thing to do with this particular article. Perhaps this should just be put up for AFD even. It serves no purpose other than to reiterate and add to redundancy. - ZakuSage 03:52, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

Definatly not. Console wars is fine as it is (well not really, it needs improving but the general subject matter is fine), it discusses the consoles in the real world, market competition and fanboyism and the like. The video game console article should just deal with the physical attributes of the consoles (i.e. the old next generation bit) not the console wars.--Josquius 09:09, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

No. I found this a useful resource for knowing who 'won' in a neutral tone, and this was under the first possible title I searched for with the information I expected. It is sufficiently different from Video Game Console to warrant its own article. 86.146.76.132 10:56, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

I don't think so... "Console Wars" describes the event. "Video Game Consoles" is an article with information on what a video game console is. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.52.242.3 (talk • contribs).

Strongly agree with the above statement, I definitely think these should be two seperate articles. Cogswobble 18:04, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

I think, as other have said, that this should remain a separate article fron the "Video Game Consoles" article. Some redundancy is unavoidable, and, I'd argue, not always detrimental (e.g. when the flow of the article benefits from the background). Gepstein 03:25, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

They are two seperate things. Video game console is about different consoles, and the console wars article is about the competition. Both are long, detailed articles and merging them would be a mess - • The Giant Puffin •  12:21, 6 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I don't think the two articles should be merged. Console wars and video game consoles are distinct though related topics, so I think it is useful for Wikipedia to have an entry on both. LFAS 22:36, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

I'll have to admit that merging these articles may have not been the best of ideas, but something still needs to be done about the massive amounts of redundant information between both. - ZakuSage 01:37, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

I don't see the problem with redundant information, even if it's "massive": as long as each article details a sufficiently independant subject (as consensus seems to be indicating that "Video Game Consoles" and "Console Wars" do) and is internally coherent and accurate, it seems like redundancy just increases the ease w/ which people can find the information that they're looking for. Zhall 17:59, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

I also agree that with such closely related articles, a certain amount of redundancy is unavoidable and even desirable. However, where information is not closely relevant to both topics, it should be limited to one page or the other.Alfort 06:54, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

The video games article would be way too long including a full length discussion of the console wars. A link to this article should be included, but that is about it.75.21.138.94 00:55, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

I think that this whole revert editing war...
I think that this whole revert editing war is dumb. On the page, originally the page read "first generation," "second generation," and so on. Renaming them to "8-bit," and "16-bit" and so on only implies that previous versions were not as important and that future versions will be "128-bit" or "256-bit," which they are not. It also makes for a discontinuity in how you would name console wars prior to NES/Master System (what I would call "the third generation war"). Plus, the terms "first," "second," "third," and so on are used as the parts of titles of articles related to this and also on the information bar on individual consoles' articles as well. Also, I agree that the term "next-gen" is a term that changes with time. For example, right now it refers to Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3, but should not be used as a permanent description of any generation of game consoles.--Crossman33 22:36, 1 January 2007 (UTC)


 * 128-bit and 256-bit doesn't come into it at all as such consoles don't exist.

The article originally followed standard computer game industry conventions and read 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit and next generation. Problems only arose when next gen was no longer next gen and no definate name emerged for it. Naming 'first generation', 'second generation' and all that is just wrong over most of the world and only works for America. In Japan the MS vs. NES was the first generation to have a war, in Europe it was the second.--Josquius 15:55, 3 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I have just read through the comments in this section. It seems like people disagree about which was the original generation war, second generation war, etc. What are the objections to naming each section more descriptively (8-bit, 16-bit, etc.), and next generation, then when the next generation becomes something else with time, renaming it and adding the new next generation? LFAS 20:54, 6 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Any objectively verifiable terminology would be better than "first" "second" etc. WAS 4.250 09:13, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

What do people think about LFAS' suggestion--it's in the Straw Poll section of this page--about giving each era some kind of chronological name? There may be complications with this, but it would be objective, specific, and would seem to accurately identify at least the relevant periods of conflict (without having to rely on new or existing conventions that people obviously find to be confusing/inaccurate). Zhall 18:08, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

This debate should move to the generations page for all video game articles. Console Wars is a fine article as it is, and if the names of the generations change in the categories article, the console wars descriptions should be edited to conform with that Wikipedia standard. Until then, let's stick with the current generation naming convention and unprotect this page! 75.21.138.94 00:52, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

I disagree. Console wars is about the competition between the big companies. The only relevant consoles here are your playstations and your mega drives. These wars are very easy to define as just 'X bit era' (up until PS2 et all of course which as mentioned is... difficult) Doing that for a more broad look at the history of games consoles though just wouldn't work. There have been many weird and wacky consoles which didn't take much of a part in this grand competition for market share. A year based structure would probally be best for computer games articles as a whole but here obscure consoles are irrelevant.--Josquius 15:04, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

All three consoles need updates
They just announced that they sold 10.4 million through the 2006 year...about half a million over their expectations. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.17.186.152 (talk • contribs).

The PS3 and the Wii are not as updated as their wiki pages, they should be updated too.

If someone could please update the 360/PS3/Wii total sales numbers, it would be much appreciated. I don't know where else to go to get this information. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 129.21.103.246 (talk • contribs).


 * The sources for the total sales of the current generation are all wrong. The Wii sales figures come from an old financial statement issued by Nintendo on October, 2007, and it is cited as information from December, 2007. The PS3 data is also out of place, as the information on the consoles sold doesn't match the numbers cited. The Xbox 360 data is the only "up-to-date" article, citing an article who is citing a Microsoft statement with no sources. This doesn't seem to give the credibility needed in order to establish a valid number. Hopefully we can get some cleaner numbers to clarify the information given. Sigurdvh (talk) 17:05, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Technical evaluation
I think the bit about the BBC Micro having "superior technology" over the Commodore 64 definately has to go, since it is more than debabable: The BBC Micro had no hardware-sprites, no scrolling, less colours (8 max at the same time compared to 16 on the c64) and a Soundchip that could not come close to what a SID can do (no Filter, no Ringmodulation). The only superiority i can see is a faster CPU, twice the RAM (only in the B+128 model though!) and that it also supported higher resolutions, albeit only with 2 colors monochrome, rendering it unsuitable for comparable game graphics quality. Since the BBC Micro did not have hardware sprites and scrolling, the faster CPU is not really noticeable in most games, as these extra MHz are quickly eaten up by having to calculate software sprites. Rare examples like well-suited Games such as Elite being better on the BBC Micro do not mean general technical superiority, it's the same with the ZX Spectrum... deekay64

I totally agree. Additionally, the C64 made better use of the limited RAM and CPU it had with its machine language and BASIC programmability.75.21.138.94 00:44, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

Dreamcast Fourth
The Dreamcast should not be mentioned as having been 'fourth' in the DVD era. Its status is somewhat similar to that of the N64 only the opposite. It arrived too early for the main console war and never competed with the Xbox and Gamecube, there was only some slight competition with the PS2, sort of a test run of the console war. To mention it as having been fourth ignores its special circumstances and implies that it actually did finish the generation.--Josquius 18:19, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

Sources for ps2 sales are incorrect.
The source for PS2 sales according to continent, I.e. US, Europe etc is incorrect. That is the number of systems shipped not sold. http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=14940 is a better source for US sales. http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6161370.html?sid=6161370 and for Europe. If the other figures I.e. gamecube etc are shipments as well, maybe the title for that table should be changed. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 90.196.41.221 (talk) 11:26, 14 February 2007 (UTC).

Need sources
We really need sources for the current generation sales figures. It seems almost like a mini-edit war between fanboys of systems and others who see lower numbers. None of the figures have sources cited and need citations added.--Crossman33 20:46, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Better source for sales???
Does anyone know a better source for sales figures rather than VGCharts or NexGenWars? It appears that A Link to the Past is correct, looking at WP:ATT about said "sources." I think that we should rely on official releases from the console manufacturers, rather than 3rd party sources; although VGCharts is better than NexGenWars, it is still not a proper source according to WP:ATT. I invite anyone to discuss this topic here.--Crossman33 18:11, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

It is clear that NexGenWars should be ignored, but not so clear that 'VGChartz' should be discounted. I believe, for example, that A Link to the Past is wrong to say that it's run by a 19 year-old 'internut' (which is famously the case with NGW). Official sales figures are understandably hard to come by, as the companies involved feel that they are waging a publicity war at the moment. Could we not rebuild this section to list 'proper' source totals, besides offering advice about 3rd party sources such as VGChartz which don't pass muster? ElectricHermit 23:33, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I KNOW who he is. - A Link to the Past (talk) 06:51, 9 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Here's my question: are we talking about vgchartz.org or vgcharts.com? Vgcharts.com definitely is not proper, while Vgchartz.org is more professional.--Crossman33 00:12, 10 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Huh? I have no idea why you'd say the latter is more professional - besides using "z" in place of "s", they're run by the same person and only use estimates by a single unprofessional random internet goer from Europe who has absolutely no editorial oversight. - A Link to the Past (talk) 00:38, 10 April 2007 (UTC)
 * They appear to be different as of right now. Vgcharts.com (actually officially videogamecharts.com) hasn't been updated since year's end, while vgchartz.com is still making projections. However, I don't feel that's the point.  Point is, of course, to find true numbers. --Crossman33 00:56, 10 April 2007 (UTC)
 * The fact that one hasn't been updated does NOT serve to say it's different. Hell, it shows me that the owner of vgcharts simply migrated to vgchartz. - A Link to the Past (talk) 02:35, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Well, I don't really care to fill this page up with arguments about if the two are the same or not, but nevertheless both of them fail WP:ATT as well as NexGenWars. VGChartz (from now on used to refer collectively to both pages) and NexGenWars are both questionable sources and self-published. WP:ATT specifically states that these sources are not to be used, so this means that sales must be from proper releases. --Crossman33 22:35, 10 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Also, just a side note, I did find out that vgchartz is indeed just a "relaunch" of vgcharts so therefore you are correct. --Crossman33 01:58, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Console Wars film.
Console Wars is also a funny film on wiitube. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Racooon (talk • contribs) 07:43, 25 April 2007 (UTC).

National sales data
Is there any countrywise data of sales in Europe and Asia? Anwar 11:49, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

32bit Era
I believe that the claim that the Sega saturn was the first 32 games console isn't accurate, I think that the Amiga_CD32 was the first 32 bit console available. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.133.122.181 (talk) 12:13, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

Yep. The mega drive wasn't the first 16 bit either and I don't think the NES was the first 8 bit. Its just the first of the mainstream 32 bit era--Josquius 03:52, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

Worldwide sales figures in current generation
In the current sales figures stated in the current generation section, it is stated that, according to the article Global Xbox 360 sales top 11.6M, the figures for the XBox 360 are 13.4 as of September 30, 2007. However, the article was written in September 20, 10 days prior to the date cited, and the number cited as of consoles sold is also much less than the one stated in the article (11.6 to 13.4). Either they sold 1.8 million consoles in ten days, which to me sounds like an incredible feat, or am I getting the whole data from the sources wrong? Please let me know if there is something going on, so we can set the figures straight with the right number of actual consoles sold.
 * Have you taken a look at the infobox at Xbox 360? There it is indicated that the 13.4 million number is Xbox 360 units shipped, with 8.9 million sold. --Silver Edge 06:40, 5 November 2007 (UTC)
 * I checked the updated link to the sales figures. Now everything seems to be in order. Thanks! Sigurdvh 23:29, 5 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Checked and updated PS3 section. Some joker thought it'd be nice to say PS3 sold 80.59 mil units. The rest looked up to date though. Shouldn't that section be under some for of edit protection anyway? It's a magnet for fanboyism. Rosenvox Jan 19/08 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.92.42.75 (talk) 14:51, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

The number of PS3 sales on this page seem to contradict the cited source. The source states 33.5m sales, but this page says 39.5m. Possibly has been changed to make it higher than Xbox 360 sales. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mmichaelc (talk • contribs) 10:48, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

The Playstation 3 hit total sales of 70 million on November 4th 2012 not Sept 30th and not 70.2 million. This article and many articles state the same http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/16/playstation-3-sales-70-million-units/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.81.94.70 (talk) 21:04, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
 * I think you have misunderstood some things about that. First, is that the the figure is "more than 70 million", not just "70 million". 70.2 million is an entirely plausible figure for the "more than 70 million" statement. Second, is that the data comes directly from Sony (using these sources: ). Third, is that while the figures are as of the end of September, that doesn't mean that is when they were released to the public. Sony measures its sales by financial quarter, and the quarter to which this refers ended on 30 September 2012.  Alphathon    ( talk ) 22:20, 31 January 2013 (UTC)

Merge proposal
There was a discussion on the VG Project talk page about merging Nintendo DS vs. PlayStation Portable console war into this article. Since the handheld article is since little progress and has been virtually untouched in a week, it is probably best to merge. Any objections? (Guyinblack25 talk 14:49, 2 April 2008 (UTC))
 * Go for it. Judgesurreal777 (talk) 15:38, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

The playstation is stated to have heavily outsold the xbox in the US,UK and Japan and yet the xbox is said to have sold more units worldwide. This seems hard to credit - especially as the US, UK and Japanese sales for the PS3 total more than the worldwide sales cited. This needs sorting out. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.196.107.39 (talk) 22:51, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Ps3 Backwards Compatibility
Though the word "partial" means not 100%, it usually implies a small amount when used normally. The Wii is in fact perfectly backwards compatible with the Gamecube, but that doesn't make it more efficient, the Gamecube was a very simple console with simple games. The Ps3 has to handle two libraries, the Ps2 being the more complicated one, because the games aren't as simple as Gamecube. With Gamecube the Wii just needed to handle half-sized disks that contain games with no internet play or USB controls, the Ps2 was both CD and DVD format games, most with online play and some with USB controls, they are also much older than the Ps3, especially Psx games. Ps3's backwards compatibilty is somewhere near 95%, and that's very good considering the extremely large amount of games in both Psx and Ps2's libraries. Another important note is that the article is outdated, It mentions the downloadable Nintendo and Xbox games, suggesting that there are no Playstation games in the PS Store. Subtalvik (talk) 19:37, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Citation Updates with Sales Updates
When anyone is updating sales numbers make sure you update the citations. As of Sept. 26, 2008 both the Canadian and American (and possibly other) home console sales citations for the current generation do not match the listed sales numbers. Lack of citations to back the numbers up renders the data unreliable. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.243.44.223 (talk) 18:39, 26 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I've reverted the figures back to the sourced figures. --Silver Edge (talk) 18:50, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

PSP/NDS Power Comparison?
In the section on the DS, the article states that the DS's power is comparable to the N64. The section on the PSP, however, states that it is "more powerful than the Nintendo DS, with graphical power comparable to being in between the original PlayStation and the PlayStation 2". I can't help but think this is a bit confusing, since graphical power in between the PSX and the PS2 would be the N64, surely? Perhaps something along the lines of saying the PSP's power approaches the PS2 or something similar would be more appropriate? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.171.210.5 (talk) 00:39, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

Well between the psx and ps2 would leave it ahead of the n64 even if we just take the silly numbers of '32 bit', '64 bit' and '128 bit'. The N64 wasn't too much more powerful than the PSX with the PS2 quite far ahead of them both.--130.243.174.67 (talk) 19:37, 21 March 2010 (UTC)


 * This is a silly argument. The point is that the GameBoy Advance played remakes of SNES titles, whil the DS plays remakes of N64 titles. In that sense, they are comparable. I don't know what there is to argue about. -66.41.19.135 (talk) 00:46, 11 May 2010 (UTC)

US and European Numbers for the Xbox 360 and PS3
Numbers were subject to vandalism, I corrected then to the numbers on the citations. 85.139.80.147 (talk) 02:13, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Cleanup and Update
I'd be interested in cleaning up and updating this article, It seems that this article needs some more sources to backup the current generations of consoles. Also I think that the catagories need to be streamlined instead of going from 16bit era, 32bit era to Sixth Generation, etc. Also, this entry needs to updated as it hasn't seen any real updates since 2009.Sat6-NJITWILL (talk) 19:29, 9 November 2011 (UTC)

Notice of discussions
Discussions relating to this article have been started at WP:ORN and WT:VG/RS. Please comment there if you have any useful input. Anomie⚔ 18:32, 31 December 2010 (UTC)

Figues
A lot of the figures are from different years even in the same categories, I'm sure the data is out there somewhere. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.88.131.247 (talk) 15:18, 12 November 2011 (UTC)

Sega Master System sales figures
User:Indrian claims that the reliable sources which are providing the information that the Sega Master System was sold 13 Million times have it wrong. On that assertion he has tried to completely remove the mentioning of the Sega Master System. The problem is that he does not provide any proof that the reliable sources have it wrong, so I reverted his edit. Perhaps he wants to provide proof of his assertions here. 16:20, 27 November 2011 (UTC)
 * As my edit summary notes, the entire argument was presented by me a month or so back on the Sega Master System talk page. There is no point in duplicating the post here.  Please look there for the full story. Indrian (talk) 21:45, 27 November 2011 (UTC)

Display 2 sales ttals for each generation.
Currently, the sales totals only list the most recent sales to datem but isn't it a bit pointless ?

When people are talking about "console wars", the real interest is to know how consoles were ranked when the competition for this generation was actually relevant. For an example, the monthly PSP sales became superior to the DS one since the 3DS was released, because the potential DS base naturally moved to the successor. Displaying nowaday sales gives the wrong impression about DS and PSP respective popularity during the actual war.

Overall, we should have a list displaying sales as they were once the next generation started. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 112.136.41.119 (talk) 04:20, 3 December 2011 (UTC)
 * That presupposes there is a particular date that is unambiguously considered the "end" of the actual war. To take your suggestion, the release of a console of the next generation doesn't immediately make the old machines irrelevant. Anomie⚔ 16:21, 3 December 2011 (UTC)

iPod Touch/iPhone/Android into 7th Generation/Handheld systems
Should the iPod Touch/iPhone/Android be counted as handheld systems? They have caused a significant revenue decrease for the established competitors by siphoning erstwhile market share from the Nintendo DS/Sony PSP lines. As such, I would think it just to include the systems in the wars. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.255.165.155 (talk) 05:03, 12 December 2011 (UTC)


 * This has been discussed many times before. These devices are separate from handhelds in many ways and as such do not fit in with them in their "wars". While many use their iPhones etc for gaming, that is not their primary function, and not why most are sold. That is not to say that they shouldn't be mentioned, but if they are it should be similar to the Home computer wars section.  Alphathon  /'æɫfə.θɒn/ ( talk ) 06:20, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

The smartphone market Vs. The console market
This whole section is awful, full of unsubstantiated claims, personal opinion and wild speculation. It needs to be drastically overhauled or removed entirely. There are no sources cited in this whole section. To be honest, information on competition between smartphone and console markets doesn't seem like it belongs in this article. I'd support it being spun off into its own article, but it'd obviously have to be of a much higher quality to be worthwhile. -Dalziel 86 (talk) 08:58, 12 December 2012 (UTC)