The PlayStation 4 continues to pass records and milestones- here’s another one that most probably didn’t give much thought. Sony’s fourth flagship home console passed Nintendo’s legendary third one to become the thirteenth highest selling console of all time. That’s right, the PlayStation4 has now officially sold more than the Nintendo 64, worldwide. The PS4’s worldwide sales are now at just under 36 million units worldwide- the Nintendo 64 ended its worldwide run at just about 33 million.
It’s a bittersweet moment- no doubt Sony have earned every last one of those sales, I don’t begrudge them those, but the Nintendo 64 was a special console, the usher of the modern era of gaming, and one with so many titles that shifted the paradigm. The Nintendo 64 was one of the first 3D consoles ever made- among other things, it introduced the world to analog sticks, controller vibration, four player multiplayer, first person shooters done properly on consoles, and 3D games done properly, with something as simple as camera control or movement and exploration in a 3D world being nailed down and demonstrated properly by N64 titles like Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Of course, it’s also a very old machine, and not quite a successful one at that (the original PlayStation kicked its ass on the market), so unless the PS4 had turned out to be less than even a middling success, this was going to happen.
The next milestones for the PS4 to pass are the Genesis at around 40 million, and the SNES at around 50 million- 16 bit console warriors, prepare yourselves. The PS4 is coming for your memories.
