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PlayStation 4 Closing in on Wii U Sales Numbers, Looks to Be King This Generation

Cue the angry fanboys (and girls).

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After the fastest-selling console launch in history back in November, the PlayStation 4 has continued to rack up impressive sales numbers, and Sony has just announced that the console has topped 5.3 million units sold worldwide. For comparison, the Wii U’s sales numbers in December, more than a year after its launch, were at 5.86 million.

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Not only is the PS4 about to eclipse a console with a year-long lead, but it has reached its projected sales total a full 3 weeks early, which is great news for Sony. It’s great news for gamers, too, as the PlayStation 4 is slated to launch in Japan on February 22nd (the Xbox One’s Japanese launch is still on the horizon, as well), which should lead to even better sales figures and faster migration of game developers over to the new generation of hardware.

Of course, the comparison of sales numbers to the Wii U when the PS4 hasn’t even launched in Japan yet seems a bit daunting, but let’s try to remember that good sales numbers of any system are good news for gamers. There’s no news on how the Xbox One is fairing yet, but at the end of 2013, it was trailing behind the PlayStation 4 with 3.9 million sold to Sony’s 4.2 million.

When you combine those sales numbers with the fact that PlayStation 4 has caused an explosion in game streaming on Twitch, this is looking to be a very interesting hardware generation, and Sony looks like it’s going to be back on top. Microsoft’s most recent sales numbers still remain to be seen, but with the PS4 selling the most consoles in January, it’s going to be hard for the Xbox One to catch up.

As a Nintendo fan, it makes me a little bit sad to see the Big N fall behind again this generation, but it never bothered me much that the GameCube and the Nintendo 64 weren’t the top sellers for their generations, and this is no different. Yes, the PlayStation looks poised to reclaim the top spot in terms of sales, but maybe save your “Nintendo is doomed” GIFs for now.

It’s important to have an accurate perspective on how things are going for each company, but good game console sales are good news for everybody—no matter what the angry fans want you to think.

(via Polygon, image via Sony)

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Dan Van Winkle
Dan Van Winkle (he) is an editor and manager who has been working in digital media since 2013, first at now-defunct <em>Geekosystem</em> (RIP), and then at <em>The Mary Sue</em> starting in 2014, specializing in gaming, science, and technology. Outside of his professional experience, he has been active in video game modding and development as a hobby for many years. He lives in North Carolina with Lisa Brown (his wife) and Liz Lemon (their dog), both of whom are the best, and you will regret challenging him at <em>Smash Bros.</em>

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