* Nintendo DS: 508K
* Sony PlayStation 2: 280K
* Nintendo Wii: 259K (2.1 million total)
* Microsoft Xbox 360: 199K (5.3 million total)
* Sony PSP: 180k
* Nintendo Game Boy Advance: 148K
* Sony PlayStation 3: 130K (1.2 million total)
* Nintendo Gamecube: 22K
* Microsoft Xbox: N/A

Take a look at these stats. To me they drive home some pretty important points, from a marketing perspective:

1. The top three selling consoles have last-gen graphics. Apparently the average consumer isn't going bananas for polygons and bump-mapping.

2. The PS2 continues to outsell the PS3...and the Xbox 360...and the Wii. It continues to hit a market that is untapped by other consoles. It appears there is a high demand for a console with a huge library, so-so graphics, and a low price.

3. Microsoft sold only a negligible amount of original Xboxen. Compare this to Sony's last-gen offering, the PS2. Apparently an Xbox gamer will not buy the last-gen console when the next-gen is available, but tons of gamers are buying the last-gen PS2 when both it's successor and two other next-gen alternatives are available. What does this say? My opinion is that the Xbox and Xbox 360 community is greatly comprised of early adopters and technophiles. Perhaps that is why we enjoy direct interface with Xbox team members like Larry Hyrb (Major Nelson), because we are a demographic that wants, enjoys, and utilizes that feature. We cry bloody murder that Sony and Nintendo have no such offering, but would the bulk of their customers utilize it if they did? Perhaps not. It appears to me that as long as Sony is topping the console charts with equipment that is largely considered defunct that they are in no danger of tanking. While their average audience is much less vocal and technically inclined, which is why we rarely hear from them, they do exist. Sony sells to the average Joe.

Thoughts?