The 20 Best-Selling Video Game Consoles of All Time

The gaming industry has come a long way since the Atari era. Today's consoles can turn on your TV and connect to your smartphone in addition to hosting games. Newer video game consoles may be more versatile, but they haven't caught up with the classic models in terms of sales. To see which consoles have sold the most units, check out the list below.

According to Visual Capitalist, the best-selling video game console of all time debuted in 2000. Sony's PlayStation revolutionized the gaming world when it hit shelves at the turn of the millennium. In addition to running cutting-edge graphics (at least for the time), the device played DVDs, making its original price of $299 easier to swallow. Though it was taken off the market in 2013, the device still dominates sales records with 157.68 millions units sold overall.

Most of the products on the list are from previous console generations. The second and third best-selling consoles are the Nintendo DS and Game Boy, which launched in 2004 and 1989, respectively. Next in the ranking are the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch—the only actively sold models to break the top 20.

For every Game Boy and PlayStation, the world's major video game brands have produced plenty of flops. You won't find Nintendo's Virtual Boy or Power Glove on any best-seller lists. After reading the ranking below, you can learn more about the Japanese gaming company here.

1. PlayStation 2
2. Nintendo DS
3. Game Boy
4. PlayStation 4
5. Nintendo Switch
6. PlayStation
7. Nintendo Wii
8. PlayStation 3
9. Xbox 360
10. PlayStation Portable
11. Game Boy Advance
12. Nintendo 3DS
13. NES
14. Xbox One
15. SNES
16. Sega Genesis
17. Nintendo 64
18. Atari 2600
19. GameCube
20. Xbox