Nintendo’s NES Classic Edition outsells the PS4 and Xbox

Nintendo

• Nintendo’s miniaturized version of the original
  Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was the top-selling game
  console in June.
• The tiny console outsold heavyweights like the
  PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and even Nintendo’s own
  Switch.
• The NES Classic Edition was re-released on June 29, yet
  it still beat out the competition with only two days of
  sales.

Dust off your Trapper Keeper and those acid-washed jeans: It’s
1986 all over again!

At least it is for Nintendo, the Japanese gaming giant that
topped the game console sales charts in June with its
nostalgia-laced, miniaturized Nintendo Entertainment System. The
$60 mini console outsold the likes of Sony’s PlayStation 4 and
Microsoft’s Xbox One — in addition to outselling Nintendo’s own
Switch and 3DS consoles — in the month of June. That’s especially
impressive considering that
the NES Classic Edition was only re-released on June 29.

In just two full days of sale, the NES Classic Edition outsold
every other game console available. “This is the first time a
Nintendo Entertainment System console has led in monthly unit
sales since NPD tracking began in 1995,” NPD Group executive
director David Riley wrote of June’s hardware sales.

Not too shabby!

YouTube /
Nintendo

The NES console originally launched way back in the mid-’80s, but
it got a huge re-release back in 2016 as the “NES Classic
Edition” — a tiny facsimile of the original console.

Unlike the original, the NES Classic Edition doesn’t play game
cartridges. Instead, it comes packed in with 30 classic NES
games, built directly into the console. No need for blowing
cartridges! (Pro tip: Use an alcohol swap to clean your old
cartridges; blowing on them doesn’t work.)

When the NES Classic Edition originally launched in 2016, it was
met with overwhelming demand. So much so that it sold out
everywhere before being discontinued. Clearly that interest
hasn’t dropped, as its re-release in 2018 put the NES Classic
Console back on top.