Games Releases & Cool Numbers »

Compiling a list of all games released on the current gen systems has lead to a nice bonus: I can chart, graph and analyze the number of games released over time for each system to my heart’s content.

Note that all numbers include releases up to June 2011 for the USA and Canada.

Also note that I’m not claiming that any particular system releasing more games is better, or even that releasing fewer is better. I’m just entertaining myself by studying the numbers.

You can click any image for an expanded view

Let’s start with a simple chart...

Games Released on Each System by Year

Yes, that’s not a misprint: there are 1528 games for the Nintendo DS and 1068 games for the Wii. There is a period of time for both systems where a game was essentially coming out every day (or 7 a week).

For those of you mocking the 3DS over how slowly games are coming out for it, consider that the Wii was the fastest out of the gate and it took 12 months to release 100 games. The DS was the slowest at 16 months (and look where it is now). GameZen currently has 88 games scheduled to be released for the 3DS by the end of 2011.

Overall, notice that game releases seemed to peak by 2009. That makes sense considering the lifetime of the various game systems: the DS, PSP and Wii have been or will soon be replaced, so developers are likely focusing on next-next gen titles.

Now let’s look at a graph:

Games Released by Date

Interesting: the PSP seemed to be keeping up with the DS for two years before the systems started going in different directions.

Also, in August 2008 the Wii caught up with the Xbox 360. So, it took the Wii took 21 months to make up for being released a year later. Unfortunately I haven’t collected stats on how many mini-game collections are on the Wii :)

And this past June, the PS3 finally caught up with its older brother the PSP.

Now let’s adjust that graph so we can compare the systems directly:

Games Released by Month After System Launch

Wow. So all the systems are about even for the first year then the Wii takes off, releasing almost twice as many games as the Xbox 360 and PS3 from that point onward. The tipping point for the Wii is the 2007 Holiday season.

Quick test: without looking, which system do you think was the second fastest to reach 200 titles?

Did you guess the PSP? Yes, it reached that goal in 21 months, which was 3 months faster than the Xbox 360.

Finally, let’s take a look at one more set of numbers:

Games Released per Million Systems Sold

I think the interesting thing here is how close together all the numbers in red are. This makes sense, as developers and publishers would generally try to release games for systems with the fewest games available per user, and this should stabilize over time.

However, even though all the numbers are close, it is curious to note that the systems with the lowest and highest numbers are the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 respectively. I had always thought/heard/assumed that the PS3 had the fewest games, and indeed it did until this June, but it also has the highest number of games available compared to its install base. 

Yes, that’s a pretty meaningless number, but it’s still a fun fact to trot out at parties (assuming you go to the right parties).

Enjoy!