Sometimes I wonder what the criteria is for something making the world of gaming news. For example, website VentureBeat, as reported by megablog Kotaku, has reported that Nintendo’s evergreen (OK, white) box Wii is set to outsell PS2 and become the best selling console to date (sorry fans, I HATE “of all time” claims, they’re patently absurd and assume a knowledge of the future that I have yet to uncover).

Apparently, even Analyst Michael Pachter made some predictions about that idea over the holidays. If you already knew the PS2 was a big success but were somehow completely in the dark about Wii being a success (I know, I know, some people have their heads in the sand, but usually they say things like “we’re not really competing with Wii” or some such nonsense), then it might surprise you to learn that Wii has always trended higher than PS2 in sales ever since it launched.

If you click our handy dandy chart, generated on demand by the fine folks at VGChartz (we like them even if they can’t spell, because they provide fun times for fanboys on their forums), you’ll see a complete chart for both PS2 and Wii over a period of 112 weeks, which it just so happens is exactly how long the Wii has been out so far. Reading the chart is quite easy: the little blue line represents Wii sales worldwide, and the little red line represents PS2 sales worldwide. Notice how often they cross? Aside from during the couple of weeks at their aligned launches, they never cross. Ever. Put plainly, where in the hell does the surprise factor come into play and why is it newsworthy? Seriously, I have an inquiring mind, I really want to know.

Because I’m such a nice guy though, I’d like to point out that just because Wii has outsold PS2 to date doesn’t mean it will overtake it in lifetime sales. For starters, I don’t think Wii in its current form will enjoy a lifespan as long as the PS2 has. Now, don’t take that to mean that Wii has no longevity; rather, I think that Nintendo is going to take a page out of Sony’s playbook (they’ve already taken several this generation) and will release their next console alongside the existing Wii, discount the Wii we know today and sell a high powered, refined version at their $249 price point. That’s probably a topic worth discussing at some point, no?

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