D&D General As of 1998, 4,007,685 people played AD&D in the US, as estimated by Ben Riggs.

[Charlaquin]

I know 5e is popular...but when people start saying it is as popular as the X-Box in the United States...I ask myself something to see how accurate it may be.

Does it seem reasonable that as many people bought D&D books as bought an X-box one. Did it have that type of market penetration. Is it as EASY to buy D&D books as it is to buy an X-box one. Is there any other indication other than what they say that D&D is as popular among people as an X-box One was/is.

Does it seem reasonable that D&D 5e is played by double the amount of people that had an original Xbox? Is it actually that fluous through society that it is as popular as the original Nintendo?

That all seems fairly reasonable to me.

 

[Mercurius]

And I know I’m FAR from perfect.

Perfection is an overrated concept, as far as human beings go - and just think how boring a "perfect person" would be.

But I just wanted to dip in and say that you stand out, @darjr , as one of the friendliest, kindest and most positive regular members of these forums over the years - so you're about as "perfect" an ENWorld community member as I can think of!

 

[GreyLord]

Xbox? I dunno. But it’s been in the top 100 and often top 50 of all books on Amazon US for years. Years.

Just recently I looked and it was 18 out of all sci-fi on Amazon US.

How many PHBs is that a month? 500? 1000? 5000? Just from Amazon.

I mention it because 51 million Xbox One's have been sold.

around 24 million original Xboxes were sold

Around 62 Million NES were sold

Around 30 Million Atari 2600 were sold

Around 3 million Intellivisions were sold

Around 2 million Coleco were sold

Around 1 million Atari 5000s were sold.


These numbers are known. To see just how much smoke may be blowing at you by a marketer, I find it is a good reality check to compare sales to see how truthful it may or may not be. If you are living when these consoles are popular, you can get a feel of how popular they are by how much you see them in stores, how much people talk about them, how much they are known by the common individual and are USED by the general population around you.

It may be that the numbers reflect the same popularity as other items in your experience.

For numbers on consoles a source is here

wikipedia on console sales

 

[darjr]

I mention it because 51 million Xbox One's have been sold.

around 24 million original Xboxes were sold

Around 62 Million NES were sold

Around 30 Million Atari 2600 were sold

Around 3 million Intellivisions were sold

Around 2 million Coleco were sold

Around 1 million Atari 5000s were sold.


These numbers are known. To see just how much smoke may be blowing at you by a marketer, I find it is a good reality check to compare sales to see how truthful it may or may not be. If you are living when these consoles are popular, you can get a feel of how popular they are by how much you see them in stores, how much people talk about them, how much they are known by the common individual and are USED by the general population around you.

It may be that the numbers reflect the same popularity as other items in your experience.

For numbers on consoles a source is here

wikipedia on console sales

I dunno. I doubt the PHB has sold that many, and even if it has I know of a lot of people who have one and have not played. A handful only ever played in my lunch game at work.

But I dint know.

 

[Charlaquin]

I dunno. I doubt the PHB has sold that many, and even if it has I know of a lot of people who have one and have not played. A handful only ever played in my lunch game at work.

But I dint know.

On the other hand, I know a lot of people who play regularly and don’t own a PHB. As long as someone in your group has one, it’s not necessary for everyone to.

 

[darjr]

On the other hand, I know a lot of people who play regularly and don’t own a PHB. As long as someone in your group has one, it’s not necessary for everyone to.

That’s the weird thing for me. Usually that’s been the case but this edition, anecdotally, around me most everyone has it. Often ddb or some other digital thing will also be used but most everyone has a PHB.

 

[Charlaquin]

That’s the weird thing for me. Usually that’s been the case but this edition, anecdotally, around me most everyone has it. Often ddb or some other digital thing will also be used but most everyone has a PHB.

It’s still been the case for me. I have about 9 people I play with fairly often and 3 PHBs between us.

 

[darjr]

It’s still been the case for me. I have about 9 people I play with fairly often and 3 PHBs between us.

Yea, I have no doubt that that is probably the norm.

Funny story, I bought a PHB to give out as a prize and every one said they had one.

 

[Parmandur]

I know 5e is popular...but when people start saying it is as popular as the X-Box in the United States...I ask myself something to see how accurate it may be.

Does it seem reasonable that as many people bought D&D books as bought an X-box one. Did it have that type of market penetration. Is it as EASY to buy D&D books as it is to buy an X-box one. Is there any other indication other than what they say that D&D is as popular among people as an X-box One was/is.

Does it seem reasonable that D&D 5e is played by double the amount of people that had an original Xbox? Is it actually that fluous through society that it is as popular as the original Nintendo?

If I had to judge compared to Consoles, and how much people talk about and it's penetration into society...what does it seem closer to? The atari Jaguar? The 3do? An original Xbox? An Xbox 360? The Playstation 2?

Their statements are marketing...and aimed at making people feel like they are part of a movement? Obviously the numbers are based on something, the question is do they believe their own numbers and how accurate are they in reality vs. marketing speak?

edit: Going to the 80s, one can ask the same thing about the 80s (if one was there). Did D&D seem to have as much penetration and marketing as an Atari 2600? the Intellivision? Coleco? The Atari 5000? The Nintendo Entertainment System? Where could you buy it, was it as available? Was it as prevalent? It won't give you the absolute number, but it will give an idea of how popular or unpopular. Would it seem reasonable for those that were there that there were 20 - 25 million players of D&D overall during that time period, or would that also be reaching?

The Xbox One is around the same numbers, yes, but is a peculiar comparison because it was, broadly speaking, a failure that didn't achieve market penegration: it's the third ranked Fen o Console, with less than 20% market share. I know like one guy who got an Xbox One, and I can readily believe that D&D is more popular and mainstream now.

 

[Charlaquin]

The Xbox One is around the same numbers, yes, but is a peculiar comparison because it was, broadly speaking, a failure that didn't achieve market penegration: it's the third ranked Fen o Console, with less than 20% market share. I know like one guy who got an Xbox One, and I can readily believe that D&D is more popular and mainstream now.

Microsoft just didn’t give you any reason to buy one. It had almost no exclusives, so its only selling point next to the PS4 was more power, which… if you care about that, you’re probably going PC anyway.