Nintendo Has Reportedly Sold 1.5 Million Switch Consoles Worldwide

Congratulations. I think it can easily sell 40 million. 85,000 UK sales is a phenomenon start for the UK. Few more games and maybe a price cut in the future and it'll be flying off the shelves.

Good foundation, hopefully Nintendo can keep building on it. fingers crossed for animal crossing announcement

Well that explains how hard it was to get one without a reservation.

Fantastic numbers! Great news!

well seems 2 will easily be achieved, maybe they can do 5 million by end of the year if they make sure the console is readily available

2 million before the end of the year?

Erm, how won't it reach that target!? Heck, as far as I know, we still don't know what the numbers are for Australia (and the rest of Europe as stated). I'm expecting at least 10 million by the end of the year.

@ThatNyteDaez : End of financial year.

I'm not sure what that means overseas, but in Australia, the end of financial year is June 30, with the new financial year commencing from July 1st.

Could've sold more if they had the stock. Would be nice if they could have 3 million by the end of the month.

If I could of found one they could of sold 1,500,001!

Wow, impressive !
Less than 500,000 Nintendo Switch to be sold and hello 2 Million target.
Nintendo should restock Nintendo Switch with better polished, better Joy Cons, First bundles with color variation and 1 game inside.

The attachment rate on Zelda will be insane. The other games on the system will be the true test of whether or not it's a success.

So this means that only .5 million units to be shipped by the end of March.
Looks like I won't get to play that Global Testfire. ;(

@BensonUii
There are actually none available in Ireland. Contrary to earlier reports.

@ThatNyteDaez : Sales have been very strong in Australia. The Switch has had its fastest selling launch weekend "than any other Nintendo hardware in history". The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has also broken the record for the fastest selling Nintendo launch title in Australian history (surpassing the last record holder Wii Sports).

So things are looking very good at the moment.

It's a good start but most initial sales figures look promising. Now it needs to keep the numbers up.

Replenish stock

Release titles

Fix any niggles

@neufel That was not case in Norway But Bergsala (The Scandinavian distributor of Nintendo Products) raised the price compared to the US

@sillygostly Oh woops! Thanks for clarifying!

And, yeeeeeeeee <3

It helps that Zelda is great and virtually no one who purchased it wilbuyer's remorse. The test will be bringing in third party developers and keeping a steady flow of new releases (as it always is).

Wow. Begs the question what on earth are 11 per cent of Switch owners playing?

@Blister
11% are busy hacking it

There are still plenty available in Ireland. Smyth's Toys have them in stock in almost every store nationwide

@Blister Othello...being able to switch between TV and tablet is a game changer for the franchise!

I'm part of the 11% that didn't pick up a copy of Zelda

@sillygostly financial years vary by company. For the company I work for, it starts in November. For Nintendo it starts in April, ie March is the last month.

Re: Zelda .. Does this track digital copies? There would be your 11%

@ThatNyteDaez
I'm pretty sure the end of the financial year for Nintendo is March 31... so the goal is 2 million this month... which should be mentioned in the article.

That 2 million shipment forecast by the end of March is looking a bit low. Seems like Nintendo will ship closer to 2.5 million, if not 3 million.

I find it funny that the guys I know who were heavily trash talking it before release have completely shut up about it now... they can't really argue against the evidence now.

@sillygostly it's the end of March for Nintendo.

Here's hoping for loads of third party support over the long term.

Not sure how many units Ninty can produce in a week but they seriously need to get on with it. The scams have already started over here in UK. Game shop CeX are selling secondhand standard switch with no game for £350 that's £70 more than a new one... While am at it what the hell is switchers doing in a secondhand game shop already,unbelievable

What's this? Another supply shortage from Nintendo?

I'm more surprised that 11% of Switch owners don't have Zelda

@NintySnesMan CEX are known for being professional scalpers at launch. They buy popular products en masse, knowing it will be sold out, and then sell it in their stores marked up. They are like eBay scalpers, only with a high street presence. Boo, and again, boo

@DragonEleven
True mate,but let's see what happens with sales once the Ninty faithful have bought them,like with every system sales will drop a certain level. Let's hope your mates won't have something to shout about

@JamesNighthawk
Hey Bro. It's bang out of order,I buy cheap vita games from them but not sure if I want to now,I can get them online just as cheap or a few squid more

@BensonUii Nintendo is irrelevant in the UK, so likely every other country posted better sales then the UK.

Hello there, Nintendoomers, haters and naysayers.

That's nice, where's mine, Nintendo?

@AlexSora89 Whose worst? The Haters or The Apologist?

It'll be interesting to see if this momentum continues once the Switch is available to anyone who wants one, rather than just anyone who has the time to mash the preorder button the second it goes live (or the skill to program a bot to do the same, I guess). If so, this could be very good news for Nintendo.

Lol.. I don't predict anything. It'll be interesting to see how this year continues to play out. Good start for Nintendo so far. I think indie devs will be their 3rd party support for the most part. Nothing wrong with that imo. I enjoy retro like games more especially if it's remade.

@Link41
Hey Bro I wouldn't call 3.5 million 3ds sales in the UK irrelevant and still selling. That's around same amount of sales as Germany with France been the only ones to sell more with just over 4 million. These are the 3 biggest sellers of Ninty products in EU. But if we are talking irrelevant then I guess the whole of Europe is compared to Sony who destroy all competition in most country's in EU.. Anyways Ninty have always done OK in UK just not as good as Sony but it don't make them irrelevant,it's the opposite to that. Just for the record Spain had the best launch for a new system ever,but it was only 45 thousand sales compared to UK at 80 and France at 105 thousand. Those numbers get much lower that that in other EU country's,there are reports Greece only sold 2 thousand.. Must be noted that Wii U in the UK sold 40 thousand at launch,almost the same as Spain for its best ever console launch for any system. Not bad for the UK eh.

i guess the switch is their imac moment. or ipod. or iphone. or go all the way to performa, hell something liek that.

@Mart1ndo It is available in Ireland. Please don't spread lies. There's stock in Argos, Littlewoods and Smyths.

They need to stock up faster than a scalpers *****

Great job Nintendo. Now continue to deliver awesome games at a steady rate and for godsake prove you can have decent online. I sure want to be proven wrong on how stupid it sounds.

It would sell better here in Mexico too, but for some reason, retailers sell it at double the US price!! 500dlls!
Don't know if it's a consequence of Trump or the retailers cashing in on the craze

@fafonio Retailers. Same here in the states now.

@BensonUii You've been reported, troll!

They need to have a constant flow of supply. Sales can't be reached if there's no stock. And I haven't seen any since launch day in my area, and retailers don't know when more are expected.

Nope, still NINTENDOOMED!!!!1!1!!111!!!

Seriously though, good on Nintendo for selling this many Switches. Hopefully they can maintain momentum and actually stock enough for stores.

Looking at the sales numbers for any one system is kind of pointless without comparison numbers for similar systems.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/11/wii-u-first-week-sales-lag-original-wii-but-better-than-xbox-360-ps3/

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/03/dont-read-too-much-into-the-switchs-successful-launch-numbers/

https://www.engadget.com/2012/11/26/nintendo-wii-u-first-week-sales/

@Spoony_Tech I am betting Nintendo is holding some stock back to keep up with holiday demand, and probably a large amount for a July restock for the sales peak during Birthday season. They have supplied more than the Wii, but it seems demand is stronger.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE I'm guessing the Ireland stock debate is possibly local media vs. personal experience. It's easy to assume personal experience is the norm. I don't know either way as I live in Southern England... but just noting there are reasons for discrepancies other than someone deliberately lying.

@rjejr I agree perspective is important, but comparing final figures of previous console launches against an initial estimate (with some regions not accounted for) isn't a fair comparison. Plus there is the little fact that the Wii U was following the tailwind of the blockbusting Wii. The Switch is following the wind left by the Wii U (not a comment on quality of the Wii U, just it's image in general).

@SLIGEACH_EIRE
I only check my area. Argos are sold out in Navan, Blanch, Ashbourne and Swords. That's all I've checked.
Smyth's do have "low stock" in Navan, which means they have 1 possibly 2 consoles. I didn't see that the first time. So I was not lying.

So, Mario Kart has come for the 3DS and Wii U, on times of struggle, this time it would be in a very different moment for the target console.

@rjejr True, but Ars is missing a lot of key points.

1. Adjust for economic conditions during launch periods. The U.S. economy was sluggish in 04 and 05, so much so the government was literally handing out money. If you peel away the charade that was the housing market we were already in a recession.

2. A healthy launch helps bring in 3rd party support in most cases. The Wii U was killed by a tandem effort by Microsoft and Sony when they agreed to build on X64 architecure with AMD chipsets.Which brigs us to...

3. Cost to publishers. PS4 and X1 were easy to port between so it made fiscal sense at the time to make games for them. Because they didn't raise the price of retail games they are slowly diminishing profit margins as the cost comes up. If Fifa and Skyrim sell well on the Switch you can bet that shareholder will decide which platform is supported.

@Mart1ndo Yes you did lie.

"There are actually none available in Ireland. Contrary to earlier reports."

That's a definitive statement and you're also calling me a liar. We both know who that troll Bensonuii is referring to. There's plenty of Switch's throughout the country. Very hard to get one in Dublin but otherwise there are plenty. Can't get to them? No problem, Littlewoods will deliver it to you for free.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE get over yourself. You're the real troll.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE I'm sorry that Switch sold so well at launch, I truly am.

@Mart1ndo Here's what you said.

"I only check my area. Argos are sold out in Navan, Blanch, Ashbourne and Swords. That's all I've checked."

What unbelievable statements to make, so because it's not in your area, it's therefore sold out entirely in Ireland?

I'll make a ridiculous statement too. There's no snakes in Ireland, so they must be extinct everywhere.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE I don't think meant it literally, although it IS contrary to what you said about it only selling out in Dublin. Stop being a snowflake.

I've heard of a few people buying BotW on Switch who have not yet been able to find an actual Switch system, so that 89% figure may be off a bit.

This is great news for a start. 2 mill should be a no brained for march. The question is when is stock going to be available, and how will Thai continue to sell at that point. If they can get product on shelves for April, and they advertise Mario Kart ahead of time so people(aka non Nintendo fans) are aware of a fun game that even casuals can play....yes momentum may carry over into the next month.

The real test is going to be this summer, as there will be months of data by then, and to see what type of buzz Big N can generate at E3.

Little bit confused why people are acting like it's some huge cultural smash. They sold 3 million Wii U consoles in a month. How did that turn out? We won't have a clear picture of how successsul the Switch is until the sales figures from its first Christmas are in.

@NintySnesMan What you wrote about Greece is probably true, but it's considered a somewhat successful launch. Better than the Wii U's and the 3DS's. Some other interesting facts about the same market is that almost everyone who bought a Switch bought BotW, too. Also, a third of them bought the official carrying/protective case at launch. 20% bought the pro controller in the first three days.
https://www.enternity.gr/Article/Blogs/The-Greek-Way-%CE%95%CE%BD%CF%84%CF%85%CF%80%CF%89%CF%83%CE%B9%CE%B1%CE%BA%CF%8C-%CE%BE%CE%B5%CE%BA%CE%AF%CE%BD%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%B1-%CE%B3%CE%B9%CE%B1-%CF%84%CE%BF-Nintendo-Switch/40943.html

agreed make sure there is plenty of stock Nintendo and they can do well. if they don't re-stock then how can they expect to sell any more?

@Peach64 I think it's a surprise considering they rushed it out in spring.

@KappaBeta
Yeah I gotta say the switch has done great everywhere but definitely good to know that it's done extremely well in EU... The EU is pretty much a Sony stronghold in most country's and its great to see the switch grabbing some of that marketshare which will only get bigger with time. There are some country's in the Eastern block that sold far less than Greece,Western Europe are where most sales happen

@BinaryFragger completely agree. Thanks for the links. Only time can tell and it's all up to Nintendo.

Wii u failed because of Nintendo and not none of us

The Nintendo Life writers need to slow down sometimes. It is helpful to state that March is the end of their fiscal year in the article.

Just need to keep the games coming now

Initial sales don't mean anything, if Nintendo don't get more 3rd parties on board and releasing games soon the console will tail off pretty quick like the Wii U.

It needs to make a splash in E3 so there's an interest for it looking into Christmas.
Most importantly, Nintendo has to dish out games, the switch has to have most of Nintendo franchises, Metroid, F-Zero, Earthbound, Punch, Advanced Wars, Golden Sun are franchises that shouldn't be ignored.
Most importantly....it needs Pokemon.

@Blister putting them on eBay.

@foobarbaz I agree with you mostly. If it helps, I have 2 friends who are diehard Xbox and PlayStation fans who picked up a Switch at launch. Neither of them are very big Zelda fans like me. I think the "gimmick" or the "hook" of the hybrid home/portable console is why they bought the Switch more than anything. This is why there's no doubt in my mind the Switch will easily triple, if not quadruple Wii U sales in it's lifetime. It already has better marketing and a much better vibe around it than the Wii U had at launch. I don't think it'll sell Wii numbers but 50 million isn't out of the realm of possibility.

@Peach64

Christmas sales don't exist in March. The demand here is all gamers and no gift giving, which heavily suggests the Switch will outsell the Wii U, by a large margin, in year 1.

First couple weeks sales aren't all that important in my eyes. I want to see how the console is doingsicx months down the line. I want to see that the momentum keeps rolling forward, which I think it will as long as Super Mario Odyssey doesn't get delayed.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE - Relax, sooner or later there will be a negative story for you to gloat over with cynical hyperbole to which you won't demand strict literal adherence like you do here.

Cheer up, most consoles launch well due to hype, you'll have some bad news to comfort you soon.

@sillygostly For Nintendo, it's March 31

@BinaryFragger yes because Holiday Season. We are in March. Huge difference.

Just think if nintendo actually started to meet demands...oh wait, nintendo never does.

If the system was available on store shelves (multiple copies), they'd meet even bigger numbers. As long as nintendo keeps the advertising going (and not stop after a year) and the third parties stay on board and the retail games keep piling up, they'll continue good with the system...they'll sell more during the holiday period, but it's next year that will decide the systems selling power, and as long as nintendo has games that come out, no droughts in game releases, exclusives that show up on the retail scene (not just download), they'll have a great console that should do them well. Hopefully this isn't going to be a console that will go to nintendo's heads, to where they stop advertising and caring about the 3rd parties (like they did with Wii and Wii U). 3DS sold well and is a great portable, but the third parties seemed to leave it these past two years (not many). I hope to own a Switch by the holidays and I'm sorry to say that it still won't take my interest away from my PS4, but I hope to own one for the upcoming Mario Odyssey...just hope that the virtual console adds to what I'm looking for, the E-Shop games aren't cheap titles like on the Wii and Wii U (sorry to say, if they're also available on PS4, I'd purchase them on PS4 for trophies) and some of nintendo's old IP's making a come back (Startropics, FZero, Punch Out, Advance Wars, Chibi Robo (Doubt that one), Pikmin, Ice Climbers (could be better with updated graphics and stories), Wrecking Crew, NBA Courtside, Faxanandu and many more. Bring me back nintendo...I really hated the Wii U and didn't find much fun in it.

@DanteSolablood " but comparing final figures of previous console launches against an initial estimate"

Yes, I know, which is why all 3 articles I linked to only focused on first week sales, it's actually in the address of 2 of them, so why you are mentioning final figures I have no idea.

@darth2d2 Ars may be missing a lot of key points, but dont' you think it's better to have comparison numbers of other consoles than to just say "X sold Y" w/o having any reference point whatsoever? Are you saying it's better to just say - "Oh look, Switch sold a lot woo hoo!" - rather than compare Switch initial sales to the intial sales of other consoles, then figure out the reasons why after you have numbers to compare?

Looks great! Mind the economy on each launch please.

Don't screw up the E3 presentation. I think sequels to Wii Music and Nintendoland can wait another year.....

It puts Nintendo in good standing until mid 2nd quarter and throughout the 3rd quarter. The bulk of early NS sales will be done in March (launch month) and maybe End of April/Early May (for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe). Other than that, though, with shortages already a thing, who knows when Nintendo will resupply a sufficient restock. The flip side of selling out of most of their initial stock is that demand is exceeding supply. If Nintendo isn't careful, they'll repeat history as with the Wii or NES Mini. (Preferably Wii, of course.)

The attach rate of BotW on NS is very impressive. I think the ultimately highest attach rate of any Zelda thus far is Link's Awakening DX for the GBC, at 1:10. Everything else is way lower. It remains to be seen whether the BotW on NS attach rate will hold, though. Sales of BotW will drop like a rock after the first year, since Nintendo still has no idea how to properly do discount sales. Meanwhile, as the NS becomes more popular and brings onboard a host of other titles (and perhaps a rebirth of genres and franchises long thought dead or dying), that attach rate will only drop.

That doesn't take away from the monumental achievement of reaching the million mark so quickly, and of course of BotW as a whole. It just means no one knows if BotW will be the one to break the 1:10 attach rate record. It's also worth keeping in mind that BotW is to the NS what Super Mario 64 was to the N64: the early system seller. And that's going to pay dividends on the end of fiscal year report for Nintendo.

@ThatNyteDaez End of the month!!!

I wish i had the ability to make almost half a billion dollars in one week!

@SLIGEACH_EIRE
Sad.

@Rumncoke25 As long as Nintendo keeps the noodles coming, Thai will do just fine...

@Mart1ndo The use of just the word "sad" as a response has been forever tainted by a certain Tweeter being attached to it... 😂

@rjejr Reference points and trends are important, but more often than not are used to be misleading. Like how Kaz said PS4 is doing well because it has a higher "attachment" rate than the PS2, but fails to mention that it is probably because they are giving away games every month with Playstation Plus for free instead of users purchasing them at full retail price.

Instead it is better to use references in short-term milestones. So the Wii U was a strong launch and gave Nintendo a boost for that quarter, but Nintendo stepping out of sync with Sony and Microsoft timing wise skewed the reference. The trouble was easy to see in software sales during launch and the 3 quarters after. Despite the belief that software sells hardware, it is really software trends that drive software creation. Wii U was built around a dying software trend of AAA big budget console exclusives.

The Switch has strong support from small, low budget studios and major initial hardware sales. Hardware sales are good and indie support is better. It is very much the similar trend that led to the revival of PC gaming with Steam and the rise of mobile gaming through app stores.

The next big milestone is going to be holiday sales and then eShop sales. If holiday sales are strong and eShop sales are steady then Nintendo will be ok.

@flummerfelt Is that wishful thinking or did a miss something? I'll possibly have to go part time if Animal Crossing comes to Switch. I mean do I really need an actual life when I have so many virtual ones?...

There's going to be a lot of disappointed people, 1.5 million to be exact, when they realize the Switch has no games. Nintendo is DOOMED!

I'm expecting a pretty good showing for Switch at E3. There are only two words needed to get me to camp out at a retailer waiting for restock: "Monster. Hunter."

They need to take the lineup they've already laid out for this year, bring some playable versions of those games, add some solid third party reveals and release dates (especially from those companies that were good to Nintendo the last generation, like Capcom and P*), and tack on a couple of new first party reveals. They don't even need to be huge names. Pikmin 4 will do. Although if they drop an Animal Crossing, a Fire Emblem, or dare I say it... a Pokémon reveal, the world will implode from Hype.

They would also do well to drop a bunch of good VC stuff on us at E3. Like, "you can get a free download of any VC game associated with your Nintendo account from wither Wii U or 3DS." Hey, a man can dream...

@BiasedSonyFan Yeah I remember those comments. I think the reason why everyone was freaking out about it was because it wasn't the usually holiday season launch we're all used to, but it still sold well, 1.5 million units within over a week's time, which is a really good starting point for it.

Nintendo has to keep the hype train on the road, more Directs about games what they are planning, future updates, online service etc.

Also reveal the third party games , release dates etc. No time to rest Nintendo i guys have to go all out.

It's definitely been a solid launch, from what I've observed. If Nintendo can keep the first and third-party games flowing, keep up their excellent marketing for the Switch, and smooth out some of the various launch complaints, then I foresee that the Switch will go down in history much more favorably than the poor Wii U.

@PlywoodStick
I'm guessing you mean Donald Trump.

So far so good. There seems to be good vibes about the Switch that were missing from the Wii U's time so I reckon it will outdo the Wii U.

I bet 99% of switch owners bought Zelda

@BiasedSonyFan Imagine if it sold 750,000. Folks would be popping bottles in here saying "See? Told you. DOA." Not a bad start though considering, be interesting to watch how things play out in Japan over the next few weeks.

Still haven't picked one up myself, too much money outgoing at the moment to even think about it.

That attach rate is ridiculous, and with the reviews, word of mouth, and likely accolades at year end it might stay up there through the Switch's life.

Madness, but well deserved. If $360 USD was only for BotW on TV/handheld, I'd still feel good about it haha.

@NintySnesMan They're not really preowned, that's just to excuse the price. Gamestop in the US has done this and I believe it was GAME in the UK were notorious for doing this slimy price gouging to get around MSRP.

Shameful.

@Fooligan No games you like is not no games. BotW, Super Bomberman R, VOEZ and the mighty Blaster Master Zero, not to mention portable multiplayer NEO-GEO games, and it's been less than 2 weeks.

Don't be a dumdum.

That is all IF Nintendo makes enough consoles and gets them out to retailers... I've seen a lot of scalping in Dallas recently. They try to sell for $400.

@JLPick Perceived scarcity is a selling point: you can't say for sure that availability would have increased sales simply because some people (myself included) wouldn't have pulled the trigger on a major purchase if they thought they could do it on their timetable.

Retail exclusives? Really? That's so backwards it's never going to happen, but I don't understand why you'd even want that. Did you mean like Limited Editions?

@NIN10DOXD Look, he wrote it literally and threw in calling me a fibber as well. He didn't write it as, as far as I know, I think or even something like it's practically sold out. He stated it as a fact when it's clearly not. He admitted as much later on.

@Mart1ndo Ya it is sad when you state something as fact when it clearly isn't and indirectly called me a liar. Only for you then to try and backpedal later.

Excellent. I think the only thing that can bring things down at this point is lack of stock. Hopefully Nintendo is taking the necessary steps to flood the market with new consoles.

@BinaryFragger It was failing until Pokemon XY saved it.

@Tarvaax Not really. Sales for the 3DS were just fine by the time Pokemon X & Y we're released. What saved the 3DS in my opinion was good marketing in the early months and a good stream of early hits like Ocarina of Time 3D, SuperMario3DLand, & Mario Kart 7. Though X & Y did give it a significant boost in sales.

@ThatNyteDaez 80,000 in Australia was announced for the opening weekend from memory - double that from the Wii U

@Spiders That's why my name is Fooligan. 😜However, I'm very well aware of the library on the Switch and love BOTW and bomberman. What I'm saying is there is not much to look forward to after that, and don't say Mario Kart because I can play that game already on the Wii U.

@Fooligan There's more exclusive content for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Switch compared to BotW, and that didn't stop almost everybody getting the Switch version.

@MadAdam81 Yeah, Nintendo did a great job of getting people hyped for the Switch and BOTW.

Hopefully they can keep it up throughout the Switchs life, keep it in stock so more people can buy it and keep making new games that blow people away with their creativity, scope and most importantly fun factor.

Strong start, but not surprising. Nintendo did learn from the Wii U era in terms of advertising and messaging. This is the best job they did hyping a product since the marketing for the original Wii starting at E3 2006 and going right up through launch.

@Mart1ndo
40 mil lifetime or 40 mil in a year? I think you're on the high end if you say in a year, low end if lifetime. I think it reaches at least 85 mil by 2021.

@ThatNyteDaez I think someone already replied, but as an Aussie I can tell you it could not have sold any better in its first week here in Australia. It outsold every Nintendo hardware in history on opening weekend and Zelda BoTW sold better than Wii Sports!

Come Christmas time it will sell like crazy especially when Mario comes out. There are posters plastered over the windows of every electronics store in the country its hot hardware, but aussies don't have a lot of spare change right now and Christmas is the next big spending time, so it might be slow now until Sept. oct. I am sure this thing will go mad once they release a bundle of some sort.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE You are clearly exaggerating everything that went down. It's just an internet comment over how many consoles sold.

@Gamer83
I meant lifetime. Definitely 85 million is a real possibility. I think Nintendo have a winner on their hands.

@Mart1ndo
It's a Nintendo handheld, so 85 mil should happen easily. But with the dock allowing it to be played like a home console, the fact that now you only need to buy one system to get all Nintendo games means it should sell extremely well. 85 mil lifetime might be low end too. It could reach original Wii numbers.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE
"he wrote it literally " lol. You haven't got a Switch and have no plans to get one in the near future so in your typical mean spirited and selfish manner you are hoping it is not selling and flops. Wii u failed and you are still going on about it.

Why don't you just get a ps3 or something and play all the games you want and are available for under 5euro each in CEX and stop going on like the world owes you something and playing the part of the hard done by Wii u owning gamer.

"and threw in calling me a fibber as well". Oh no.
You're not the spokesman for Ireland. BTW

That attach rate is insane for a non bundled game. It'll obviously go down but not much for a while.

@blackknight77
You betcha !
In my country Indonesia, right now the game shop included Zelda Breath of the Wild with 1 2 Switch for Nintendo Switch bundle regardless of their color. They sell with price between 6,500,000 - 6,800,000 IDR or US$ 480 - 490 with 2 Free games. No screen guard included.

@rjejr You misunderstand what I meant by "final figures", I didn't mean figures for total sales of the console, but the first week sales when all details have been received & finalised. As in final figures on the first week sales (pretty standard way of wording it, plus one of your articles is a 2017 article on first week sales).

But again, even then there is still my other point which is that simply matching numbers is still ridiculous removed from the context that Nintendo's brand was heavily damaged by the Wii U failure. Just based on numbers, Bay's Transformers: Age of Extinction is BETTER than Nolan's The Dark Night.

@Anti-Matter Uh? Better Joy-con? I don't see what's wrong with them at the moment. The left joycon de-syncronization is probably a software issue.

@Mart1ndo At least I tell the truth. I don't want the Switch to fail but I think it will. Nintendo are making some of the same mistakes again, as well as making new one's. You're living in LaLaLand if you think it'll sell 85 million. It'll be lucky to sell 30 million.

I just spent the last four hours trawling all over the place, went to around a dozen shops and they were all sold out. More worryingly, none of them knew when they would get more in. Am pretty frustrated.

@Fashegoy I fear they may not be taking the necessary steps quickly enough : (

@FX102A what is a niggle?

@Mart1ndo
Wow Bro. Where do you get crazy numbers like that from. Slow down mate

I can't wait for people to cry "Nintendoomed" when Switch sales drop due to low supply. I look forward to seeing these kind of posts in the upcoming Media Create report.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE
It all started as a bit of a joke, me saying Switch was sold out. I'm sorry it offended you.

I predicted 40 million it was someone else that suggested 85 million. I think anything is possible. There is a buzz around Switch and like i said a price cut in the future and more games and it will sell.

I was serious about the ps3 thing. I wouldn't really be happy just having a Wii u. Heck I've a ps4 and xb1 as well. But the ps3 is where the serious bargains are and it's a fantastic console.

@NintySnesMan
Lol

@Mart1ndo
Yeah 40 million is more like it,anything more is a bonus.. Yep I own different consoles that way I get the best of everything. I won't buy a switch until the time is right for me,probably late 2018. I still have many games to play on other machines.

@gatorboi352 I love your comments.i know they are critical, but I actually look forward to them. It almost makes me chipper and I'm a fanboy.

@NintySnesMan
I'm the same i love all the consoles from all the manufacturers. As for backlog. I could never buy a game again I've that many still to play.

Im guessing the other 11% are scalpers

Just 89%? What are the other 11% playing?

@carlos82 They are all playing 1-2 Switch

@darth2d2 I was trying to avoid getting into any discussion on the matter, just pointing out to people who may be wondering how those first sales match up to other consoles so they could decide for themselves what the numbers mean. I honestly don't think these numbers mean anything other than show how many they made and stored on shelves, you can't predict anything from early adopters. Switch sales were relatively the same as Wii U and PS4, couldn't predict how either of those was going to do based on first week sales either.

The first sentence in this article - "Nintendo's new console is off to a flying start". I dont' see how anybody can write an article starting off w/ "flying start" w/o putting the sales number into some kind of context. Would Switch sales have been off to a "flying start" at 1 million? 10 million? 100,000? Most people will read "flying start" as something that is good, but the article doesn't give it any reference at all, so I added the numbers for other consoles to give those people a reference point.

@BiasedSonyFan " Remember people were wondering if the Switch would even sell well during the spring?"

Well, spring doesn't start for another 7 days, so people are still wondering how well Switch will sell in the spring, the first weeks launch in winter I don't think was ever in doubt, not since Ntinedo said 2 million at launch, when we all knew Wii U sold 3 million, everybody knew Nintendo was low balling the launch amount to produce a sell out.

Oh sure, some people doubted a sell out at launch, but those were very few and those people probably didn't even take into account scalpers who would assure a sell out at launch b/c it's new technology and thats' what scalpers buy. The real question is still - How well does Switch sell in spring, particularity May, when the only game currently scheduled for release on Switch is Ultra SF 2? That question remains. There was never really any question about launch by people who gave it some thought.

@Spiders Nope...retail exclusives, which is something Wii, Gamecube and N64 had loads of from other parties...Super Monkey Ball, Viewtiful Joe, Billy Hatcher, Battletanks, Rocket Robot On Wheels, Goemon's Great Adventure, Mischief Makers, Munchables, Cursed Mountain...list goes on, but now you see what I was talking about...just more retail games on store shelves, that aren't just games that you can also find on PS4 and XBONE...games that a parent like myself would see for the system, that could help sales of the system go up. If I didn't look into the various consoles, and went to a store to purchase one (considering that all three are the same prices), I'd see more games for the others (exclusives included, because there is a massive number of exclusives for PS4, a small percentage for XBONE...and by the holiday, enough for Switch), and would pick up the other system instead. I know what you're saying though (I think)...the ones that only have one console, like a Switch only, would like to play the games that are available around the consoles, but for others that own one of the others and a Switch (don't have a Switch yet, but still thinking about it), we'd want more than just the nintendo-only titles. Guess I'd still love to see a new Monkey Ball, since the last one was on VITA (That version came after the 3DS version)...and I'd love to see some others make a comeback too. Other than that, the Wii U was hurt because most of the games were E-Shop Downloads, which you don't see what's on there, unless you buy the system itself...Wii U (the retail scene) looked pathetic, and nintendo themselves, didn't even help to keep the store shelves stocked (Pikmin 3, Zelda Wind Waker and some others disappeared for over a year, before the 'Selects' scene came into play).

@rjejr I kind of thought about the sales for March, which technically, wasn't that bad of a time period...summer vacations are going to be coming, kids get (for some reason) expensive gifts for Easter, and adults (like myself) get tax returns. Other than that, they could have done a little better during the holiday period, but it's hard to say, with Sony and Microsoft having more varieties...at least it somewhat gives nintendo a chance to catch up in the retail scene for the holidays.

@Matthew010 that's a lot of money to shake your hand up and down

@DanteSolablood "You misunderstand what I meant by "final figures""

Yes, you're right, silly me, I thought "final" in "final figures" meant "final", not "first week", what was I thinking? And I'm sure the first weeks sales are going to be millions, if not hundreds of millions, different than the first 3 days.

"simply matching numbers is still ridiculous removed from the context"

So, you are saying that looking at sales numbers my themselves in a vacuum gives it more context than comparing them to other sales figures of other gaming consoles? Now that's ridiculous. The context is implied, first week or 3 days numbers of a gaming console is comparable to another first 3 days or weeks sales of other gaming consoles. That's a lot more context than simply saying - "1.5 million is "off to a flying start". There is simply no context in this article at all, we are simply supposed to take the authors word for it that 1.5m = "flying start". I wasn't trying to get into a discussion w/ anyone or say whether or not the 1.5m was a good or bad number, simply adding in some relevant context.

Thanks for reminding me why I don't post on here very often any more. This is the place where if somebody sneezed and I said "Geshundeit" there would be a dozen comments trying to decide if I was being sincere or trying to promote a Nazi agenda for using the German form of God bless you. All I did was post some links to some sale numbers to let people decide for themselves if Switch was offto a flying start or not.

@JLPick "at least it somewhat gives nintendo a chance to catch up in the retail scene for the holidays."

There was a large debate on NL about Switch having a "Soft launch", and despite the technical definition of the term I'm still in the camp that this was "sort of" a soft launch. Not fully, not w/ Zelda and that Super bowl ad, and MK8D in April, but it still seems kind of light. Maybe it was a hard launch but a soft honeymoon period? Target promoted Switch 2 weeks in a row in it's ads, this week not so much as a Pokemon t-shirt, it's all back to PS4 and X1 again. And Mass Effect Andromeda will get top billing soon.

Holidays are the end game, E3 is the start of that. Gamefreak every year announces a big holiday game in Feb or March, still waiting this year for either Pokemon Stars or a Diamond and Pearl remaster. But we dont' knwo if their game will be on 3DS or Switch. MHXX releases on 3D Sin Japan thsi week or next, what will Capcom announce for Switch and when? And where's Pikmin 4? Nintendo has been mum on Pikmin 3DS, still no release date for that game. Will this holiday see SSB4 Complete on Switch alongside Mario for the holidays?

Launch was the launch, Switch begins in earnest, or it doesn't, at E3. Though Ill take a Nitneod Direct in early May after MK8D and ARMS. FIFA and Skyrim still needs dates as well.

@freaksloan
Neither proves to be helpful, but haters are a helluva lot more annoying.

@rjejr Don't be ridiculous, of course I wasn't saying that looking at figures in a vacuum gives sales figures more context than comparison, raw numbers can be misleading without appropriate context to those figures... anyone that's ever heard a politician spout their statistical nonsense or read a newspaper knows that much.

This is what I personally hate about commenting here... people making their own completely ill constructed straw-man arguments so they can dismiss their own BS point instead of actually considering someone elses point of view.

And yes, I specifically said "final figures of previous console launches"... not a console's final sales. How about looking up what context actually means instead of flinging faeces around in an attempt to look superior?

@darth2d2 it was at that price from the start here in Mexico

@carlos82 But you can also count balls and pull milk...for £38

I didn't buy a swtich... BECAUSE IT IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND (((((

@freaksloan Haters. Never good to be full of bitterness and hate, no matter the reason. That allows them to view people as "apologists" for enjoying something they hate. Since no one can be happy or content if they aren't... and since they never are it is a vicious cycle. Hopefully it was/is a lovely day where you are, go out and enjoy some sunshine. Leave the internet bickering with complete strangers for another day. Have a wonderful day!

@JLPick
I think get what you're saying - and great taste by the way - but I don't see how a game not being available on the eShop as well is anything but a boon. I guess if you're thinking that the indie parade is somehow stopping retails releases, I don't think that's the case, and more and more prominent indies are getting boxed copies like Isaac, Yooka, Rime, Shovel Knight (wii/3ds) etc.

@Fooligan Again, nothing YOU'RE looking forward to.

@Spiders You got me...more retail releases that showcase that the system has many titles. When the Wii U was in stores (I worked retail at the time), it was hard to show the system off to people...very little games to show them, and many thought it was either new or a flop...especially if they looked at years on the back of the cases...and it was hard to explain to many about downloads through the E-Shop...many look at the retail titles in boxes on the stores, which is kind-of-what killed the Wii U...especially if they looked over at Wii (thousands of titles to choose from), 3DS (many titles), DS (many titles), PS3 and PS4 (many titles) and even 360 and XBONE...Wii U just looked small, and even the local Game stores around me (Gamestop, Elite Games, Toys R Us and Best Buy...and even Walmart and target) had the Wii U titles and systems buried in Wii and other consoles...Toys R Us even stopped carrying anything for the Wii U altogether (except for Remotes and Nunchucks, because they still had Wii titles there). It was a shame, but that's why I hope the Switch has a heft amount of retail releases, to at least shine by the system (even if many aren't good)...in other words for my past statements...the more the merrier for many people.

@DanteSolablood "This is what I personally hate about commenting here..."

And this is why I mostly stopped commenting here, nobody seems capable of having a discussion w/o insulting the other person.

" instead of flinging your own faeces around in an attempt to look superior?"

@rjejr That wasn't an insult, it was an analogy of your actions, interesting that misunderstood a statement in a comment about you misunderstanding statements.

@DanteSolablood "That wasn't an insult,"

You're probably right, it probably wasn't, but when somebody has to use a word like "feces" I tend to take it as an insult. Feces. That word should only be used in a lab. I suppose it was more of a language issue than an insult on my part, but when someone uses language like that directed at me I take it as an insult.

@rjejr Well my apologies for that particular wording as it was meant more as an impact statement than a personal insult, though I will contractually have to point out that there may be a little irony in someone that brought up Nazi propaganda in a prior comment claiming insult over the technical name for poo.

In either case, none of this is really relevant to the discussion we had been having earlier about comparing "fully collated first week figures from previous launches to initial estimates of a newly launched console's first week figures."