@Bolt_Strike
Of course individual opinions may vary on each game, but sales speak objectively. Mario Kart World is absolutely not niche. Donkey Kong Bonanza is absolutely not niche. Pokemon Legends Z-A is absolutely not niche, and keep in mind, 50% of its sales were on NSW2 despite the install base being under 10m, while NSW1 sits at 154m.
Now. Obviously not every game is going to sell tens of millions of copies. But the bulk of Nintendo's library over each generation largely consists of "niche" titles. That doesnt mean that they dont matter simply because half the world isnt buying them. Any game that sells more than 1 million copies has pull and sway. Obviously they wont all be for you, but then you're just arguing your subjective tastes, which nobody can offer a rebuttal against. But if you're arguing whether they are releasing quality new experiences, that cannot be contested. Marginalizing those releases with shifted goal posts (not saying you specifically, but others in general) saying "well, sure those are new experiences but they don't meet this arbitrary sales criteria so they dont count" doesnt change the fact Nintendo is prioritizing new NSW2 experiences.
Not every game is going to sell 10+ million. There may only be a dozen games that sell that much over the course of a generation and they're not all going to release in the first six months. They are going to be spaced out over the next 8 years. The games that release between them.Are your "niche titles". You don't have to like those games and not everyone will, but on the flip side of that millions of people do.
Kirby Air Riders will sell multiple millions of copies over its lifespan. 3m+ easily. Metroif Prime 4 will sell millions of copies over its lifespan. Hopefully it'll surpass Dread but we'll see. Hyrule Warriors Age of Imprisonment will sell millions of copies. Yoshi will sell millions of copies. Mario Tennis Fever will sell millions of copies. Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave will sell millions of copies. Splatoon Raiders will sell millions of copies.
Those games may be niche compared to Mario Kart, Pokemon and Donkey Kong, but those are all 3-5 million sellers, with Mario Tennis and Splatoon Raiders potentially doing even more than that. Any game that sells 3-5 million on a platform, regardless of how it compares to mega blockbusters, is a game that has a significant audience and will satisfy millions of gamers.
Any way you slice it, a TON of exclusives are releasing on NSW2, and the sales of the system itself reflect the quality of the software lineup.
Psalms 22:16 (1,000 yrs before Christ)
They pierced My hands and feet
Isaiah 53:5 (700 yrs before Christ)
He was pierced for our transgressions
@rallydefault
Ya, Pokemon Legends Z-A is surprisingly good. Love the new battle system, and the city, despite its monotonous design and aesthetics, is fun to explore, particularly with the rooftops and hard to reach areas.
I think its a good game in spite of itself. It's not like, the absolute most fun game I've ever played, but it's definitely fun. I think Pokemon fans at large will be happy with it. It's certainly going to be a NSW2 sales juggernaut and will shift quite a few systems over the holidays.
Once Gen10 releases on a new engine though, assuming it doesnt have performance issues, I think Z-A will live in its shadow the rest of the generation, limiting its ultimate potential.
Man I'm so hyped for Metroid Prime 4, but Hyrule Warriors is going to be a perfect interim game until Dec. 4th. Finally getting a Tears of the Kingdom HW game in 60fps and minimum 1080p handheld and way more enemies on screen. It's like Age of Calamity but done right (that game rocks if you play on NSW2 or overclock a NSW1 to stabilize framerate, but most haven't played it properly like that). The crazy zonai moves are what I'm gonna be using.
Psalms 22:16 (1,000 yrs before Christ)
They pierced My hands and feet
Isaiah 53:5 (700 yrs before Christ)
He was pierced for our transgressions
@JaxonH Again looking things from a macroeconomic standpoint, the issue is whether or not those pockets of a few million sellers are really going to drive people to go out and get Switch 2s. Inevitably some people will, but enough to move the needle? Enough for Switch 2 sales to see healthy growth and for large swaths of individual fans to feel like they have enough to play and stop complaining about the lineup? That's the part I doubt. You need the megaton, 10+ million sellers for that. And yes, it needs to be NEW, flagship entries, not ports, remakes, and remasters. Time and time again sales for new games have outpaced sales of older games. The only older games that even have a chance of going against the grain there are the ones in super popular IPs like Mario and Pokemon, and even then a new Mario/Pokemon game on the same console will always outsell the old game. So to use examples on Switch 2, we can pretty confidently say that the new 3D Mario game for Switch 2 will outsell Galaxy 1+2 and the Gen 10 and Gen 11 Pokemon games will outsell Z-A, even if Galaxy 1+2 and Z-A end up still doing well and outselling new entries in some of the lower-selling IPs. There is a pretty solid and consistent trend saying that new games sell better than old games, no real debate here.
To further drive home my point, here's a list of currently announced and expected games (it's hard to predict an exact lineup so I'm winging it a bit here, but these are games that I think most of us are expecting on Switch 2), arranged roughly in the order I expect them to sell. Currently announced games are in bold.
A few of these might be a few spots off and there's definitely going to be surprising, but it's going to be tough to argue the list is going to look radically different from this.
Anyway, notice that massive gap at the top between announced games (between MKW and Z-A)? That's the problem here. I think you'll see far less complaints about the Switch 2's lineup when that gap starts to get filled in, those are the caliber of games that are going to move the needle here in a significant way.
Does anyone know if the digital FFVII Remake preorder works like normal preorders (i.e. money is taken a week before launch) or is it that the money is taken straight away considering it contains the Switch version of the original?
.
I pre ordered and they didn't give me the original version yet — I was hoping to play it first but it looks like we don't get the old game until the remake hits Switch 2.
@FishyS
7 days prior to release is when you get charged.
@Bolt_Strike
That may be true, but personally I crack a grin anytime I see someone complain about "the lineup" when we already have not 1, not 2, but 3 massive 10+ million seller blockbusters already released within the first 4 months, with not 1, not 2, but 3 additional exclusives releasing over the next 30 days, and that's not even counting the half dozen NSW2 Editions released giving the opportunity to play games like Zelda Breath of the Wild and Zelda Tears of the Kingdom in UHD 60fps. If it were like, 2 years into the generation and thats all we had, sure. But within the first 6 months? Lineup is banging for being less than half a year in.
Psalms 22:16 (1,000 yrs before Christ)
They pierced My hands and feet
Isaiah 53:5 (700 yrs before Christ)
He was pierced for our transgressions
@JaxonH "Banging"? Hardly. As @FishyS and I went through earlier, this is average at best. It'd be "banging" if we had 3 or 4 Top 10 selling exclusives in the first year. Which we did with the Switch 1 in 2017 but the Switch 2's 2025 lineup isn't quite on that level.
5 months into Switch 2 the new games we have are:
-Mario Kart World
-Welcome Tour
-Donkey Kong Bananza
-Drag X Drive
-Pokemon Legends Z-A NS2E (Cross-Gen Release)
-Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
-Kirby Air Riders
Not even counting the NS2Es and free updates for older games released, we've got 3 huge new games, 2 highly anticipated spinoffs, and 2 smaller titles that although not great, are still there.
5 months into Switch 1, the new games we had were:
-Breath of the Wild (Cross-Gen Release)
-1-2 Switch
-Snipperclips
-ARMS
-Splatoon 2
1-2 Switch is basically on par with Welcome Tour or Drag X Drive but is sold for much more. ARMS had a very narrow appeal. Snipperclips is neat but not a big hitters by any stretch of the imagination. The only big hitters were BOTW and Splatoon 2.
That's 2 big games by month 5 for Switch 1, whereas Switch 2 has 5. The people saying Switch 1's lineup was vastly superior to the Switch 2's are forgetting that Switch 1 released 3 months earlier than Switch 2 in their respective launch years.
"well it appears I am upside down. what ever will I do?"
@UpsideDownRowlet Comparing the amount of time since the console released is a pretty dishonest comparison that basically makes the Switch 1 have to win with one hand tied behind its back in an attempt to make the Switch 2 look better. Nintendo factors time of year into their release schedule decisions, so the fact that Switch 1 had 3 extra months in the year is irrelevant, they still decided on Mario Odyssey for October because they thought the holiday season was the best time to position the game, that wouldn't have changed if the Switch 1 had released in June and they would've pushed other games to 2018 if they needed to. The fact of the matter is that Odyssey is a far better exclusive than the likes of the Switch's 2025 holiday lineup and overall 2017 had an above-average lineup having BotW, MK8D, Splatoon 2, and Odyssey.
To be fair to Nintendo, beating Switch 1's 2nd year should be easy if you at any point had or cared about the Wii U.
2018 Switch was just ports, games that didn't understand why Splatoon's update model worked, DLC and then Smash Ultimate at the end of the year. It made it really easy to not buy a Switch until Smash came out tbh, even after its killer first year.
@Bolt_Strike You make a good point about the holiday scheduling, so sure, I'll count all the 2017 switch games and all the 2025 Switch 2 games. Also, since you counted Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, I'll throw in ports and enhanced versions of older games too. This brings the ratio to 9 for the Switch against 10 for the Switch 2. Mind you, this comparison is actually quite unfair to the Switch 2 as the Switch had an additional 3 months of time to accumulate games in contrast with the Switch 2. The figure of Switch 2 games would be even higher if I considered all the games which got free updates but not full releases, which I'm not. Even with the metric stacked against Switch 2, Switch still loses.
I'm not trying to be some sort of hyper Switch 2 advocate and say that the Switch 2 lineup demolishes the Switch 1 lineup. I just consider it blatantly inaccurate to call the Switch 2 lineup "average at best" while saying that the Switch lineup was "above average". Both consoles had excellent first year lineups.
"well it appears I am upside down. what ever will I do?"
It'd be "banging" if we had 3 or 4 Top 10 selling exclusives in the first year.
It's honestly kinda crazy that Switch 1 released 3 2017 games which stayed permanently in the top 5 selling switch games. A little of that is because they simply had more time to sell as evergreen titles (the two later releasing Pokemon games sold almost as much as Odyssey), but it's still impressive.
Given that 2025 only has Mario Kart as an essentially guaranteed permanent top 5, I agree with your above ordering that at least one Pokemon will probably end up in the top 5 in the Switch 2 generation. I do wonder about surprises though — Animal Crossing selling well on Switch was no surprise, but no one in 2017 would have predicted it at rank 2 or the insane sales numbers. Maybe we'll get another surprise and have a different franchise skyrocket.
I spent a good chunk of 2017/8 picking up old Wii U games on the cheap, in lieu of expensive Switch ports. It's not like the Switch 2 is a brand new experience in that regard.
@FishyS I'm not surprised those 3 games ended up being Top 10 sellers. They're some of Nintendo's biggest IPs. What's surprising is that we got those games in the same year, that's a feat we've never had since and IIRC has never happened before, the stars really aligned with the 2017 lineup.
Also my list does have a Pokemon in the Top 5. The two new generations in fact. I had MKW, 3D Mario, Animal Crossing, Pokemon Gen 10, and Pokemon Gen 11 as the Top 5.
Also my list does have a Pokemon in the Top 5. The two new generations in fact. I had MKW, 3D Mario, Animal Crossing, Pokemon Gen 10, and Pokemon Gen 11 as the Top 5.
Yeah, I was agreeing with you. It's a pretty reasonable ordering. I'm not sure if it will be precisely those 5, but it seems likely that at least 3 or 4 of those ended up in the top 5.
It's not necessarily a bad thing that Switch 2 is separating the biggest sellers out a bit rather than having so many the first year, but they'll have to have some major series in 2026 and 2027 to keep momentum.
6 months. 180 days. And the lineup is already as follows:
Mario Kart World
Donkey Kong Bonanza
Pokemon Legends Z-A
Hyrule Warriors Age of Imprisonment
Kirby Air Riders
Metroid Prime 4
Zelda BotW NSW2 Ed.
Zelda TotK NSW2 Ed.
Mario Party Jamboree NSW2 Ed.
Kirby Forgotten Land NSW2 Ed.
That's not a banging line up for the first 6 months to you? That's not even mentioning Welcome Tour or Drag x Drive. Dear goodness your expectations must be out of this solar system.
One can dislike every single game on that list and say they are not personally satisfied, while still acknowledging the objective fact that if you rank this lineup versus every other console ever released in the past 40 years, it would easily rank in the top 5, possibly even top 3. And acknowledge that those games do appeal to others. So ya, its objectively a banging lineup regardless of your personal taste.
The financial report also answered our question about upgrade packs:
"Packaged versions of Nintendo Switch 2 Edition software are included in Nintendo Switch 2 software sales units, and downloadable versions are included in Nintendo Switch software sales units. Sales of upgrade packs are not included in software sales units."
That's... odd. So they don't report the upgrade packs as predicted but for some reason they count e.g. Jamboree S2 edition as a Switch 1 game if you buy it digital.
@FishyS
That is weird. Could affect reported sales for Metroid Prime 4 split since I used vouchers to obtain the NSW1 version then bought the upgrade. Well... I guess that makes sense then. Kinda.
I'm more interested in the hardware sales. NSW2 already past 10.3 million units sold?!! That's insane.
And NSW1 crossed 154m mark at 154.01m. The NDS sits at 154.02m. Which means, given the sales are through Sept 30th, the NSW1 has certainly sold an additional 10,000 units in October. Meaning NSW1 is officially the best selling handheld of all time, the best selling Nintendo console of all time, and is on a collision course with the PS2 some time in 2027.
Psalms 22:16 (1,000 yrs before Christ)
They pierced My hands and feet
Isaiah 53:5 (700 yrs before Christ)
He was pierced for our transgressions
As far as franchises that could skyrocket in sales, I think the likeliest ones are IPs that we didn't see on Switch 1. Bananza may be a good candidate, it's a well-known IP, it's doing something new, and it's on the system early, so it has good evergreen potential. Star Fox could be another one, if they bring back Star Fox and make a new one more along the lines of Starlink or No Man's Sky, that could give it much higher sales potential and could end up the best selling game in the franchise.
I suspect the biggest shakeups in the sales hierarchy is going to be more about the games that we didn't even expect to happen at all than the games that we expect suddenly finding a larger audience. Pulling off the latter is very difficult, you'd pretty much need to reinvent the IP in some way while simultaneously retaining its core appeal and that's a difficult tightrope to walk. It's much easier to find a new audience with a new IP, spinoff, or subseries. To a lesser degree you could also do the same with dormant IPs because they have more opportunities for modernization having not had recent entries. But certainly the staples that we see regularly are going to be the toughest, it's harder to imagine what some of those could do that's ambitious and creative and innovative in a way that the previous entries couldn't, so likewise I struggle to envision them massively shooting up in sales.
The Switch 2 has been selling faster than Nintendo predicted. It's definitely on pace to make records.
Oh, interesting, 8.1 million bundles were sold. So 1.47 million people bought Mario Kart World separately and 2.26 million bought the console without a bundle.
Also worth noting that Welcome Tour and Drag x Drive haven't hit a million sales yet. However, more than a million Jamborees were sold this year so I am guessing quite a few upgrade packs were sold even though they don't report those.
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