Topic: When do you think Switch sales will over take Wii sales?

I just checked out how the Nintendo Switch is doing on the "List of Best Selling Games Consoles".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_consoles

So it is currently at 84.59 million units.

(I started checking this out when the Switch was released because I was hoping it would hit critical mass. This, having bought the Wii U. LOL. I was using units sold to decide whether to get the Switch. LOL. We did. And we are really happy with it. Of course, we were really happy with the Wii U as well.)

But, I was just thinking . . . the Wii sold 101.63 million. So the Switch is just a hop-skip-and-a-jump away from besting the Wii.

1) How long do you think it will take to get there?

and . . . the reason for my post . . .

2) Will you be a little sad that the Wii gets knocked down a peg when that happens?

I mean, Wii is probably my favorite Nintendo console, but I don't especially care. Games are more popular than ever, this console didn't rely so heavily on a casual market that would lose interest in it, makes sense to me.

I'm sure it will surpass it by next holiday season at the absolute latest.

Nintendo sold about 18 million Switches in the second half of 2020, so the same again would take them just over by Christmas. The OLED model might not be the super Switch that some were hoping for, but I'd reckon that it's good enough to keep the momentum up.

As for the Wii, I thought it was a great machine but the one the Switch really has its sights on is the DS. Where a typical household would only have the one console on the TV set, it's far more common to have several handhelds, so the potential market is that much greater for it.

@NintendoDad I know wii sales were massive but a lot of the games on it were really bad. I remember officiall nintendo magazine UK, in ever issue for 5 years some of the games were given 0 out 100% score . Which never really happened before. I have looked at most of the games on switch eshop and I would give them all good scores ( all of them ). A lot of them are a bargain for €1. So I really think it will out sell the Wii.👍

The Switch should blow past the Wii's lifetime sales shortly after Christmas.

Roughly 17m sold between now and January.

No sweat.

When people do these comparison they tend to forget the Switch is reaching those numbers in only 5 years not lifetime sales. So people need to stop using poor analytical numbers to boost their egos of by gone consoles that will not return.

That's not true, ONM never gave a game 0%. The Wii certainly had its fair share of bad games but so does the Switch, and every console for that matter.

I'm sure the Switch will outsell the Wii soon. As much as I love the Wii (probably more so than the Switch, but that's just due to nostalgia really) I'm fine with the Switch selling more. It's good to have a Nintendo console that's found mainstream success while still getting plenty of more 'hardcore' and niche games.

Perhaps in 2022, maybe early in the year. I wouldn’t be sad about it really, it’s something to be celebrated. Now if they overtook the PS2… I’d bake a Switch themed cake.

2022. The Switch is brilliant piece of kit, proving that portable gaming still has legs. I’ve got an OLED Vita and I can’t wait for an OLED switch. For portable gaming, Nintendo rules! Sony should take notes.

Well, they should definitely keep the sales rolling with the OLED model. 2022 is a reach but possible to overtake the Wii, in my opinion. I think it's gonna be 2023, though.

And I won't be sad at all. I have zero love for the Wii lol

Switch is probably my second-favorite Nintendo console of all time. Nothing will beat the SNES and the classics that just poured out of that machine. Truly the golden age of gaming.

I think history will say the SNES was historical in gaming coming back as well. If not for Nintendo NES...SNES in the eighties. We would not be were gaming consoles right now. That's what those NintenDoomed fandom forgot in the hatin of the Switch and Nintendo have selective memory losses in.

@Dogorilla I concur; I have 3 years worth of ONM from during the Wii/Wii U era and no game got 0%. There was a lot of shovelware on Wii but ONM rarely gave any print space to those sorts of games.

There seems to be a lot of history rewriting going on about the Wii only having terrible games but that’s simply not true. Some of the best games on the system were as good as the best games on other Nintendo systems. I’ll admit I wasn’t the biggest fan of motion controls, but when implemented well they were great. It just seems that the dislike of motion controls has somehow translated to the games themselves. The Wii was probably the most fun I had as a Nintendo fan.

Lots of interesting replies.

When I saw how close the Switch was to the Wii, my Wii suddenly looked a bit older. LOL.

@kkslider5552000 — Yes. Wii -> casual market. The way some writers point out how Nintendo went after the casual market and got the players that the other consoles were missing, I thought was ingenious of Nintendo. The Switch, cover both console and portable with one unit, and concentrated effort . . . again, genius!

@Matt_Barber — Good point about the Switch -> DS. Multiple units per household. I would agree. We only had 1 Gamecube, 1 Wii and 1 Wii U. Currently only 1 Switch, but this is the 1st "console" that I thought of having more than 1 in the house.

@Ninfan — +1. Yes. Some of the games felt like complete shovelware. LOL. But there were same great classics there. And for me, that was when my youngest got into gaming so we finished a lot of games together, like Skylanders, Disney Universe, Kirby's Epic Yarn. 'had lots of fun with Wii Play, Wii Party and Mario Party 9. And I am still hacking away at Super Mario Galaxy. For me, I guess, coming from the Gamecube, the Wii seemed like it was getting showered in games. LOL.

@Magician — +1. I get that sense.

@SwitchForce — +1. RE: analytical numbers. I never really looked at these numbers. I've been getting Nintendo consoles because Nintendo makes the type of games that I enjoy. But . . . after having gone through owning the Wii U, and wondering where all the games were, that is when I started reading about units sold. And it got me thinking that, if more units are sold, more developers will want to develop for it. So that is why I was looking at units sold for the Switch before pulling the trigger on getting one.

RE: SNES. I never had the SNES. I was in college then. No money. LOL. What gaming I did was on arcade machines at near school, or on my computer that I used to type my essays. LOL. But I agree, SNES is classic! I am enjoying the SNES games on our Switch.

@Dogorilla — +1. Yeah. For me getting wistful for the Wii might be a lot of nostalgia as our family played a lot of games on the Wii. And it is the console that my youngest was able to hold her own against the rest of us. LOL.

@TheJGG — +1. I think a Switch themed cake for the occasion would be perfect! Send me a virtual byte!

@PSVR_lover — +1. Brilliant. The biggy is multiple-player on a portable device! And being able to pick-up where you left off whether on your TV or portable. LOL.

@rallydefault — +1 Rolling with the OLED. What happens if a "Pro version" lands?

@Gamecuber — RE: Wii great games. +1. I still have a bunch of games that I would go back and play now on the Wii. Super Mario Galaxy (which I still haven't finished. LOL.), Skylanders, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Mario Party 9, Wii Party, The Lego Games, Twilight Princess. And the fact that I was able to play my Gamecube games on it (SuperSmash, MarioKart DD, Super Mario Sunshine, Pikmin 2). And . . . on the Wii Gnomz! (A great game which I haven't seen on any other console.) The last game we played as a family was Wii Party, because my kids wanted to play the hide-the-remote game. LOL. As silly as that game is, it can be very challenging and funny as where my kids find to hide the remotes is very ingenious! LOL.

RE: Motion controls. Yes. Some games it was great, like Wii Sports or Skyward Sword. But some games I didn't like it, like Mario Kart.

+1

Thanks for the replies everyone!

I was just really curious as what everyone was thinking of RE: Switch overtaking the Wii.

I guess for me, a lot of nostalgia because that is the system that my youngest was able to really give us a go while we played as a family. And a lot of family games available.

But, yes. The Switch covers all of this and much more.

For me, I'm just so glad that the Nintendo Switch has reached critical mass and there are so many games available for it! Much more than the Wii U. (We have the Wii U. Some great games. But slim pickings.)

If the Switch's FY2021 is in the same ballpark as their 2020 was, they will be very close in sales put up by the original Playstation and the Wii. Could they fall short this year? Maybe, but I doubt it. Even if they do, they're still right there.

Just looking at the numbers and knowing we're "in the middle" of the Switch's lifecycle, even if its the end of the middle, it's very apparent that it will be the #3 selling console of all time within the next couple of years.

The much more interesting question is whether or not it can pass the 3DS and PS2.

It's just hilarious people try to compare what the lifespan sales are of Wii to justify that the Switch sales are over or dying off. The Switch is their sole Console and still growing but just reading naysayers you would think Switch is at the end of it's lifespan. How did one know the Switch middle lifespan just looking at number when the Switch production hasn't ended or stopped? This is just ludicrious to think someone can forecast this is amazing. I think people need to stop thinking they think for Nintendo. The nostalgia for the older consoles there but that's it for the old console-you can't bring something back no longer in production. It's not critical mass yet if it was then you see people playing Switch and walking or biking or driving. So Critical mass and in the middle is all just hyperbole rants as neither is true true first part the second part hasn't nor been define in the middle yet.

The Switch is extremely close. It will outsell the Wii either by the end of the year or by March 2022 when BOTW sequel comes out. It might even outsell the Game Boy and Game Boy Color but will be a far shy from the DS which was Nintendo's best selling platform.

The Switch is doing insanely great as is.

Think the Switch sales date from end of March so will be nearer 90 by now I guess. Think it will pass Wii at Christmas.

Personally (and this may be unpopular) I thought the Wii was overrated so not sad to see it surpassed.

You would expect sales to start slowing down next year, after all it wil be 5 years old but will definitely surpass the Gameboy (not sure when).

@bpapa2020 — I agree it is just the middle of its life cycle. My family and I are just getting started with the Switch. LOL. Yes. Interesting to see how it ends up against 3DS and PS2.

@SwitchForce — RE: Looking at sales. Having owned the Wii U . . . it's that saying. Once bitten. Twice shy. I know that I just couldn't find a lot of games for the Wii U for us to play, so a lot of the time we went back to our Wii and Gamecube. There were some great games, but after a while you want to play something different. Before I bought the Switch, I was looking at the sales numbers to wait until the Switch was near or passed the Wii U and number of sold . . . ie, userbase. I figure . . . the bigger the userbase, the more developers will want to write games for it. For me, critical mass means large enough userbase that lots of developers deem it necessary to port / write games for that platform. LOL.

@pwwnd123 — +1. Yes. If it hasn't reached that number yet, BOTW2 will push it over for sure. LOL. But yes, Switch is doing well.

@Rubashov — +1 RE: not sad for the Wii. It definitely was aimed at a different crowd. It will be interesting to see if there is a Switch Pro and what it will end up being.

Just wait till the holiday season comes around.

It's worth remembering that 5 years after launch the Wii launch was Nov 2011, the equivalent for Swith will be March next year. The Wii was at ~93mill units at the end of 2011 i.e. five years plus the additional holiday sales in 2011 which included Skyward Swords. The Switch is at ~91mill units BEFORE it reaches 5 years, technically minus TWO holiday seasons worth of sales compared to the Wii at the end of 2011

Also worth noting that by this stage in the Wii's life the 3DS had already launched and the Wii U had already been anounced. So from here on sales for the Wii were really slowing down. Meanwhile on the Switch there is no obvious sign of a successor, the rumour mill (despite protests on this forum) seems to line up with a new product in the same line instead. And even if there is a successor it's very unlikely it'll be next year

Basically, while the question of when the Switch will overtake the Wii is interesting? It's a foregone conclusion, it's already surpassed it in all but that arbitrary number. The better question would be do we think the Switch can overtake DS....
https://www.vgchartz.com/article/450768/switch-vs-ds-sales-co...