Nintendo Switch Continues to Dominate in Japan

Seems everything had a great run last week!

Well done Switch!

Those Sumikko Gurashi figures are insane considering the target audience for the game and that it's only been on the market for a week or two.

I don't usually make generalizing rich people statements because I feel that people often discount the work many high earners do...but I really feel like everyone in Nintendo's upper brass is sitting on a pile of money just laughing right now. High fives all around.

Yeah, whatever all that means is that it'll take a lil longer for Nintendo to go 3rd party.

It's all going according to plan, nothing to see here! xD

My Lordie, surely Okami HD would have sold more units on Switch.

Crikey...

219k more than PS4. This is a insane result. We'll see more and more japanese games on Switch, which could not make me happier.

Dominated by nintendo 1st party games, must be a worldwide virus, ppl buying Ninty hardware for Ninty games and sod 3rd party, glad i don't have this virus

Wow.......that's a spicy meatball!

One of those Switch... es? Switchs? Switchses? ...was MINE! Thanks, wife-lady!

Only in Japan could Wii U outsell the XBox One X!

Poor Xenoblade 2, not even on the top 20 in Japan. Still, great news like always to see high Switch sales!

Are Japanese gamers really buying 1-2 Switch more than Xenoblade 2?

@sillygostly Yep. Capcom sure are kicking themselves right now. Thankfully they seem to have smartened up in regards to future releases.

@TheSpeedyMouse
I know what ya mean, no xeno but 12switch makes an appearance, don't seem right, plus some of the other garbage in the charts

@TheSpeedyMouse Yeah that's too bad. Enjoyed every bit of it. Deserves more attention...

Will be interesting to see the drop off after the holidays, what the numbers go down to. But Nintendo closed out a comeback year on an extremely high note. Looking forward to the next direct and learning more about its 2018 plans.

Wow. Xenoblade 2 has flaws but deserves more love...

Keep it up Nintendo, keep the hype alive, so, don't get cocky or lazy

and the xbox one x is selling
i wonder who those 32 people are must be the people who work at microsoft or know someone or they just put a number down now

LOL, Poor Xbox One X...
Xbox One X is still a Big Joke in Japan. 🤡
Ganbatte, Switch !
More Switch shipped !

No surprise. Both Switch sales and Xbox sales

Impressive numbers.

At this point in its lifecycle, 3DS had already sold over 4 million systems in Japan. The gap between NS and 3DS is growing bigger every week.

Nice on the hardware sales. Japan seems to be about the same games, though. Arms still isn't at 300,000 despite 3+ million Switch consoles in Japan. Xenoblade 2 is a big JRPG and couldn't crack 15,000 sales during the holidays. The evergreens are leading the way much more so in Japan. This puts a lot of pressure on Nintendo to get out Animal Crossing and Pokemon in the near future.

@sillygostly Okami was never a huge success. But yes, i agree that it would have sold better on Switch

@Mahe At this point in its lifecycle, the 3ds already received a 10.000 yen pricecut. In other words, your comparison doesn't make any sense.

OT: Great software sales, but was expecting better hardware sales for the Switch. It still sold very well, though.

Wow! The top five games all hitting 100k+, massive gains for Nintendo titles all round, and over a quarter of a MILLION Nintendo Switch sold in one week?! I'll say it again... wow

All them crispy notes in the bank. I hope we get rewarded with more mynintendo Wii u and 3ds discounts

@Nintendofan83 ARMS is probably at 300k, physical, right this very second. It was only a couple of thousand from that particular milestone when the charts were finalised. It would certainly be well over it when digital sales are taken in to account.

@sillygostly
Not coming to the Switch seems like the dumbest thing.

Almost 270 thousand, in Japan alone, in just one week. That is a mind blowing number. Keep in mind, despite the holidays, this is Japan, Christmas is certainly a thing in Japan, but it's not the monster holiday it is in the west. Point being that the Switch is in stock and people are buying it in droves!

Can't wait to hear how the system is doing overall. I'd say it's a sure thing it will surpass the Wii U lifetime sales within only a year.

Xenoblade crashed and burned I guess. Was already gone from the UK chart last week. It really should be up there.

Got Okami on PC - one last time. This way I will own it forever, finally!

Sooo, I guess NL skipping NPD US chart this month after the PS4 outsold the Switch in the US. Really should not cherry pick charts. Just give the entire picture.

@Mahe There is just no satisfying some people.

At this point I don't really see the trend fading. This is just how it will be now. The Switch is a success its not going to suddenly die in 2018. Pokemon is gonna come to it for goodness sake. Numbers will get smaller as always happens but we still high in relation to PS4. By the time the numbers dwindle im sure Nintendo will release a new model with 1080p screen and VR capability or something. The Switch seems to have a blue ocean ahead of it in regards to where to take it next. Something XBox and Sony are currently struggling with.

@Guddy I love it a great deal, but I understand why it's not a big seller. It's an extremely niche game targeting a very specific audience. That is, fans of long story driven games, with at least tolerance of anime-like style, complex battle systems, a wide range of micro management, and predominately male players on top of that. It's not a game like BotW or Mario Odyssey that appeals to almost anyone who likes video games.

@Mahe go troll somewhere else, the difference is 400k with the switch selling at double the price. I understand your tears though. When your favourite console can't even beat a handheld from 2011 it might be time to rethink your choices

@Agramonte if by crash and burn you mean it sold more than all previous Xenoblade games, you're right. NL is not hiding anything,that information is out there for anyone to find in about a thousand websites. Plus, NPD doesn't report actual numbers which means that a console might have sold ten more or a million more in order to get first place. At least with Japanese charts you get actual sales, not just rank numbers on a list

Fair play to XBONE for actually being sold in Japan. I do kind of feel that it's Gaijin buying it though...

@Agramonte they never skipped it during the Wii U era, they don't cherry pick what charts to cover and you know it, wise up.

Xenoblade is such a lush game! Where did it go!?!

@ThomasBW84, according to the article both ARMS and Pokken have sold 297491...?

We need Animal Crossing, Pokemon, YoKai Watch and Style Savvy on the Switch for full domination!

In all seriousness, I love seeing the Switch succeeding. I don't need it to outsell the PS2, Wii or DS. It just needs to be a viable platform. And boy is it.

@MartyFlanMJFan typo. I belive this is ARMS figure. Pokken is lower by around 100k

Ha Capcom made the mistake of releasing Okami HD on PS4 and not Switch, now they just lost those 200K Switch consumers. As much as I don't want to beat down on Capcom again since they are trying to redeem themselves, the PS4 is old news now, time for them to move on to Switch or risk losing thousands of consumers.

It's good to see One Piece make the top 10. Has anyone heard anything about it coming to the west? Or does anyone know if Pirate Warriors 3 Deluxe has English captions? I'd enjoy playing this game. My wife's favorite anime is One Piece, she got me to start watching it with her (she's already seen most) at the beginning of this year, and we're through 120 episodes now, so this game looks like it would play along with with what we've already seen. I've tried googling it, but couldn't find the answers. Thought someone on here might know.

@Antray1984
Didn't realise Sony was struggling, hmm over 70 million ps4 units sold says differently

lol i'm happy for the ps3.

@gortsi none of that mattered in september or October when it got plastered on the front page.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/11/switch_and_nintendo_systems_dominated_us_hardware_sales_in_october

Just be consistent - you can get the Japanese charts all over the internet also - that is irrelevant. The same as the UK chart - it is random when they report on it. The Japanese chart we get the hour it gets released every week with zero fail. We all Japanese here?

Love live Nintendo! Glad to see them doing so well. If only gamers here in the UK could see the greatness that is Nintendo.

@MsgBoardGamer
Why are you waffling on about 3ds to me when i haven't even mentioned it,
Nothing in your comment is anything to do with the comment I made
Stop posting crap

@WhistleFish yeah man, the tunnel vision in here is crazy. I do not understand why cherry pick the charts from one country to another.

http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2017/12/november_2017_npd_ps4_dominates_hardware_sales_with_best_ever_month_call_of_duty_is_king

They both doing great (PS4/Switch). Having both is amazing

@Juma009 Fortunately Monolith Soft made the Xenoblade series with western audience in mind which is why it doesn't attract the Japanese audience that much.

@WhistleFish 70 million sold and some say it's struggling. A massive credit to Sony I say

Even 3ds is outselling the PS4...now the main problem is to convince customers to invest on 3d party software on Switch.

@Nintendofan83 Arms is probably well over 300k sales in Japan when counting downloads. That number is good for Japan and makes a sequel very likely.

@Agramonte
Yep, i have multiple hardware, even the vita
My switch is OK but nothing special, same with my other hardware
I like some games on them and some I don't but certain ppl have their heads firmly planted up nintendo's backside, saying that, I love reading their greasy suck suck I love you Nintendo comments, there so bad and cringy that they make me smile. Coming here is like a soap opera, I need my fix each day, especially after a hard days work, I always need a laugh to wind me down, and don't get me started on the port beggars.
Tunnel vision hmm indeed
Tbh i don't care one bit about charts, makes me laugh though, yep these charts look impressive and they are for switch but look at this week's UK charts that just released and there is only 1 switch game in top 10, it was mario but even Mr Bandicoot placed higher than him, but fanboys will spin it somehow because like you said Tunnel Vision

Switch sales are good, but could be a lot better if more stock was present. Like 300,000+.

BTW, Switch software sales (Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2, Mario Kart 8, Zelda BOTW, etc) are amazing.

Also, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 on Switch is just 15,000 or so copies away from outselling the PS4 version. Impressive for such a late port.

@MsgBoardGamer
The Switch is very much still supply constrained in Japan. Things have improved since the summer as there aren't any lotteries, but Nintendo is selling everything they ship. Sales comparisons to previous hardware platforms is meaningless at this point.

@WhistleFish You make that sound like it's exclusive to Nintendo. Fanboys of any console will have their heads up said manufacturer's backside, it's what fanboys do. And they all say very similar things regarding their own console. And there are port beggers on all systems.

@Agramonte I mean, you'd have to address your complaints to the editors I guess but in the meantime no, we're not all Japanese, or British,or Americans so I don't see why some people complain.

@FragRed
Very true mate,
I would also say the same thing on Sony sites etc but am on a Nintendo one so that's irrelevant, but yeah fanboys are the best for a good laugh whichever hardware they own, it ain't exclusive

@Agramonte What NPD chart are you talking about? Does it have sale numbers?

@WhistleFish You laugh because the Switch has been selling very well globally and in Japan, and you think that fans shouldn't be happy because it doesn't sell well in some countries? I think your reason for laughing is very strange.

@WhistleFish There is a reason why I avoid Digital Foundry, those bring out the absolute worse... or IGN as they do love to create the wars with some articles.

@FragRed Yes, it is insane on PS only boards also. They all the same.

Regardless NintendoLife gives reviews/news on tons of Switch games most other sites skip on. They just sometimes a bit selective on other stuff. It is what it is.

@NinNin

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/11/switch_and_nintendo_systems_dominated_us_hardware_sales_in_october

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/10/nintendo_of_america_boasts_of_major_sales_success_in_septembers_npd_results

@WhistleFish @FragRed You made it sound like begging for ports is a bad thing. It's very normal to want to play games on your consoles. I think you're weird if you buy consoles and don't want to play games on them.

Port Okami HD to Switch, Capcom!

@Agramonte - Not that I can speak for NLife, but NPD isn't officially released, most of what you see is rumors or leaks and of the articles I've seen, NLife usually does a report when Nintendo releases an official statement pertaining to the NPD results.

Now NLife obviously reports on rumors and leaks about hardware and software so.......maybe a moot point but regardless I think they are pretty fair with their coverage considering it is a fan site

@NinNin
That's why we have multiple hardware
So port begging ain't a problem for us
Do you even know what your saying or do you even read comments correctly
We laugh at fanboys for many reasons, sales figures for different countries and how it is spinned when things are good or bad is just one aspect of it
My comment earlier says I don't care for charts, it's the comments I like,

@Gerbwmu No its not rumors. NPD US numbers is paid usage but anyone can write an article about the findings if they have the Data. Financial sites report on them every month. You just can not use actual numbers or make charts.

MyNintendonews reports on them consistently

https://mynintendonews.com/?s=NPD

Again, I was just pointing it out as an observation - but perhaps that is it - they only do the US if nintendo releases a press release. NL does it with the UK chart also. I just think it makes more sense to be consistent with the UK and US like Japan.

I come to NL because they review Switch versions of smaller games other sites do not care to do - they are great for that.

@JamesR thanks!

@WhistleFish I meant struggling as in where they take their products next. Seems just upping the gfx to 4k isn't attracting people. I feel Nintendo has more growth to grab in their particular market that's all.

@WhistleFish Some people don't have multiple consoles. Even one has multiple consoles, I don't see what's wrong with wanting options. If you have a PS4 and a Switch, wouldn't it be nice if games you want to play were available on both platforms, so you could choose which version to buy or buy both versions if you want? I don't understand why you think begging/requesting for ports is a bad thing. I don't see how it will negatively affect you or other people when some people want some games to come to the Xbox One, PS4, Switch, or PC. Regarding the sales, it is no secret that the Switch has been selling very well globally, so I don't know what you mean by the spin. Of course, I'm quite sure that the Switch or any console doesn't sell well in some countries, but it would be cherry-picking to select a country that it doesn't sell well and ignore the global sales.

@Antray1984
Sony just have to keep doing what they do with power & exclusives, there is always a market for it
Nintendo should never enter the market at the level of Sony, Ninty have their own thing and they should just carry on as they are
Microsoft will do OK with USA and UK markets but will that be enough, the future ain't as bright for them as Sony & Ninty who will dominate their respective paths, it's a car crash for anyone going up against them, 2 companies with 2 separate paths that fill the gaming world with goodies & some great exclusives, best to own both really

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Not to be THAT GUY, but... I think it might be time to change your avatar pic...

@Ryu_Niiyama It's not that high earners/rollers don't work hard, just that their earnings are all too often disproportionately higher than they should get compared to everyone else. It's impossible for a single person, even a CEO, to be able to work 100's of times harder than their lowest paid workers, corresponding with earning 100's of times more in big businesses like Nintendo.

Always interesting to see that despite circumstances people may have where they get the short end of the stick in life, they still see no problem with perverse economic inequality...

@Agramonte To be fair, the importance of NPD results ain't what they used to be, since digital sales aren't tracked. Still makes one wonder about the timing for US console sales numbers being released- NS is doing very well, but not absolutely killing it outside Japan like many here thought it would for the holidays.

I think there is some bias for that which is longstanding. For example, many people thought Nintendo crushed Sega back in the day, but the Genesis actually outsold the SNES during the holiday season from 1991-1994. Yes, even during the year of Mega Man X, Super Metroid, Super Punch-Out, and Donkey Kong Country, the Genesis still sold more during the holiday season in the US. Just like the PS4 outsold the NS during the holiday season in the US, despite it being the year of BotW and SMO.

All the results here were to be expected. No domination between the giants, just trading blows.

@Agramonte I see. AFAIK, NintendoLife doesn't usually report NPD results. I think it's as @Gerbwmu said that NintendoLife reports NPD results when Nintendo has statements on them. So in this case, I don't think NintendoLife cherry-picks NPD results.

@NinNin
It's not about the sales, it's some of the ridiculous comments that turn into spats that I find amusing, I couldn't careless about sales been good or bad, neither should you, it's all about the games, which leads me onto the port begging

OK, you can wish and hope for all the games to come to your chosen hardware but it don't change anything, if it comes then fine but if it don't then fine, buy other hardware or just appreciate what you have or already know what's coming, port begging ain't gonna bring the games you want, so it's a pointless discussion
It's how some ppl go about port begging, the things they say that amuse me, many get infuriated and its funny, did you read the article about secret of Mana not coming to switch, it was a classic, there are many articles like this. I ain't talking about ppl that just say I would like COD on switch, that's normal, it's the ones that turn into gaming beasts that puff smoke out of their nostrils and fire out of their mouths

@Agramonte - I didn't state that thought very well either, my point was it is data you pay for, because they don't pay for it, they don't want to report on the rumors before hand or the leaks or reports of others.

Yes great at reviews for every Nintendo system.......although the amount of Switch games seems to have them struggling to keep up as if late

@NewAdvent

"only have Yoshi and Kirby to look forward to in 2018"

That's not even remotely true.

@PlywoodStick LOL are you making a sideways jab at my living situation? If so that is kinda skeevy and not needed.

I also made a generalizing statement about how their work is often, not always, often overlooked. Meaning that not everyone does it but more than enough for me to make that part of my qualifying statement. So your "explanation" was also not needed. Also worth is more than how hard they work, it is skill set, education, role (as in I don't want the peon running the board meeting). Not saying that the pay is entirely fair (it isn't) but I don't expect there to be some sort of ratio of pay to amount worked in comparison to another employee. Either way beyond my pay grade to deal with.

EDIT:typos yay!

@NewAdvent I believe many Switch owners who don't have a Wii U want to play Bayonetta 2.

Good news about these results: the NSW has a bright future ahead of it.

Potential bad news: Nintendo 1st party software is getting almost all the sales, leaving naught but scraps for the third parties. Case in point, the supposed 3rd party killer app Xenoblade 2 doesn't even scratch the top 20, while the lowly 1-2-Switch stays in, and at above #20 no less.

You're not setting yourself up for a healthy future ecosystem with 3rd parties when even the 1st party junk title is getting more attention than any 3rd party title. High 1st party sales are to be expected on a Nintendo platform, but these numbers only further confirm the stigma that 3rd parties can't even sell great titles with chart busting numbers unless they're something like Square-Enix with Dragon Quest or Capcom with Monster Hunter.

There's no denying it's been a banner year for Nintendo, whatever the sales numbers are, wherever that may be. /shrug

@NinNin /raises hand

Fantastic results. I think it's fair to say that worldwide sell-through numbers are now well past 11 million (they were past 10 million as of December 10th). Shipped numbers as of the end of this month should be very close to Wii U's LTD numbers.

Wow Dragon Ball sold almost another 16k!

@Ryu_Niiyama Not just you specifically, but rather millions of Americans who are not in good living situations, and do have the power to affect public decisions which affects quality of life in society, but think they don't. Case in point, statements like "that's above my pay grade to decide." The best way to consolidate power is to make others think they have none, and no right to question anything. The worth of a person is not equivalent to the value of their fortunes.

@PlywoodStick Xenoblade 2 is a first party game

@Gerbwmu ok, gotcha. Yeah not being able to keep up with all the games Is a good problem to have

Cant wait for the BattleChasers and Hollow knight reviews.

@PlywoodStick Pokken Tournament DX sells well. It's a third-party game.

@NinNin yeah, That seems to be the rule. They only report US numbers if the source is Nintendo. That is a valid requirement if they choose It. MyNintendoLife also uses financial sites so they can do it every month.

You basically guaranteed never to get the US chart here if Nintendo gets outsold like in November. There would be no reason for Nintendo to do a press release.

Yeesh, Capcom didn't learn with Okami launching on PS2 VS Wii, and I'll be danged if they didn't learn it on PS4 VS Switch.

Been years since a console has sold this good in Japan. And here's why it matters: A large portion of the video games made today originate in Japan and target the Japanese audience. By absolutely destroying the competition there, they will ensure strong Japanese 3rd party support. Support which will find its way to the west. And if you think it doesn't matter then I present to you the Vita. Simply achieving modest Japanese sales (because it never did that well in Japan- 5 million sold in 6 years, and Switch is already over 3m) kept it alive these past few years. Granted it's been hanging on by a thread, but alive nonetheless. With such incredible success in Japan, it ensures we see strong lineups of JP games for years to come.

@PlywoodStick
Xenoblade 2 is 1st party. Monolith Soft is a Nintendo-owned studio.

But your point stands. I don't see Atlier, Lydie & Suelle (NSW) anywhere on the charts. I see the PS4 version charted with about 20,000 units but I don't see the Switch version. But Dragonball Xenoverse 2 is doing very well. About to hit 100,000 sold physically just in Japan alone.

We need games like Atelier to sell well. KT Warriors games have done very poorly as well.

@PlywoodStick
Kinda hard for 3rd party publishers to pull off big sales on Switch when there are hardly any big 3rd party retail games on Switch.

The biggest retail 3rd party Switch game thus far is Monster Hunter XX, a HD port of a 3DS game (which itself was an enhanced version of a 2015 game) that released in the summer and saw most of its sales then.

An evergreen game like Minecraft is likely selling very well as more kids get Switches for Christmas, but it is currently a digital-only release, and thus its sales are not tracked by Media Create.

DB Xenoverse 2 is the one notable Switch 3rd party release of H2 2017 as it will soon become the 2nd best-selling retail 3rd party Switch game in Japan and is close to reaching the sales of the original PS4 version.

@PlywoodStick The only reason why the SNES beat the Genesis in the US was because Sega burned their customers with the 32X, then Sega of Japan had the brilliant idea of cutting support for all non-Saturn systems in 1995-1996, which meant support for the Master System, Genesis, and Game Gear were all scaled back.

Which means Sega ended up handing Nintendo the 16-bit market on a silver platter which helped sink Sega given the 16-bit market remained very strong until 1997.

But if anyone doubts the popularity of the Genesis, here's another fun fact. In 1998, Majesco was given the rights to bring the Genesis and select games back to the market and sell them. At the same time, Nintendo was putting out a new SNES model and selling the SNES as a cheap legacy system.

So in 1998 and 1999, the 16-Bit systems fought one final battle. What was the result? The Genesis beat the SNES in sales.

Sega might have won the entire 16-bit war had Sega of Japan not nuked the Genesis in the West. Sega dominated Europe, and was strong in NA. The only market that the Genesis struggled in was Japan.

@JaxonH @IceClimbers You're both right, I got that part wrong/didn't word it well. What I meant there is that XB2 isn't made by an internal studio at Nintendo, since Monolith Soft is just financially supported by Nintendo. Although, like @NinNin said, Pokken Tourny DX is 3rd party, and only partially invested in through The Pokemon Company by Nintendo. I guess that just makes it an even worse situation for XB2 than normal. Even for a great game with the weight of Nintendo behind it, if it doesn't have the recognition level of a series like Pokemon, it doesn't necessarily sell as well as it should.

LIES !! SONY ALWAYS WIN !!

@Ryu_Niiyama I apologize for what I've said, it was uncalled for and incredibly insensitive. I didn't mean to go off on you, I just felt angry that good people can work hard and not get their due, even winding up in bad situations, while others get way more than they're really owed and never need to worry about such hardships.

This Nintendo domination is almost mind boggling. Miraculous.

@PlywoodStick It's cool. I get the frustration, but keep moving forward is my motto (well that and extend positive Ki).

@NewAdvent
"Think how disappointed those new Switch owners will be when they realise they only have Yoshi and Kirby to look forward to in 2018."

Obviously, this statement is not even remotely true, but I think it's also representative of how much we underestimate Yoshi and especially Kirby.

Kirby Triple Deluxe and Kirby Planet Robobot sold over 750,000 and 550,000 copies respectively in Japan alone. Barring a critical disaster, Kirby Star Allies should comfortably outsell both Arms and 1-2 Switch in Japan. Heck, Kirby Battle Royale has just crossed 110,000 copies sold in just 3 weeks despite being a less-than-stellar spinoff on an aging handheld.

@dumedum <In Japan.> Look elsewhere, and Nintendo is still doing very well, but it's a different story. It hints at a future of limited western 3rd party support and supple Japanese 3rd party support, now that the 1st party evergreens are out there. Granted, companies like Bethesda have thrown their hat in, but has the payoff been worth it? I'm sure many are still wary.

Many expected that and accept it though, so maybe it won't change much. Nintendo is still back in solid black, just with some nuances, like non-SquareEnix and non-Capcom JRPG's not selling as well as they should.

@PlywoodStick Well, what makes Monolith different from, say, Nintendo EPD or Retro Studios? It's still Nintendo, just under a different studio name.

@NewAdvent
Kirby and Yoshi have both sold quite well in the West in the past, largely due to good legs as the hardware install base grows.

Both titles will probably bomb in the UK

@EvilLucario That's what I'm wondering. I would have thought Xenoblade 2 would sell better, given it's quality with Nintendo's weight behind it. What factors led to this result? My first thought is that XB2 hasn't gotten the support it needs to do better. So what chance do others have, if they're not a well known and popular series?

Pokemon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon are selling well despite the 3DS being in it's later days. Looking forward to Breath of the Wild getting over 1 million because it's a Zelda game.

Almost half a million in two weeks. Wipes sweat from forehead

Good golly Miss Molly.

@PlywoodStick Nintendo bought Monolith Soft from Namco Bandai almost a decade ago. Their last game they made as a third party was Xenosaga 3.

The Xeno-series in general is very niche and has not been a mainstream series. Granted they also are not that expensive for Nintendo to make as they are not give AAA money like Final Fantasy XV. That and it allows them to experiment with the series and then have that carried over to Zelda. Monolith helps with Zelda bringing in technical expertise and environmental design. Breath of the Wild was helped immensely because of Xenoblade X's growing pains with Nintendo and Monolith's experiments with open world design.

To Nintendo even a million to two million sales is enough to keep the series alive. Both Xenoblade and Xenoblade X sold a bit bellow a million sales lifetime.

@MsgBoardGamer
Ah, 12switch, yes a game that's done better than most would have thought, including myself. Perfect in everyway for a casual and complete garbage for the hardcore gamer.
By hardcore i just simply mean games that aren't party or rhythm or bloody board games, stuff I call casual but fits perfectly into the Nintendo gaming eco system.
I know it's doing better than xeno, but I also know which one I would rather play,

What was the numbers for ps4 pre xmas on its launch year?

@milliag I'm fine it even more mental that the ps3 outsold Xbox One X.... that's hardware from 2 generations behind!

@SanderEvers Foreign students, military aaand...I'm out.

What I don't get is why regular Xbox One sold more than Xbox One X. I can understand if Japanese people got curious with the technology inside XBX but it sold less than its vanilla counterpart; could it be that some people got confused and ended up buying S version instead of X? Or maybe they just want to play Cuphead so buying XBX for that is overkill.

Doomed?

@1up_mario, it would have been a different story if switch and ps4 started together, and the switch had their software like this year.

Nintendo has had an excellent Christmas run in Japan it seems.

@PlywoodStick Well..isn't pokemon among the top selling franchises (one wiki article seems to indicate it beats Grand Theft Auto per sales of the franchise, as well as Call of Duty, Sims, etc)?

It's no small feat for studios to attain pokemon level status/popularity...

@raisenv The reason is probably the same as the reason that the PS4 sells much better than the PS4 Pro in Japan.

@NewAdvent It's a given that Bayonetta 2, Kirby, and Yoshi won't be the only first-party games that will release next year. It's rumored that there will be a Nintendo Direct in January 2018. Let's see what Nintendo has to offer.

According to VGChartz, Kirby: Planet Robobot sold 0.21 million copies in Europe. Not great, but it's decent. Yoshi's Woolly World sold 0.51 million copies in Europe. That's a good number. I don't know why you think that new Kirby and Yoshi games will sell poorly in Europe.

uhhh i love Nintendo just as much as the next person but Global sales for PS4 by end of Nov was 845k

Nintendo by end of Nov was 419k....................

I never really been good at math but mathematically the PS4 is curb stomping a new mud hole in Nintendo's ass... can we please acknowledge this fact? Showing us ONE market is a very lop sided affair indeed.

PS4 is battering everyone else in N America and Europe... much to my own annoyance, i never been a fan of Sony, but real will recognize real.

http://www.vgchartz.com/analysis/platform_totals/

can we please get one sales report that isn't JUST in japan, maybe bring people down to earth a little bit again.....

I am so happy to see SMO & Zelda: BOTW selling great in Japan. Hope Nintendo starts on their sequels asap.

WiiU outselling X Box One X? Damn.

That's the news story boys, don't bury the lead!

Half of the top 20 is Switch games.

The momentum is insane.

@Razer Just funny watching a tiny company like Nintendo spanking a megacorp like Sony in Japan. A little victory of creativity over big money.

@bitleman Nintendo are not a tiny company, they dont have as many divisions as Sony but they are worth slightly more as a business according to Forbes, (which may or may not be accurate depending on who you ask) Nintendo is valued at around 1.5b more than Sony.

But this will change soon, Sony were on a downward decline in all their other sectors except gaming and a financial consultancy service in Asia, but they have started to bring some of their other sectors back from the red.

Sony has bigger scope to pass Nintendo because of this, they just need one clever phone that sells well globally or a good movie franchise and the game will be up for Nintendo, so this is why i mention this, Nintendo and Sony as businesses value goes, are about worth the same right now, Nintendo slightly more. But Nintendo need to up their game on the European market, they need a much stronger presence here if they want to maintain that lead or widen it.

This article paints a lop sided view on how well the Switch is doing globally, sure at home they are wrecking it, but the global market is 5 times as big as Japan's, any business in media entertainment the size of Nintendo would be stupid to ignore this fact.

@Mahe
Are you able to do the math? The gap is getting bigger? What charts are you looking at?
The 3DS is doing well and will probably continue to do well, which is great. Even if there would not be any new game coming (which there still is – at least a few). I could see the 3DS doing somewhat well throughout 2019 as well. Simply because of its incredible software line up. But to take the success of the 3DS and turn it against the Switch, is pretty silly.

I guess it's another way to desperately trying to explain the success or to understate its success.

@Razer
"Global sales for PS4 by end of Nov was 845k
Nintendo by end of Nov was 419k"
Do you have a source? Seems very unlikely. Are you talking about the entire November? I remember hearing numbers from the NPD (which are not totally accurate) about 1.5 million for PS4 and Xbox, Switch being close behind. And that's just for the US! Btw. the Switch already surpassed the PS4 first 9 months sales. Which actually does not mean much.

@Razer Lol no. Nintendo is a dwarf compared to Sony. Sony is so powerful we have no idea how big is the Playstation division (but we know they have the biggest studios of the entire industry.). It could be 10 times bigger than Nintendo it wouldn't even take a half of their workforce. Just funny seeing how utterly incompetent a megacorp with a big wallet like Sony is at killing a dwarf like Nintendo.

@bitleman
I don't think you realize how much money Nintendo actually has. They could mess up just like they did with Wii U for the next like 20-30 years and they would still have money on the bank.

@Gaeus I never saw recent raw data proving this claim. Only click bait financial articles. Reality is Nintendo is a tiny company who has been kicked out from the AAA market but is still surviving because the big fishes are stupid.

@bitleman http://uk.ign.com/articles/2017/06/26/nintendos-market-value-climbs-past-sony-corp

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/05/nintendo_gains_over_usd2_billion_in_market_value_following_monster_hunter_xx_announcement

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1396204

Nope, there is too much data out there proving how wrong and misguided your comments are.

No worries though because you can educate yourself with some simple searches .

@bitleman and for good measure. (a bit old but proves this has been on going for over a year, so to claim that you haven't seen such data is rather funny)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36833916

@feelinsupersonic

Yeah seeing the ps3 do better than Xbox one is the best part lol

@Razer The PS4 is also a harvest year system, with a much reduced price.

Id be worried if it wasnt selling at that point.

Context is key.

@Razer You're talking about shares. I'm talking about size, workforce, budget, money reserve. Nintendo is a dwarf. You didn't provide any evidence proving the opposite.

@bitleman That just proves further my point, Sony is worth a lot less as a business than Nintendo, if you know how business works, i have been over this before.

Sony has much bigger over heads (spend more money, but make the same profit), they pay much more staff, but their value as a business is slightly under Nintendo, this means that Nintendo is more stream lined, they hire less people but they make about the same profit, they spend less making games than Sony and Nintendo market their games in countries that they have historically been strong in (this can be a bad thing though, as they haven't branched out, as i explained before, Nintendo need to branch out to Europe). But this serves them as well as their marketing is around 1/5th the cost of Sony's global marketing machine, but rake in about the same profit.

This all means that while Sony hires more people, has more offices, and does more things, due to the ineffective practices, some of these other projects have cost them more than they have made, their discontinued laptops or their really shoddy phones are a prime example of this.

As i explained, Sony have many divisions, they have the scope to pass Nintendo if these other divisions really start making money, but that hasn't happened yet, not to say it can't but it hasn't

Nintendo might have a smaller presence but in terms of value, they are bigger than Sony and if you are a business man, you look at the bottom line, Nintendo's bottom line is bigger.

If you want to buy a company, you would buy Nintendo, they spend less money on staff, they have a smaller presence, but their profits are just as big if not bigger than a company the size of Sony's... that my friend is how big Nintendo is.

@YummyHappyPills yes that is actually true.

@Razer Maybe you don't know that NintendoLife reports Media Create sales regularly for a long time. They reported them before the Switch was released.

"Global sales for PS4 by end of Nov was 845k

Nintendo by end of Nov was 419k...................."

I don't know about the PS4 number, but the Switch number is obviously wrong. According to Media Create, the Switch sold 436,927 units in Japan during 11/6/17 to 12/3/17:
https://gematsu.com/2017/11/media-create-sales-11617-111217
https://gematsu.com/2017/11/media-create-sales-11-13-17-11-19-17
https://gematsu.com/2017/11/media-create-sales-11-20-17-11-26-17
https://gematsu.com/2017/12/media-create-sales-11-27-17-12-3-17

Do you have a source? I want to know which website provides this false information.

@Gaeus The sales number is incorrect. Even if he means the sales in the US and Europe, it's still highly unlikely to be true.

@NinNin http://www.vgchartz.com/analysis/platform_totals/

They get their data from similar methods that the NPD gathers their data.

I'm not sure who Gematsu is though, and how reliable is Media Create? can you link their sources please?

@NinNin oh and they just updated their report on http://www.vgchartz.com/analysis/platform_totals/

@Razer Gematsu is a website that reports Media Create results. It also reports video game news. If you look at the article, you will see that NintendoLife cites Gematsu. Media Create is reliable. It was founded in 1998. You can cross-check its data with Famitsu's data. I don't think Media Create discloses its sources, but if you think about it logically, Nintendo, Sony, and many Japanese video game companies wouldn't let Media Create spread misinformation every week. According to Nintendo, the Switch sold 10 million units in 9 months. This means that the average global sales per month from March 2017 to November 2017 is about 1.11 million units.

By the way, I don't see the global sales numbers of the PS4 and Switch in November 2017 on the page you linked.

Things I've learned from this comment thread.

NPD is only important when the PS4 wins.
Japan charts aren't important anymore.

Gotta love the flip-flopping.

@Agramonte Xenoblade sold about 15000 last week so I would hardly say it has crashed and burned. I think it’s pretty close to or passed the lifetime sales in Japan of both of the previous installments already

@NinNin its right there... under top hardware sales, if you click home on the menu, you can see the hardware sales. you got North America then Europe then Japan then at the end Global.

@Razer What a weird way to admit you were wrong. Thank you for admitting that Sony, despite being a gigantic faceless megacorp, can't kill a dwarf like Nintendo.

@Razer
Vgcharts is all speculation and always wrong
Those global sales are for each week
They should only be used as a guideline nothing more
I remember they had wii u sales at just over 14 million lifetime sales before they removed it and replaced it with switch, Anyways they had wii u at 14 million when Nintendo had already stated they had shipped 13.5 with production at a halt, they overestimated by 500 thousand
There have been many scenarios like this with vgcharts
It does get updated when official numbers are released but not often enough
Actually vgcharts is a massive joke amongst the gaming community

@roboshort Even the nonsensical new IP ARMS did better on a smaller install base. If this was the results Nintendo expected after promoting it for months and giving it a launch window with zero other release (and largest possible install base in 2017) - They really think little of the IP.