Nintendo Switch Was The Best-Selling System In December And Throughout 2018 In The US

But I thought they were Nintendoomed 🤔

@Spidey-Scrub "But I thought they were Nintendoomed 🤔"

But but but...they were Nintendoomed by the fanboys.... lmao

In December of 2018, Switch outsold PS4 and XB1 combined in the USA
NSW:1.77M
XBO:920K
PS4:797K
PS4+XB1:1.71M

GREATNESS AWAITS...on Nintendo Switch! XD

And yet, there are people who will try to spin this as negative news for Nintendo.

And some were saying 2018 was a weak year for Nintendo. Imagine how 2019 will be with the already confirmed games. Switch is absolutely unstoppable. Great to see Nintendo on top again.

Rooting for them to hit their lofty fiscal year goal they set a while ago. I bet they can do it! Especially if this supposed January Direct happens and contains greatness...

Congrats to Nintendo for achieving these numbers and proving all the haters wrong! Good to see them back on top.

Hey Nintendo Life, you might want to make sure your pals over at Eurogamer are alright after reading this news. 😂😂

So happy for Nintendo, these are great news for the company and the videogame industry in general.

Gaming in general seems to be doing pretty well. At least for Nintendo, Sony, PC and smartphones. All of those had significant successes that I heard quite a bit about.

Meanwhile I sometimes forget Microsoft has a console on the market. I know its utter failure in Japan isn't a universal thing, but I can't recall if there was a single Xbone exclusive that I heard about last year. There must have been something though. Right?

No idea how many times it needs to be proven... Big shinny new games move hardware in the USA. Not rehash or random indies.

Fact that PS4 was leading the Switch in Unit sales coming into December makes it even crazier. Keep the big games rolling.

Good, now I hope there will be more efforts coming from third parties. It already starts to trickle in, but I hope this opens the gates...

@Heavyarms55

Yeah, but Microsoft getting those first party studios under their belt recently has me intrigued. Not that I'm going to get an Xbox or PlayStation next gen, sticking firmly with Nintendo/PC, but I hope Xbox does better than PlayStation next gen because I'm pretty tired of the Sony fanboys acting so smug. I love it that those two consoles keep switching places every generation. PlayStation 2 was bigger than Xbox, Xbox 360 was bigger than PlayStation 3, and now the PS4 is bigger than the Xbox One. I love rooting for the underdogs and find the whole PlayStation vs. Xbox thing amusing, especially since they're both just weak bootleg PCs with way less options.

@Frenean that's like chucking three deckchairs off the Titanic at this stage of the game though, no?

@electrolite77 got to agree the Switch library is great overall, even more so if you never owned a Wii U which most buyers now won't have. I love Nintendo's system because their games are always fun to play and still remind me of the games I grew up with. I still have a PS4 but it is getting less use by the day as too many of its games are generic open worlds and frankly are boring as you do nothing most of the time and are filled with copy and pasted tasks. Resident Evil 2 looks great as it's more old school but after that I don't know a single game I want for it. As for Switch there is Yoshi, Animal Crossing, Luigis Mansion, Metroid Prime 4 at some point and I still need to pick up Smash so plenty to look forward to

@Mrtoad
Those PS4 and XBO numbers are truly pathetic. It is easily the worst December month ever for both consoles - even worse than in December 2013 when both consoles had just launched and were somewhat supply constrained.

The PS Classic sold less than the NES Classic in December 2018. Combined that with records low PS4 sales during that same month, and you have a mediocre, if not flat out bad month for PlayStation in the US in December 2018.

@Heavyarms55 Don't rule out Microsoft for the future. Their work on cross play and backward compatibility and all the studios they have been buying of late makes me think they could have a very strong comeback. Just think, you have a XBOX and a PS4 now and you need to buy the next gen console. you could come with the choice of buying the PS5 with maybe one or two launch titles or you can get a new xbox and keep playing all your old games still also (which means you could sell your old xbox and get some money back to reduce the initial costs). What microsoft is working on is customer binding. once you have one of their consoles they allow you to keep playing it on any future console and that is something Sony and Nintendo can really learn from. Personally, i am not sure which next gen console i will get once they come out but i was firmly on Sony but that is starting to change a bit (they do have the best exclusives still so we do need to get some news on that from MS front).

@electrolite77

It really does have a fantastic library of games to choose from. I’ve had my Switch since day one and I’m a regular reader of this site and others so I’m always aware of new games coming out, when they release etc.

However I was in Smyths at the weekend and I was quite simply taken back by just how many Switch games they had to choose from. There was quite literally 2 full isles of games specifically for the Switch. In the dark days of the Wii U we’d be lucky to see more than a shelf or 2.

@Drussa I don't have anything particularly against any console. I don't buy into the whole "I hate this console, my favorite is so much better!!!! ARAGSFADSAF " nonsense.

My thing is, what major new games, exclusive to their platform, were big last year?

For Sony it is easy, Spiderman and God of War were hugely popular. It's even easier for Nintendo, with titles like Pokemon and Super Smash Bros. But I can't even find good lists for the Xbox. Not saying it is a bad device at all, but when the vast majority of your games are also on other devices, and those devices also have exclusive titles that your device lacks, it's gonna be hard to compete.

I kinda feel like Microsoft is competing with itself at this point. With almost all of their best selling titles on PC as well. Specifically, on Windows. And I suspect one of their last holdouts, Halo 5, is purely to help protect their Xbox brand. If Microsoft wants to keep producing game consoles, they really need to release more exclusives, but in doing so, they are hindering their own potential PC profits.

Personally if I were Microsoft, I would be looking for a way to release a Windows PC software package that allows one to play their back catalog on PC and focus all future game development onto PC, the platform where they have much more dominance. No one can tailor make games for Windows better than the very people who make Windows after all.

@Heavyarms55 as far as I know Xbox had 3 console exclusives last year.

Forza (that was very good)
Sea of thieves and a zombies open world (both not great)

Getting closer to the 20 millions goal...

Is there somewhere we can see the actual numbers rather than these vague "best X since Y" statements?

@Balta666 Oh yeah, I forgot about Forza. I don't get to have an opinion on that game. I haven't played a "realistic" style racing game since the PS1 days. lol

@electrolite77,

Same as my local Tesco store...the Switch is in stock as it sells well..they never even had a Wii U in sock.

Where's "Cobalt" when a article like this comes out?.

@johnvboy
Cobalt ?
LOL 😆

@Anti-Matter,

He would still manage to spin the news in a negative way.

@chardir,

The Switch sold 1.77 million consoles in the U.S in December.

@Heavyarms55 The X box ONE x is a beast of a console and is where I play all my TV multiplats right now. I think it has gone some way into rescuing them this gen. They will not catch PS4 and it will take they a while to rebuild their studios after they pulled down the shutter at the start of this gen but they seem to have set themselves up ok to compete again next gen. We all win when there is more competition. And its great to see Nintendo back in the mix.

@johnvboy He’s been missing for a while now... not that I miss him in the least.

@BarFooToo Like I said, I have nothing against it. But it lacks exclusives, and competes against their own other products. I just don't see much benefit to a a console that both lacks a significant number of exclusive content and doesn't deliver a different experience from other consoles that have it. Even if the hardware is very good. Software is what sells a device.

Competition is very good for everyone. When there is actually competition. Functionally I could never see much point to ever owning a PS4 and an Xbox 1. The PS4 has many great exclusive titles, VR and PS Move. Xbox One matches it graphically, with only minor differences, but has far fewer exclusive titles, and lacks a gimmick. Its only real saving grace in my opinion is its backward compatibility, but even that is limited. Switch on the other hand offers a totally different product and experience, so a PS4 and a Switch make sense. Gaming PCs are still notably more expensive than game consoles, so I don't think consoles are going away anytime soon. But that price gap is shrinking.

Next generation is anyone's guess. We can't really base how a company will do with their next product based on their current one. Look at Nintendo. Things were pretty bleak during the Wii U era, but now that we have the Switch, clearly things have changed for the better. The PS2 crushed the Xbox, but then the 360 crushed the PS3 despite the 360's glaringly high malfunction rates. Then PS4 dominated Xbone. So it is really anyone's guess what will happen in the next few years.

I can't say I'm surprised. Its the only portable on the market and the PS4/XBO are at the end of their lifespan. So this was inevitable unless Nintendo really blundered badly

@Heavyarms55 I own a PS4 and XBO. The PS4 mostly for exclusives and Japanese support. The XBO for backwards compatibility and for how stupidly cheap Game Pass is.

Backwards compatibility is huge for me. To the extent that I don't buy digital PS4 games because I have no trust PS will allow me to access those purchases on PS5 like Xbox has already promised to do. I learned my lesson this gen when PS decided to charge us to access our owned PSN games via PS Now

@Mrtoad where did you find that 1.77 million number? I haven't seen that anywhere.

@johnvboy @Anti-Matter @johnvboy @maruse I kind of miss him. The forums have become kind of boring without a proper troll ROFL

@Indielink
https://nintendosoup.com/npd-nintendo-switch-sold-1-77-million-units-in-the-us-in-december-2018/

I love how the Switch is earning an "Exceeds Expectations" to "Outstanding" in all its O.W.L.s right now.

Good to see, and I bet we'll see the same thing this year with the Switch hitting it's stride as the PS4 and XB1 head into their final years. Overall though, the industry appears to be in a healthy position with all 3 consoles having some form of success.

I wonder if PS4 had such a good year in 2015 because of the FF7 remake announcement. That's why I bought mine that year. Still waiting on that damn FF7 remake...

Never underestimate Pokemon and Smash! The Switch will be bigger this year thanks to more blockbusters.

@Heavyarms55 I guess I'm one of the few who find the play anywhere feature as smart for Microsoft and Xbox in general. I pretty much view the Xbox One as a stepping stone to Microsoft's next console sorta like the Wii U was to Switch.

December 2009 was also the holiday month after New Super Mario Bros. Wii released, which rocketed the Wii to sell more units that month than the PS3 and X360 sold that entire year, I remember reading.

Imagine if Switch had its own brand new 2D Mario offering...

For those that are questioning the reality of multiple Switches per household, I remind you that in the US, our economy is the best it's ever been in decades. Wages are actually increasing, a first in a VERY long time.

Also, I am a huge proponent of direct Nintendo refurbs. You can get a Switch for $275 today:

https://store.nintendo.com/ng3/us/po/browse/subcategory.jsp?categoryId=cat960084

Cheers!

@Heavyarms55 Microsoft is going for a "play anywhere" platform strategy, so it makes sense that most MS games are playable on Xbox and PC. Some people like PCs, some people like consoles.

For a long time MS has had Halo, Gears, Forza, Crackdown and timed exclusives like PUBG. Some other interesting exclusives like (Rare's) Sea of Thieves, and the upgraded version of Final Fantasy XIII. Xbox also has a large back catalog of 360 and original Xbox games, as well as basically all current-gen cross-platform games like Overwatch and RDR2, many of which are unlikely to come to Switch any time soon due to graphical requirements. And you're not stuck with the "pocket edition" of Final Fantasy XV.

I guess the point is that Microsoft has built a pretty strong game ecosystem on Xbox and PC, and it includes many excellent games that aren't available on the Switch.