Perhaps it's not a huge surprise, given that apparently Switch owners are the most likely to own another console, but in 2020, the Nintendo Switch outsold Xbox and PlayStation in the UK by a lot. Like... a lot a lot.
It's tempting to see this as a huge success for Nintendo, and it is, but it's also a huge success for us - the people who play games. More than ever, consoles are moving away from the idea of "rival" consoles, and away from the idea that video games are for children and nerds, with accessible family games, fitness games, and even games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons that apparently drove some people to buy extra household Switches. Of course, a lot of Nintendo games are Switch-exclusive, and although Xbox and Sony have their fair share of exclusives, it pales in comparison to Nintendo's first-party, Switch-only offerings, which is probably why many people seem to own a Switch as well as another console.
With the the addition of cheaper, handheld-only Switch Lites for younger people and anyone who isn't fussed about playing on the TV (and a few predictions about the 2021 addition of a Switch Pro) the Nintendo Switch family is not as large as the Xbox or PlayStation, which makes its sales all the more impressive. Of course, we'll probably have to wait a while longer to find out more about the Switch Pro... unless yesterday's fake leak of a Nintendo Direct this weekend turns out to be true. (It won't.)
Do you own a Nintendo Switch as your first, or second console? Do you think the pandemic boosted Switch sales? Discuss your thoughts below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 64
Not too shabby.
It's not too long ago that Nintendo struggled in the UK so it's extra impressive just how well the Switch is doing there along with every other region.
Not a lot of people are going to buy a ps4 with the ps5 coming out that year
I'm genuinely gutted that this happened to the Switch and not the Wii U, which is objectively a far superior console.
I'm just worried that Nintendo will keep putting out consoles full of ports and no features/apps
Wait, there were Xbox Series and PS5 consoles being sold last year to like ... customers? The rumors were true then, I guess Oo
@LilMuku Are you sure that you know what objectively means?
@BenAV Handhelds aside I don't remember Nintendo being this popular here since the Super Nintendo. 😃 It's great. This has been PlayStation country since 1996. I guess the Wii did well too but people are definitely buying more games for the Switch and it has more a hype around it (similar to DS) A lot of people only used their Wii for Wii Sports.
My switch is my main console. There are some great exclusives on the other consoles but Nintendo has always been about innovation and gameplay. Not how many frames per second it can chug out.
Really impressive when you consider how dominant Sony usually is in the region.
@LilMuku Other than VC and apps/multimedia features, I'm struggling to think of a way in which the Switch isn't roundly superior to the Wii U.
Great news for Nintendo, hopefully they can keep the momentum up for the next console as well and can break from habit. They have historically had one great selling system followed by one that underperforms next gen.
Great numbers but so much work to be done!
Voice chat, backgrounds, folders, n64 online, Nintendo directs and an E3 presentation rather than random stealth releases.
Wait. In the UK?!
This is brilliant news. It's my fave console ever made. It's like the Gameboy all over again.
Switch is my main gaming device by a landslide. But I have a PS4 and gaming PC.
@AndyC_MK84 Kind of ironic considering to modern developers it's Switch who? Oh the place for our ps3 games.
I love the Switch but when Third parties have a hard time with your system your days are numbered. Dreamcast, Vita
@LilMuku I'm with you there. I loved the Wii U! I used to play it in bed with the console in the living room and it felt like magic 😅
@AndyC_MK84 Luckily Nintendo aren't really in a war as much as trying to find a path to their own survival. The big 2 can duke it out when there are actually enough systems to go around, one of these days.
@doctorhino
I don't get your point regarding modern developers (I assume you mean third parties).
Sure the Switch may not get some AAA blockbusters like CoD or Assassins Creed but most third party publishers/developers are releasing games on Switch and it is night and day compared to the Wii U third party support.
@TheFullAndy NIS are giving them a lot of great support along with Capcom making a monster hunter game for them. But overall development for new games from the big publishers, EA, Activision and Ubisoft is dramatically lower than it was just a few years ago.
Pushsquare is melting down over anything related to switch selling the most over Sony. Lol. So silly. 😂 😂 😂
@AndyC_MK84 I loved the Wii U and firmly believe home consoles should have a second screen on their controllers as standard (it was too nice for inventory etc.) As for Switch I fell in love with it the moment I saw it (hmm...just realised how appropriate the music in that reveal was now!) Gaming for me isn't about specs. The Switch has spirit. Exactly how the Gameboy did. And the Wii U controller's touch screen. Heck, even the handle on the Gamecube.
Am I supposed to be surprised?
Switch missed a huge opportunity to take up WiiUs dual screen gameplay. BotW probably would of had that second screen map that was planned for wiiu.
@Lord Wii U and 3DS have folders. After nearly 4 years Switch still doesn't.
@doctorhino
Disagree there.
Activision released Crash Trilogy, Spyro Trilogy, Crash Racing.
EA released 4 Fifa's now compared to 1 on Wii U (yes two are legacy), along with Burnout, Need for Speed, Fe and more.
Ubisoft just released Immortals which is apparently selling best on Switch along with other games.
Pretty sure all the devs you mentioned have released more on Switch than they ever did on Wii U where most third parties abandoned ship after year 1.
Then you have Bethesda who released games on a Nintendo console for the first time in decades.
Even Konami is back with a million seller!
Then you have indie devs (who I would argue are now as important as AAA devs) who love the Switch and it gets GotY winners like Hades before the other consoles.
Third party support is much stronger on Switch.
@GrailUK I have the opposite opinion regarding the Wii U's second screen. I think dual screen handhelds are great but don't think the idea translates well where it's harder to keep both screens within your vision at the same time.
@BenAV For maps and inventory it was genius. Even for inputting door codes in Deus Ex. I wasn't talking about splitting your vision, I was talking about convenience. It lends itself really well to gaming.
@doctorhino Or looking at it another way... The Switch's success shows that the big 3rd parties aren't as powerful and important as they once were. One of Nintendo's best decisions was to encourage innovative indie developers on to their system. They're a perfect fit.
People are realising there's more to third party gaming than only EA, Activision and the rest. Of course still matter but they're not necessarily the "King makers" who could make or break a console that they were in the past.
@LilMuku What you talking about the Wii U was super weak both in specs and marketing, it's not even as powerful as the base PS3 at the time and that came out six years before the Wii U. Nintendo was relying on the Wii branding to sell the system not knowing that casuals are not ready to upgrade and the hardcore doesn't like weak specs. In the end the Wii U caters to nobody unlike the Switch.
@GrailUK Personally I don't find looking down at a map or inventory on the controller to be much more convenient than just pressing a button to bring it up on the main screen.
@TheFullAndy I'm not saying the console doesn't have a good library or great games haven't come out but I see almost nothing from those devs on the horizon while the recent current gen has a laundry list. I guess time will tell if they are just waiting to announce it. Imagine how much of their resources are probably tied up in making ps5 and series games though.
@Clyde_Radcliffe Indie games have been a revelation for me in recent years. Having so many interesting and great games releasing basically weekly has meant that I've always had lots to play. I find a majority of the big budget third party games to be pretty stale and boring in comparison.
@BenAV That's a shame.
Remember when everyone said it would fail?
@GrailUK Considering we've moved back to one screen now, it's really not.
@BenAV Oh it is for me. I'm not speaking for everyone lol. If folk can't see how touch screen is a better input than a d-pad for stuff like that, then that's on them
@doctorhino
Well time will tell. Switch launching earlier than the new consoles makes an interesting dilemma for devs as there are new consoles out with a low userbase but there is Switch with a 70 million userbase and still growing.
@BenAV Same here. It's like gaming's gone full circle back to the home computer days of the 80s where a hit game could be made by a small handful of people or even just 1 or 2. It's quite fascinating. It's like as the world's become more complicated people want a return to more simple forms of gaming lately.
@TheFullAndy I think with it's current library it could live on for a long time without anyone being bored. I guess if Nintendo survived the Wii U it can handle a little momentum shift in the switch in the coming years. There comes a time when the new consoles are just the shiz and that's what everyone wants. switch came out after ps4 so it hasn't had the light taken away like this before
@AndyC_MK84 I have a couple of years on you O.< and man, I am so glad someone gets what I'm trying to say. It's very hard to articulate lol.
@LilMuku every console is full of ports for the first few years....
I think Zzap described it best with their made up word 'playability'. How the game plays. Nintendo's games have been incredible this gen (ports or otherwise). There is a massive library of games oozing playability. Together with the hybrid nature of the console, it is an absolute no brainer why a person that loves playing video games would love the Switch.
I love having loads of old school arcades on the Switch because I love having old school mechanics (how a game moves - these days kids use it to mean features, like they never went to English class) to play. Holding forward on most modern AAA games does nothing for your hand to eye coordination lol (in fact, the same crowd misusing the word mechanics are probably the same folk thinking arcades stole peoples money.)
Considering that I was about 1 of 26 people in the UK to own a Wii U, I think this just goes to show how you can never write off Nintendo. Their brand and legacy is priceless! Half the market with the Switch?? That’s incredible.
Almost my gaming devices are primary consoles.
Primary
PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, NDS, 3DS, Switch, Wii
Secondary
PSP, GBA, Gamecube, Wii U, XBOX, XBOX 360
@Mr-Fuggles777 Don't worry about the next system selling poorly. It just means they have to repurpose it for their next console which traditionally sells like hot cakes haha
Yeah the switch is amazing. Can’t believe the silly comments here🤷🏻♂️
I would say my primary consoles these days are Switch, 3DS and PSP (for emulated ZX Spectrum gaming - also Spectaculator on my laptop PC controlled with my 8Bitdo Super Famicom clone Bluetooth controller - not really legal anymore, I think, they stopped making them years ago).
My secondary consoles would be PS3, PS4 and Vita (and very rarely my Gameboy Advance) as I use these from time to time, but not very often.
And it will continue to be that way for next year. Switch is killing it.
It's been a different year really. COVID, end of life PS4, PS5 shortages, and I don't know what xbox is about anymore.
Proper bragging rights though!
Switch sales should be above PS4 + PS5 + XBO + XBS sales globally in 2020.
@AndyC_MK84 Good luck with your future endeavors mate. And good skills with your exams (leave luck to Heaven). You can do it
I was going to purchase an XBOX Series X, not for me, but for my brother as a surprise birthday present. They lost that sale because I refuse to pay the scalper's pound of flesh.
A certain analyst will say “but compared to the Wii the system still is not selling.”
PS5 would have more sales if more units were available. I have been unsuccessfully trying to get one since it was released.
Switch is King
@Manjushri Truth is it did and it also saved lives
@BenAV Wii U: First party exclusives, ports, a few remakes, internet browser, camera and mic, streaming apps, basic home menu customisation
Switch: A few first party exclusives, Wii U ports used to avoid making new games, mostly ports and remasters, Youtube
The ONLY case you could make for the Switch being better than the Wii U is if you dislike the idea of consoles having lots of optional features for people, and prefer the idea of a library filled with old games
@Ralizah ...The VC, apps and multimedia features, as well as trivial small things like home menu folders
The Switch is lacking in features that the DSi has. No console in 2021 should have LESS than ANY console from TWO decades ago.
@AndyC_MK84 The fact that you said "to hell with features" ruins your argument
I'm not talking about what I personally would use, I'm talking about the fact that the Wii and Wii U had lots of other apps and features for people to use if they want. Having optional extras is objectively better than not having the stuff there.
People who don't want those features can simply not use them, but people that do want those features are missing out.
I think about people in general, not just myself.
@LilMuku That's a long way of saying no.
@LilMuku I'll make a case for the Switch being better, having owned both.
The Switch's hybrid functionality is vastly more interesting and useful than the Wii U's second-screen functionality (which was criminally underused in most games). First party-wise, it's probably Nintendo's most prolific system to date, and it features some of their best games in years (opinion, but we are talking about video games here). The Wii U was missing a ton of franchise entries and often seemed like a console designed for weird spinoffs and experiments. Switch has the strongest third-party support of any Nintendo system since the SNES. You can use a really wide range of controllers with the system with certain adapters, which wasn't possible on Wii U. The system is snappy as hell, unlike the very slow and clunky Wii U (mostly thanks to the UI, I imagine). Oh, and Switch Pro controller > Wii U Pro controller by a country mile.
Which isn't to say the Wii U had nothing going for it. I won't list the more elaborate UI in its favor, since that slowed down the operation of the system, which I feel was detrimental, but it was a pretty good legacy console between its robust VC offerings and Wii backwards compatibility. And yeah, I guess it had netflix and a few other streaming apps on it.
Really, the biggest knock against the Switch for me is the lack of folders or an activity log. Also themes (which were also missing on Wii U). But their absence just isn't that big of a deal at the end of the day.
@Manjushri The pandemic has affected a lot more than just the physical health of people and there's nothing wrong with discussing said affects where it's relevant.
@GrailUK It's no coincidence that I really enjoy 2D games on Switch that remind me of the GBA, such as Wargroove and Mark of the Ninja, but even Carrion gave me the feeling that this is a "natural" evolution of the GBA. Not that I dodn't enjoy the other consoles Nintendo has put out in between, I loved them, all of them really (I still sometimes feel like everything on Switch is "flat" because I played a lot of 3DS), and while I love that many great games get another chance on Switch, I played most of them on the Wii U and the additional features rarely are worth double dipping, let alone at full premium price...
But yeah, Switch is my new Game Boy evolution complete with games on cartridges, and I love most of it, just not how it DOES feel like a step back from 3DS and Wii U (which had folders, some very welcome apps like a web browser that could run with a game paused in the background, better analog sticks - except for that c-nub on the N3DS models, that was terrible...)
@Shambo If Nintendo can build on the faults you mentioned, well, if we are at the NES stage of gaming again (I mean, Nintendo categorically stated they were starting from scratch with the Switch) then I can't wait to see the SNES model. It's an exciting philosophy for gaming and the future is so bright for the little fella. (not my best post ever, but i just got home and can't feel my brain lol)
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