Nintendo Switch Is Now The Sixth Best-Selling Video Game System In Japan

Nintendo power!

The Nintendo Switch prints money, very well deserved.

Animal Crossing has helped sales last year as people had to buy multiple consoles to have their own game saves.
Great business decision (even if it was a little shady).

Dont expect a switch pro/2 anytime soon.
Unless Nintendo suprises us at E3.

My ps2 slim still works. Do I have to smash my ps2 if the switch overtakes it?

Those older consoles are so smug.

I know its a dead horse at this point but I'll say it anyway. All that big talk and everyone doing it about the switch failing commercially and critically, due to it being under powered, the next gen systems, the third party support, or whatever else really was just that now wasn't it? Nothing but talk. Maybe it was logical, heck if I knew the whole story I would've probably considered as well. But here we are.

@The-Chosen-one Yeah, I can't imagine why, with sales like this, they would release an updated console.

@WoomyNNYes L Still going. That's what happens when a console looks after it's figure. My PS3 fat died way before it's time.

@The-Chosen-one With the current semiconductor shortages, I don't think we'll see a new Switch revision this year.

@sanderev That's a very valid point that I don't think a lot of people are really considering in this debate about a potential Switch Pro/2.

It's entirely possible that Nintendo wants to release such a product but because of those problems, can't currently secure a supply of components right now.

I didn't realize the 3DS sold so well.

@Wilforce I was going to make some hand-wavey comment along the lines of, “Handheld... Japan... go figure”, but the GBA is actually fairly far down the list, isn’t it? Well below the PS1 and 2. To me that’s just as interesting!

I know ‘portable Monster Hunter’ has been a big thing in Japan for as long as it’s been technologically possible. I think that helped both the 3DS and the PSP.

It’s been a while coming, but now with Rise on the Switch I imagine it won’t be too long until it pushes its way past the PSP.

@zool That’s ridiculous. I know the architecture was more or less the same, but you can’t put a PS1 disc into a PSP, or a PSP UMD into a PS1.

If you’re going to insist the Switch and Switch Lite are different consoles, you might as well break up all the PSP variants (like the Go), not to mention all the DS models (original, Lite, DSi). Separate the 3DS and 2DS sales, the New models, the bigger models... Same goes for the Game Boy.

Ps 2 would still remain the best selling system around the globe. Here's to hoping Switch will take that title as well sooner or later.

This is exactly why Nintendo has been coasting for the last 2 years. Why make any games or listen to what their fans want when they can release the bare minimum amount of games and still print money? I can't wait until another company releases a similar product and puts the fear of God into Nintendo. Maybe then they can get off their asses and make games again.

@zool
What a ridiculous comment.

The Switch Lite is a revision of the Switch. Switch Lite plays Switch games, much like the hybrid model.

The PSP and PS1 are completely different platforms. Good luck jamming a PS1 disc into a PSP or vice versa.

@zool Was typing that some sort of reflex action that bypassed the brain?

The Switch should have much bigger third party support with sales like that. But as always the control freak megacorp Sony is blocking the japanese third party support with their big wallet. Boycott Sony to free the japanese videogame industry.

I don't see why it's important to know how many Switches have been sold in Japan. This isn't exactly a Japanese website.

@zool two separate consoles are listed separately, a single console is listed as a single item. The nerve! Do you also have an issue with Vita sales most likely counting those of the Vita TV model?😆

Goes to remind that it's been four years and the fandom STILL can't process what the word "hybrid" means. Forget fanship corrupting human minds, sometimes it can almost seems to corrode them.🙄

@Chamver "similar products" are already being released. Is GPD Win 3 putting the fear of God into Nintendo yet? The "Jesus Christ..." murmurs evoked by the pricetag don't quite count.

I miss my PS2 Slim, sold it to buy a eventually-RRODed 360.

@zool you are so right. The switch should have been combined with the Wii U, the 3DS and the Virtual boy so it could be #1 for no reason.

Fandom > brain! Your comment made me laugh.

The real challenge is outselling the various Xboxes... they must have sold dozens of those things in Japan by this point!

@Rhaoulos and the other replies above.

Nintendo seem to have the best of both world's. Being a hybrid machine the Switch could win a best handheld award, or a best home console award with the Switch, or both awards with the same machine. Is that fair?

The docked Switch is a home console that can be used away from the dock. The Lite is a DS replacement, a handheld console.

If the new Switch Pro is a docked only console, should that also be included?

Lite and Docked are separate unless you are just counting the amount of games machines a company has sold. In which case lump Sony's together.

@zool It might be good to consider that these are sales figures and are not the switch getting an award for the best handheld or best console. That's a separate discussion. It's just a generic count of total console sales of each system.

The switch and switch light share the same games and UI. Whereas the psp and PS1 have no such overlap.

I wonder where it will finish?

The PS2 as well? That was one of my fav all time consoles. Well done Switchy lad

@Alpha008 120/135 milions consoles sold at the end of Switch lifecycle?

Nintendo Switch is a beast nothing seen to stop it(chip shortage, next gen consoles like PS5 and many more things for the console be considered the third best selling hardware with 120/135 milions consoles sold at the of it lifecycle).

@Giancarlothomaz I reckon 200 mil if they time the 4K model correctly. I'm tipping Switch to be the best selling console ever. (Bold words, but someone has to say it!)

@Maxz good catch! Honestly that is really curious. Your theory about Monster Hunter makes sense but that wouldn’t explain the DS and Gameboy’s sales. Only thing I can think of is GBA probably had the shortest life cycle of any major Nintendo product (just 3 years IIRC from 2001 to 2004) so it didn’t give them much time to buy it maybe? Or accumulate any games worth looking into by the time of the announcement of the (backwards compatible) DS?

@DaDebbil Japan is the one of the largest markets for Nintendo Co., Ltd., a Japanese video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan.

Until recently revenue from this region outstripped that of the entire continent of Europe, and are the numbers still comparable despite Europe now having squeezed into second place.

Yes, a relatively small proportion of the site’s readership will directly influence these figures, but it’d also be naive to overlook them given the scale and importance of the company’s home market when looking at the wider picture of sales in general.

You may be asking, “why are we so deeply invested in the sales figures of a multimillion dollar video games company to begin with?”, and to be honest that’s a much better question.

But the fact there are articles about Japan on the a website dedicated to covering news surrounding a Japanese video game company seems to no stranger than a website about Hollywood movies making mention of the United States of America. They’re fairly intertwined.

It's a great machine but I'll be honest, with all the joy-con issues I am slightly surprised at how well it keeps performing. Still really enjoying my Switch of course and will keep doing so for the next few years at least.

@WoomyNNYes
Bought a slim to give my fat PS2 some Pause (and because it is slim!).
It died a half year later X-X
Hope yours will live much longer <3
Great Console

@Maxz That was my next question.... While I'm at it, I'll throw in celebrities.

I'm rather surprised that the PSP is so high up there. It was good, but I didn't realize how commercially successful it was, when the Switch of all things hasn't overtaken it in 4 years.

Cool that it's doing so well over there! Doubt it will beat the DS or the Game Boy, but maybe a third place eventually?

...the Wii isn't even in the top 10 in Japan?

Awesome! Well deserved! So nice to see it outsell that overrated DVD player lol Nice!

@westman98 Sony fanboys aren’t too bright...

@DaDebbil Japan is the Hometown to Nintendo, which is why it’s important! If a console/Handheld does well in Japan, it means A lot!

@Azuris I bought my PS2 slim new circa 2009 when the OG PS2 disc reader got unreliable.

@shadow-wolf I hadn’t considered the short lifespan of the system, nor the backwards compatibility of its successor. Which reminds me that the DS wasn’t even billed as a ‘successor’ at the time, but a ‘third pillar’. It was a bit hard to swallow back then, and is even harder to swallow now. Why would you buy an old system when the new one not only has more power, but also plays the previous system’s library of games? It’s hard to imagine a console being more comprehensively superseded.

My theory for my the DS did so well in Japan is much the same as why as why is did so well everywhere; the ‘Blue Ocean’ - expanding the gaming population - strategy was simply a massive, unmitigated success.

I was shopping for a DS Lite the other day on Mercari (a Japanese marketplace app, similar to eBay but without the auctions), and by far the most common bundled game was Brain Training. There were also plenty of similar non-game ‘games’ designed to help study English, practise kanji, and ‘train’ a variety of other skills. Of course, these days there’d be an app for all of the above, but this was an age before mainstream smartphone adoption, and Nintendo was one of the first companies to get accessible, affordable touchscreen devices into the hands of the masses, for which they reaped the rewards. As a precursor to the modern smartphone, the DS managed to sell far beyond the market of traditional ‘gamers’, which probably explains why it’s so far out in front of so many traditional game consoles.

...Except the original GameBoy of course. I don’t have any excessively long, rambling explanation for that, save to say that being the one of the first portable cartridge based game consoles probably helped it make a splash. And Tetris. People went mad for Tetris. And then Pokemon on top of that. The insane, worldwide, generation-defining popularity of the Pokemon games at their peak hardly needs an explanation. And the GameBoy was right at the heart of that explosion.

I was 3 when the PSP came out so I don't know much about it but was the PSP that successful? I thought it would have done decently since they made the vita afterwards but I didn't know it sold that many units

Hybrid systems are the future IMO. They just make the most sense and can adapt to any lifestyle. Good on Nintendo for jumping on it early

@Maxz also the Gameboy had a long lifespan: the OG model came out in 1989 and if you lump in sales of the pocket, light and colour models (which Nintendo does) then it was on shelves for 12 years! Combine that with the initial craze and novelty of a portable system with interchangeable games and with the late in life boost of the Pokemon craze then that is reason enough to explain such high sales figure. It also destroyed all competition by much more capable machines like the Game Gear (which sold about 10 million worldwide) so it was pretty much uncontested in the market for over a decade. If the Switch remains on shelves for another 3-4 years then that will really help it’s sales numbers too. It’s only real competition is mobile phones and its sales show that that has had very little impact on Switch sales.

@zool
Why is s*** like this always posted whenever whenever there's an article about the Switch's success?

Is it really that hard to live with the Switch being a great selling console?

@zool
Your argument is flawed. If the "Dock Switch" model, which is essentially a Switch Lite with TV out, counts as a separate console, then the PSP 2000, PSP 3000 and the PSP GO should all count as separate consoles as well for having the option of TV out. This would probably not sit well with you since it would drag the PSP from its non top 3 podium finish to even lower levels.

If this sort of comment is always posted, then maybe it's just another point of view from yours that other gamers recognise.

Maybe they see the Switch as two great selling consoles.

Congratulations to the big N

Nah, I'm pretty sure that it's just attention seeking since it's always just one guy each and every time.

@ALinkttPresent yeah, I was surprised by that as well. But then @Maxz made the point about Japan being a handheld dominant territory. Which throws the early PlayStations' relative success into even sharper relief. According to Wikipedia the Wii's lifetime sales in Japan reached 12.75 mill

@SundayTimes you could pick any one thing that differs from console to console and make your point. But the Switch replaced the Wii U as Nintendo's home console, with the added advantage that it allows play away from the TV, in handheld mode. Is was much later that Nintendo confirmed that it was played about 50/50 docked/handheld. Then instead of a new 3ds model, the Switch Lite was rushed out, just as a handheld device, with the advantage of using the same game cards. A good move, but originally a Switch Pro was expected to follow the success of the switch, not a Lite.

The two Switches have the name and the same game card in common, BUT the lite is a Switch in name only, it can't be switched. It is pure and simple a hand held console that has replaced the DS.

Sony games can be played on a Sony phone by attaching a controller. Should the Sony phone sales be included with the PlayStation figures?

A PSP is not a PlaySTATION, because it's not STATIONary.

Am I doing this right?

Game Boy was on the market for ages. It won't take that spot, but it will overtake 3DS.

@zool Isn't it fair game, since you picked the "dock" as a point to not count Switch Lites sold in the figures? So one can also pick "tv out" for PSP to not count the PSP 2000, 3000 and GO models? No?

But anyway.... the above would be entirely missing the point.

The Switch OG and Lite should be considered as one, just like the 3DS and New 3DS. They are just different revisions of the system. Nothing to do with being handheld or not.

Also, I really don't understand your last point, as a phone that is streaming is not a Playstation. It has absolutely no playstation hardware within it.

@SundayTimes I guess there is no one right answer. But if Nintendo called the Lite the new DS to preserve the name DS, would that make a difference? If so it's the name Switch that links the Lite and Docked. And that's a lame reason. Like linking Sony devices because of the Sony name.
The Lite shares the same game card and name otherwise there is little in common between them. They are separate devices each good in their own right. A true Switch Lite would have its own dock, it is a cheap replacement for a DS, but maybe it should not be compared to the DS anymore than to the Switch Docked.

Other than having the same cartridges and name there is absolutely no similarity between the NES top loader and regular NES, stop cheeting Nintendo and just let Sony win ! !! !1!

@zool Dude how could you say "there is little common between them) when the switch lite and switch literally has the same hardware (same cpu (mariko like the switch revision 2) and clock frequency, at least in handheld mode, same memory modules and clocks) albeit in a smaller form factor. The difference between the two are the non removable controller and the TV output hardware but all the insides are basically the same. They just removed the "docked mode" settings for the CPU and memory for obvious reasons (And if you have a hacked lite, you can even set the clock settings for the cpu in "docked mode" iirc). Just because one feature of the hardware isn't available in the revision it doesn't mean it shouldn't be included the total sales. That's like saying the 2DS shouldn't be included in the 3DS sales since it doesn't do "3D", like the PSP Go in the PSP sales since it doesn't play UMD and a different form factor altogether or the PS2 slim in the PS2 sales since it can't play all PS2 games. In the end, it's up to companies selling them on how they categorize each hardware. If they said that "new x hardware" is included in "x family of hardware" , then it shall be included whether you see it as such or not.

@zool You have obviously had your mind blown at how awesome a concept the Switch is. It's fine. We all went through it when it was revealed. Maybe one day SONY will copy it, and then you will be able to rest easy because it has a big consumer electronics brand name attached to it.

Wow, people really like their handhelds over there

There most be a problem with this because I'm not seeing the Wii U at #1. Hopefully you guys fix that.

@mangaTom
To add on to your point, there are also some hardware revisions like the Gameboy Color, NDSi, and New 3DS (and the upcoming Switch Pro) that actually do make significant changes to the type, amount, and/or frequency of the CPU, GPU, and/or RAM, but they still qualify as revisions and not entirely new generations of hardware.

The attempts to the disqualify the Switch's success have reached absurd levels.

@zool

There is a clear answer.

They are counting the total number of systems sold for each console.

Nothing to do with whether the console is a "home" or "handheld" console.

As pointed out by others, its not simply a naming convention either.

The similar architecture of the Switch and Switch Lite (a Switch minus tv out) should be counted as being in the same family, just like the PSP (minus tv out) and its variations that had tv out (2000,3000 and GO).

So its clear. The Switch and the Switch Lite count as one.

@GinMiguel I don’t remember many talking about it’s failure. I think even Pachter thought it would sell at least 40 million. Most thought it would sell about like the 3DS, or at least I did.

@westman98 Exactly. It's not like that they'd be losing something if any console actually succeeds. I seriously have no idea behind the mental gymnastics of the people discrediting the success of any console, not just the switch.

@rockodoodle Not until the end of the lifecycle. I'm referring after the Switch's unveiling back in 2017. There were many Switch will fail videos. I can't entirely blame them for counting it out, coming off of the Wii U, and how 2016 as a year for Nintendo was, who other than the diehards would believe in them?

Very well deserved. Besides some joycon drift problems, the Nintendo Switch is an excellent console that I think everyone should have, especially with today's climate. I sincerely hope it becomes one of, or if not the best selling console of all time. It has brought back side of my gaming self that I haven't seen in a long time. Probably not since the Xbox 360 days.

I hadn't realized 3ds was #3 there. No wonder they kept it going so long.

To everyone saying this invalidates the hardware revision, it really doesn't. Switch as a platform being so in demand is all the more reason to revise it and keep the momentum going full steam, longer. Revitalize the brand before it loses momentum. It'll still be a switch and contribute into these numbers, and encourage repeat sales.

Semiconductor shortages would be hindering current model production as much as any new model, and the contracts to produce it would have been inked deals long ago. Hardware revisions are a standard part of product planning in this industry. Even vita got a hardware revision. It'll happen.

@SundayTimes ok, so we count the Switch Lite as a home console to make the Nintendo count seem higher when compared to the Xbox or Play Station. Good Marketing.

And a handheld device, Nintendo make one as well, they are the market leader (if you don't count smartphones) the Switch Lite. Might as well add the Switch into the count as well.

Sounds like something politicians do with funding, when asked....... spend the same amount five times over.

Fool the punter.

@zool do you alway talk this much rubbish? It's the same console with the same games, the same OS, the same processor with the only difference being it can't use the dock. The Sony phone comparison shows how ridiculous your argument is as it doesn't share a library of games with any Playstation, nor any of the hardware.

The Switch has always being a handheld, just one that you can plug into your TV.

Do the two PS5 variants get counted as one and the two Series consoles? I'd suggest there are far bigger differences between those as the cheaper of each cannot even play any of the millions of physical games out there and that will continue to release, with the Series S not even playing the same versions of games

@zool
I see more mental gymnastics from you than actual gymnastics from Simone Biles.

@carlos82 where you are wrong, according to Nintendo, is that the Switch was NOT launched as a handheld device, it replaced the failing Wii U, the handheld bit was to allow play away from the TV, like the Wii U tried to do. But the handheld use over took docked play and here we are.

It was the Switch Lite that was launched as Nintendo's handheld device, as the DS was put on the scrap heap.

@zool Nintendo said that it's home and handheld consoles will no longer be different as it was developing the NX (Switch). It was designed to replace both and the 3DS was finished long before the Lite came out.

No matter how you want to spin it they are fundamentally the same console with the Lite just being an option for those that don't want to play on the TV.

For something not launched as a handheld it spends a lot of time looking like a handheld in Nintendo's first reveal of it https://youtu.be/f5uik5fgIaI

@carlos82 your comment 'It was designed to replace both and the 3DS was finished long before the Lite came out.' is not correct.

It was only when Nintendo realised the original Switch was being used more as a handheld that the Lite was rushed out. It didn't take long to build as it is only a stripped version, without the ability to be seen as a home console.

The DS/3ds was then finished for good. If Nintendo had not seem potential in the Lite, we would have had a new updated DS.

@zool of course it was, outside of Pokemon it was barely supported by Nintendo after the Switch launched

@zool
Nintendo Switch Is Now The Sixth Best-Selling Video Game System In Japan.

The statement reads as clear as day.

But a jealous and dishonest politician who doesn't want others to see the statement for what it is, could probably try to confuse others by shifting the goalposts to cater to his/her own selfish narrative.

Reminds me of the old "Switch sales should be compared to handheld sales!" argument. It's outsold the 3DS so that argument is out the window.

So what happens next? "The Switch Lite and Switch sales shouldn't be counted together!"
moving goalposts.gif

I'm not going to name any names, but we are in the presence of an Olympic athlete in this comment section. The gymnastics they are able to do and the hurdles they can jump over are gold medal-worthy.

@SundayTimes

You are comparing me to a dishonest politician?

But some politicians will bent and twist figures to make them fit the moment. A bit like adding handheld sales to console sales to inflate the totals. 😃

@zool

"Nintendo Switch Is Now The Sixth Best-Selling Video Game System In Japan."

Anyone who can read the post will see that there is no "split" of systems into handheld/hybrid/home/cloud gaming console...etc in the original statement. Now who is the person bending and twisting the above statement here?

Insisting that there should be a split into only "two" categories was something brought about by you, and you alone to fit your desired narrative.

@SundayTimes the clue is in the name Switch. Which one can't switch? Which one is a Switch in name only?

@zool Again you are ignoring the elephant in the room which is the perimeter clearly defined in the statement itself.

They are counting "systems".

Where in the post does it mention that the figures should be broken down into only 2 categories "handheld" and "home console", as vehemently insisted by you alone? 😃

@zool Which one runs Switch games and the Switch Operating System? Oh they both do. Never mind. Carry on. You're just not a fan of the Switch Lite. No problem.

@WiltonRoots there are a lot of vehicles that run on the same make of tyre but they are not all cars.

I bought a Switch Lite.