Switch Outsells Wii And PlayStation, Passes 100 Million Faster Than Any Other Home Console

Crikey McBlimey. That is all.

No surprise there. I think nintendo has finally found there signature console...... I hope.

Wow go on switch. It’s the console that just keeps on giving.

Wow, I have to admit I was originally on the fence that the switch could ever sell that many units back when I first bought it in 2017. The Wii U era made me a bit of a cynic. It’s a small bit of joy I feel because I absolutely adore my switch. I play it on every break at work. I love that I can dock it, and near instantaneously, it’s on my tv. It’s just wholly convenient in a way I find refreshing as an adult who can’t always play in front of a the big screen. Congrats Nintendo! Here’s hoping you iron out your wrinkles. Like switch online, and while gearing for the inevitable new console generation, I hope you look towards the cons as much as the pros and find a way to keep me hooked for your next console iterations. In the meantime, I’ll just sit in awe as I carry on knowing that we still have some top games that shall continue to carry the Switch higher.

Nintendoomed ❤️

Now let's break DS sales record with another 50 million more.

Wow It seems like only yesterday it was announced.

Where have all the analysts of the Wii U generation gone?

This is amazing when you realize that the PS4 has been on the market for nearly a decade and has sold 116M systems. The Switch meanwhile is casually approaching that in about half the time.

It's crazy to think about the fact that many people thought it would fail before it came out and even through its first year or two on the market. Now it's absolutely smashed sales records and I couldn't be happier. This is an amazing system with some of my favorite video games of all time (FE Three Houses, SMT V, Xenoblade, Smash, Mario Kart, Splatoon, and the abundance of other 3rd party games like JRPGs and shooters just to name a few).

Wow!! Impressive numbers and it is unstoppable!

Oh mercy. 90s me in the playground being ridiculed for my console preferences by PlayStation owners dreamed of news like this.

(It's all water under the bridge though. I love the PS1 now.)

And then people said it would flop. Where are those people now?

Well.. Playing on their Switches.

Surely to be Nintendo's best selling home console you'd have to deduct the Switch Lite's sales? It doesn't take away from the Switch's success, just more of an observation

I do wonder how much they profit per console sale.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/02/tatsumi_kimishima_expects_nintendo_switch_to_sell_about_as_well_as_the_wii

Kimishima redeemed!

Even during the early Switch success, people were doubtful if the momentum would carry long enough to surpass the Wii in terms of sales, yet here we are now. Now let's try to surpass the DS and PS2 So Nintendo can be the hardware king once again!

So it seems that Switch will take 3rd (beating Game Boy and PS4) by the end of March 2023 at the latest (holiday 2022 would seem most likely) unless the Switch's successor launches by then.

Love my Switch. Playing it last night in bed, Dusk, AirPods in, absolutely BRILLIANT. My son is mad about his, my daughter got her own for Christmas after always borrowing one of ours. Thank you Nintendo… and you’re welcome lol.

Now if only they'd bring back some quality of life stuff like the 3DS log that showed you how much you'd played what and how long your sessions were... Or folders in the Switch menu. That would be such a great addition

Love playing my Switch alongside my Series X, awesome combination.

Switch will outsell PS4 and Gameboy before the end of the year.

And yet companies like EA won't release their sports ball games on the system yet still release on garbage low selling consoles like the Xbox, boggles the mind.

This is the real take away from the latest Nintendo earnings report, game sales are insane, and at this rate Mario Kart 8 deluxe is going to finish on 60 million plus on the Switch alone.

– Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 43.35 million
– Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 37.62 million
– Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 27.40 million
– Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 25.80 million
– Pokemon Sword/Shield – 23.90 million
– Super Mario Odyssey – 23.02 million
– Super Mario Party – 17.39 million
– Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu / Eevee – 14.33 million
– Pokemon Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl – 13.97 million
– Ring Fit Adventure – 13.53 million
– New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – 12.72 million
– Luigi’s Mansion 3 – 11.04 million
– Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury – 8.85 million
– Mario Party Superstars – 5.43 million.
– Zelda: Skyward Sword HD – 3.85 million
– Metroid Dread – 2.74 million
– New Pokemon Snap – 2.36 million
– Mario Golf: Super Rush – 2.26 million
– Miitopia – 1.63 million
– Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain – 1.28 million
– WarioWare: Get It Together! – 1.24 million
– Game Builder Garage – 1.01 million

Nice to see brilliant Diamond and Pearl doing the business and silencing the critics, hopefully Legends will do the same, of course the naysayers will always fall back on sales do not equal quality or satisfaction etc etc.

Shame it doesn't deserve that, with all the hardware problems, no original Mario Kart, terrible online, etc etc.

@johnvboy
I don't see ARMS get mentioned... 😟

@TheAwesomeBowser,

Who is to say what is deserves or does not deserve, outside of personal subjective opinion of course, speaking of which in my own personal opinion it deserves every single sale, and is the best console Nintendo have ever made.

@Anti-Matter,

Arms just does not have the legs.

@TheAwesomeBowser "no original Mario Kart"

True, this is a shame but why are you ignoring all the good games like Mario Odyssey, XC2, Fire Emblem, Astral Chain, Luigi's Mansion 3 etc

The Switch (or Nintendo to be precice) has done more than enough to justify that number. But ofc it could be better

@johnvboy
I really wish cartoonish Boxing games get more appreciation.
There are too many mainstream sports in video games but Boxing almost never get appreciation.
I can dream the sequel of ARMS has more characters, proper storyline, Cardio Boxing workout mode, Normal Boxing mode, customization (characters and arena).
Fitness Boxing and the clones on Switch are not enough.

Excellent results thus far, well deserved imo. Gonna surpass the PS4 this year too and at a quicker pace.

@KryptoniteKrunch,

Looks like the Wii type rapid sales decline has been avoided, so where will the Naysayers and doom merchants go next, probably it's only selling because you can't buy a PS5 or Series X etc etc.....

How come Switch sold more units but 160 MILLION less games than the Wii?

The math doesn't add up. I don't think people bought more games for the Wii than for the Switch.

Switch sold 2.5X more than PS5 last quarter.

The peak holiday quarter for PS4 was Q4 2016 where it shipped 9.7M units. Switch still outsold that, even with supply constraints (particularly for the OLED model).

@Kumite
Attach rate grows over time.

@Kumite,

The Wii had a bit of an advantage with Wii Sports, as it sold 82.9 million copies but was a pack in game included with every console, so confused a little.

@mariomaster96,

Mario Kart 8 is a great game that deserved a much bigger audience than the Wii U could ever hope to provide, so no wonder Nintendo released a Deluxe version on the Switch, and most of the people buying it are doing so for the first time.

@johnvboy yeah, but Switch has tons of $0.99 - $9.99 eShop games the Wii didn't have.

I myself have 15+ never ever played indie games I bought on a sale, and I assume there are others like me of that 103 million buyers.
But also: Switch has some great free to plays the Wii didn't have.

Yay! This is great news. By the way what ever happened to that analyst, Michael Patcher I think was his name, we don't have good Nintendo critics like we used to. Good riddance I guess.

Going by the usual Nintendo trend however that means they get cocky and complacent and screw up the following generation

@johnvboy
Of the 179 million Switch games sold between April - December 2021, only 1.40 million copies (<1%) came from hardware bundles.

Completely different from the Wii, where Wii Sports (and later, Wii Sports Resort) were at one point bundled with every Wii unit sold outside of Japan.

I bought my switch a month after launch and as a more mature gamer, it has revolutionised my relationship with games. It's instant on nature and full fat gaming is priceless to me and has led me to finish 150 hr plus titles I would never had achieved if i had to be thethered to a tv. I sincerely hope the next gen 'switches' are (large) incremental improvements to what we have now, and maintain backwards compatability

@Kumite They aren't including digital only titles in those numbers

@westman98,

Thought that must have had an impact, and the fact these games were sold in Japan does iron out the issue I was having, so in short the Switch is doing pretty well software ratio wise, and this will only increase over time.

I have to admit when I first saw the ads for Switch - hipsters on roof tops playing Mario Kart in table top mode - I did think it was a pretty dumb idea and wondered who was going to buy it.

We've bought 3 in our household now, so I guess it's a good thing I have nothing to do with making or selling games consoles 😂

I'm still not sure there are many hipsters playing MK on rooftops though....

Best home/handheld console I’ve ever owned. It rekindled my love for gaming 😁

So in a years time and possibly around the last year of the switch life cycle I think it will easily finish 3rd place!

It's a little hard to accept it as the fastest selling home console when almost 20 million of the units sold are strictly handheld systems.

Not to take away from how impressive it is, but still.

Scary thing is it's just it 5th year in the market. What happens next we can all imagine.

Impressive! But counting the Switch Lite as a home console is just flat-out wrong.

@Kumite The Switch will most likely top the software sales of the Wii this year. Software doesn't sell linearly, long after the hardware stopped selling the Wii still sold software. It's always like this. The PS4 for example barely sells any hardware now, but still big amounts of software.

@Kumite None of these 1-10 bucks games are counted in the Switch's software total because Nintendo doesn't count digital only games.

they're killing it and I'm very happy about that. I only wish there were more first party titles, a new mario, donkey kong etc. could they make it to 200 million? I sure hope so

I have no doubts that it’ll overtake the PS4 and Gameboy before the end of this year.

end of 2022/begining of 2023 Switch might surpass PS4/Game Boy and become the third best selling hardware of all time.

I'll be the 3rd best selling console ever by the end of the year.

And at the rate it's going, I think it's becoming ever more apparent the PS2/DS days are numbered

This year seems to be even better for Switch... Predict that it will surpass PS4 in no time

Fascinating to see the Lite has already been overtaken by the OLED model in sales. Despite all the nifty colours and special editions of the Lite it doesn’t seem to have resonated with buyers as much as the hybrid models.

Still, it’s always good to see Nintendo doing well, I wonder if the Switch will be able to overtake the PS2 and take the crown? I think they’d probably need another serendipitous lockdown + Animal Crossing situation for that, but you never know!

@AmplifyMJ omg DUSK 😍 so great

@carlos82 I use my Lite as a home console. Use a grip stand thing to position it perfectly smack in front of my face and use a third party controller.

Sure it was only works for me, but that's just fine.

Switch will stop selling as soon as Steam Deck comes out. Failtendo won't be able to keep up and the world will be right again!

Those vocal nerds can complain all they want, people keep buying the thing, so specs clearly don't matter to the general audience.

This is awesome! Nintendo has always done better with handhelds, so merging the market was a great idea. I wonder if the Switch will ever outsell the DS, or even PS2!

But will it reach the 250m consoles they sold in the Wii/DS generation?

@Zuljaras I totally agree. Amongst specs race, DRM, achievement addiction, microtransactions and all other distractions, Switch actually brought back the most core aspect of gaming, fun.

didn't realize the PS4 sold so many units. Switch had past it years ago and I thought OK thats it. Sems to have gained momentum at some point.

Holy moley, the Switch cannot be stopped!

This is obviously only because no one can buy a PS5 right now…

/s

The best overall console of all time, given its library that covers all tastes and the sheer amount of playability: from the comfort of your home on TV, in bed handheld, on a mountain, etc. Absolutely unstoppable and well deserved.

Genuinely surprised the PS4 had sold more units than the Switch. Actually, I had assumed the PS3 had sold more than the PS4. Goes to show how little attention I've paid the other consoles the last couple of generations.

it will beat PS2, mark my words

Incredible! Now to outsell the ps4 and gameboy/ gameboy color this year, which will happen!

@Troll_Decimator the Switch would have been that all, had it provided much more horse power

@BlackenedHalo Most Definitely! And I hope it Does!

Well done, and to celebrate this milestone i will start to think about buying an OLED since it looks like the next system is at least 2 years away

@BlackenedHalo It has all the horsepower it needs for its amazing games. Smash, Kart and Mario 60, Zelda and Pokemon rock solid 30. All easy on the eyes, and some of the best visuals on handheld you're gonna get still despite not being as powerful as devices that cost 3 times the price. No complaints at all.

Alright then, it's decided - I'm going to do my part to push it to the top of the list and and buy 51460000 Switches this year. I think my wife will understand.

Take that Michael Pachter!

Wait… Nintendo Life is reporting on something positive for Nintendo? I thought I was on IGN for a minute.

Give it a few more years, and another revision, and Switch has a really good chance of seizing the throne from the PS2 altogether.

Amazing for a system that so many people insisted was a terrible idea that'd flop out of the gate and never recover.

Woof. Those Switch Lite sales, tho. Reminder that Michael Pachter thought Nintendo was stupid for not going all in on the Switch Lite and ditching the home console market entirely.

Why does the chart stop at GBA when it could have gone down another 6 mil and included the 3DS at 76m? 3DS is a Nintendo console, seems weird to cut it out b/c it's below a random 80mil number. I'm ok w/ leaving out the NES, SNES, N64, GC and Wii U, we all know those numbers were significantly lower, and those are much older consoles, but the 3DS was just last gen, seems relevant.🤷‍♂️

@johnvboy
Great compilation!
But, why Nintendo excludes Splatoon 2 from the list?

@SPL64,

There seems to be a few games missing, as Arms in not mentioned as well, hope Nintendo are not trying to tell us something about their future plans.

My favorite console of all time. The sheer variety and depth of the gaming lineup is outstanding. It got me back into gaming after stopping for a few years.

Such is the Power of Nintendo!

2017 takes
Ha! Good luck at that price. $299 = DOA. Nobody's gonna buy a Switch for that much when they can get [insert console here] for [insert price here]

4 yrs 9 months later > 103.5m sold
[crickets]

@rjejr
Because it's a top 10 list and 3DS isn't in the top 10

Nintendo needs to treat the Switch like a cell phone. Don't reinvent the wheel with your next console, but keep the Switch aspect, upgrade the specs, allow old software to continue working, and keep doing that indefinitely.

The big difference with the Switch and the Wii is that the Wii started out very, very strong, but then dropped like a rock and sold anemically after a few years. The Switch has been a constantly strong seller from the beginning.

Also, the Switch is going to end up winning the generation against PS4 and Xbox One. Blows my mind.

Remember when Iwata predicted that the “NX” would return Nintendo’s fortunes to Wii-like results? Seemed laughable at the time to many, as this was during the midst of WiiU’s collapse and peak Ninten-doom.

Somewhere, I hope Iwata is seeing this. Truly a visionary president who is still missed.

If Nintendo dropped the price of the Switch OLED, Switch Lite, and base Switch this year, they could easily dominate the PS4, PS4 Pro, PS4 Slim, Game Boy, Game Boy Play It Loud series model, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Light, Game Boy Color, DS Fat, DS Lite, DSi, DSi XL, PS2 Fat, PS2 Slim, and PSX sooner instead of 3 more years.

Dedicated gaming platforms, yet you listed the PS2 which was a DVD (movies/tv shows) player as well.
In fact, the ONLY reason the PS2 sold as well as it did was because it had a DVD player.
The PS2 was the cheapest DVD player at the time!
The next closest in price was double the PS2!

@johnvboy Yeah I plan on getting a Series X later this year when Starfield releases

@Spider-Kev Just like PS3 was the cheapest blu ray player when it first released

@Desa Oh man, same. I thought 50 million lifetime sales was optimistic. Oh, how wrong I was!

No exclusive Mario Kart
No exclusive Zelda

And the system is still selling well.

As of right now, WiiU and Switch are the only systems without a dedicated Zelda game!

@kingbk You mean treat like the Game Boy, the cellphone is not gaming. They could add new features to it and more powers but as long as they don't force new gimmick down our throats it'll be good. SSD is getting cheaper so getting anything up to 1tb storage for the next system should be expected, I also expect the next-gen Switch to at least get 8-16gb of ram. The portable screen should be 1080p as well and is backwards compatible with last gen games. As for the store front they could give it a redesign with the last gen and next gen games getting their own section and with games that work on both in the center.

Old News this was pointed out a week and half ago.. Nintendolife is behind on the times

@Spider-Kev Breath of the Wild is a Wii U dedicated Zelda game, the Switch is getting the sequel. Also Switch had Mario Kart Live, it just wasn't a traditional Mario Kart like MK8 Deluxe.

@kingbk That's cause when the mobile phones came into the pictures, the casual crowd all left the Wii. Also by 2011 motion control feels like a fad, only a few still kept their Wii. The traditional gamers who wants to play their Wii games in HD went with the Wii U, those who are disappointed with the Wii went to either with the PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, or Xbox One.

Also by that point the PC market is getting hype, games that usually never had a presence on PC finally came to PC. Another reason for the Wii's downfall in the 2010s is that by that point the Wii is the only console that is still not in HD and the media already moved on to HD, those who had CRT TV had upgraded to HDTV by that point and had no reason to keep a SD compatible device.

Nintendo stripping the Wii of its features in later models also didn't help the Wii either, with the Wii Family Edition they took out GameCube backwards compatibility and with the Wii Mini they took out that and internet connectivity altogether making it even more easier to hack. With no internet connectivity to secured the system, hackers was able to create emulators and play hack games from NES, SNES, NeoGeo, Dreamcast, N64, MAME, PS1, PS2, GameCube, Xbox, GameCube, etc., on the Wii Mini. Jailbreaking the Wii Mini is also very easy and allow hackers to make the console region free thus allowing the system to be able to play imports like Fatal Frame IV, Earth Seeker, and Tales of Graces.

@Spider-Kev botw 2 is coming out this year.

But if this hadn't happened NintenDoomed fandom would be cherring as well but so far they keep repeating dead old lines just to make themselves happy.

@JustMonika,

Was pretty easy to get one on Amazon just before Christmas, must of has a massive shipment.

@Kumite because people bought games in years after purchasing one?

Back when they revealed the Switch, I was one of the people who said that Nintendo hit a home run with the concept and it would be a huge hit as long as they didn't screw it up, like pricing it way too high. And while I think they could have done a few things better, they didn't screw it up and it was the smash hit I thought it would be. I never understood how some people thought it would be a flop.

It is an extremely impressive number...however, when you consider the fact that, in previous generations, Nintendo was selling consoles and handhelds at the same time, the number 103 million units seems just ever so slightly less so.

The Wii+DS combo ended up with 255 million units sold - a number which absolutely dwarfs the Switch and will likely remain forever out of reach.

That having been said, 103 million units is still impressive, as it already strongly exceeds the Wii U+3DS 90 million combo and it will very soon surpass the GCN+GBA's 104.5 combined units. It could also eventually outsell N64+GB/C (but that one is a toss-up, as the different versions of the GB line make it more difficult to quantify).

That said, the Switch is still selling and while I don't think it'll sniff the total sales of Wii+DS, it'll probably end up coming close to or exceeding PS2 which, of course, would be a hugely impressive feat.

@Gavintendo It is the fastest home console since you could play it at home and on the go even if it's just the Switch Lite.

@electrolite77 Besides the rise of the smartphone having completely altered the portable gaming arena since the DS, it also should be remembered when trying to compare Switch sales statistics to the Wii/DS numbers that a significant percentage of customers bought both a Wii and a DS that generation.

There's obviously little need for that with the Switch. Unless one bought the Switch Lite, they purchased both Nintendo's handheld and console with their single Switch/Switch OLED purchase. That fact alone breaks the ability to do a proper comparison with that earlier generation

If we say that 80 million of those Wii's went to a customer that already owned a DS (or would go on to later buy a DS), those are 80 million hardware units that the Switch simply doesn't have to sell in order to equal Nintendo's customer reach during the Wii/DS generation since the Switch is both Nintendo's handheld and console in a single unit.

@johnvboy Did Super Mario Maker 2 not make the list? I wonder how many games it sold?

@Specter_of-the_OLED You can do that with a DS, so by that logic the DS is Nintendo's best selling home console.

By the way, we should not forget that for Nintendo internally, the Switch’s sales have to compete with their previous sales figures of homeconsoles and handhelds combined. Like DS+Wii, 3DS+WiiU as all of their revenue now comes from one single system. I guess even from that standpoint it might work quite fine compared to their last combo-gen, but definitely not as great compared to Wii+DS. Of course that also did cost more production and marketing and so on, but all in all they might have gained way more profits back then, especially considering how much more money they saved on the Wii. The Switch might have underpowered hardware compared to a home console, but the relation but thats because its a portable. Wii was just underpowered, period. definitely cheaper back then.

They already revised their 2021 numbers down a little as well as 2022 forecasts, but honestly this is just because of chip shortage/supply chain issues. I mean they are still predicting 20M sales for 22 which is amazing for what will be the systems 6th year of sales. Its gonna keep selling well because they are going to keep pushing top games and it will keep getting selective rehashes and 3rd party games, and it exists in a niche with fairly little competition. I was amazed to see Sony is only predicting 12M PS5 sales for the coming year. The pandemic is really hurting gaming companies no doubt. I'm just thankful that the Switch was a well-conceived hit because it has Nintendo riding high and allowed them to put out a lot of great games that have a platform to sell great on. Zelda BOTW, FE3H, MarioO, and AC are the best iterations of those series to date. Same could be said for Dread (being best 2D Metriod). I still think they are missing a huge opportunity by not releasing a Switch Home Mini. They could make that so cheap and release it with a pro controller for like $179 and then have a home only option for those that want it or those that would rather have a light and then a home option instead of the hybrid. I thought the VITATV was a cool concept (mini console) but most the games for Vita were only 540p so didn't look that great on anything bigger than about a 20" monitor. Will it get past 150M units....maybe....that depends on how many more years they keep it around and how many more 10M+ selling titles they can push out on it.

Based solely on the spread between Lite & non-Lite sales #'s, consumers clearly see value in the docked versions & detachable Joycons.

Beat Wii sales #'s without even a price drop on the regular Switch... GD!

What are the most anticipated games other than BoW2? Metroid Prime 4 not gonna break any records. I'm afraid the momentum will slow down.

Absolutely insane numbers from Switch. I remember being in high school and wondering if the DS could outsell the PS2. It came so close but never did. I wonder if Switch will be able to do so.

Pretty awesome, but when looking at the full history of console sales, we should keep in my population growth. America has almost 80 MILLION more people than it did in 1990 for example.

@dimi Hmm, Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot Camp may be niche, but it can get some fans onboard since it's the first installment of the series in over 10 years. Other than that, I expect BotW2 and the evergreen titles to carry the Switch in 2022. Don't forget Pokémon Legends Arceus just came out too, so that will keep sales going for a few months.

Perhaps when it overtakes the Game Boy, Nintendo will celebrate by releasing a Game Boy service for NSO.

Also, not mentioned in the article or comments is that the Wii U's total of 13.56, while paltry, is enough to combine with the Switch to give Nintendo the crown for generation 8 even without the 3DS, depending on what you count as generation 8. They total 117.1 which is above even the 116.9 for PS4 on Wikipedia.

The NSO has gotten better and better, at least for me. I'm playing the N64 app almost every day. I still wish we could have better systems for voice chat or getting friends for games, but overall I think it's great.

The eShop I wish did a better job letting you find the good games to play. Letting new titles or best sellers be first on the list makes it so many great new titles get lost in the sea of low budget crude that gets released every day. SwitchUp on YouTube has helped me find good titles to play.

At the minimum the Switch will be the 3rd best selling console of all time.
With the DS and PS2 thats a tough milestone but not impossible.

@Kumite 100 million are the Wii sports pack in so only 60 million more in reality and that's expected over a much longer life cycle.

Not taking away from Nintendo's awesome success but two key factors are missing here. 1 Sony stopped production of PS4 awhile back and 2nd Sony and Microsoft are able to make as many systems due to the shortage there experiencing. But hey there taking advantage of that so kudos to them. But they better strike while the irons hot cause once there able to mass produce the landscape will look whole lot different.

@Multiplatfan Even if the chip shortages weren't a thing the Switch would still easily be on top sales wise in every category.
I don't think the sales would be that dramatically better if thats what you're implying.

@iLikeUrAttitude opinions arent facts when production of the PS4 were halted it sold more than the switch. And when the PS5 came out it was the fastest selling console feel free to look it up. The switches sales are amazing but it's due to two things 1 it's a great console and 2 Sony couldn't mass produce ps5's.

@Multiplatfan
You're right opinions aren't facts, thats why you're obviously wrong.
Even when the PS4 sales were still strong when the Switch came out it overshadowed it and eventually completely dominated it as well as the market in general. After the PS5 launcehd too the switch still dramatically outsold it.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/06/nintendo_switch_has_been_the_us_best-selling_console_for_30_months_in_a_row

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/01/nintendo_switch_is_the_fastest_selling_console_in_us_history_with_4_8_million_units_sold

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/12/nintendo_switch_becomes_the_fastest-selling_console_of_this_generation_in_the_us

And the switch was the best selling console in the UK, USA and Japan last year too. I'll edit this comment with the sources later but you get the point.

And the switch continues to be the best selling console.
At best the PS5 probably outsold the Switch when it launched and thats about it. Now if you could actually back up what you're saying by all means do so, but I doubt you can.

Even if the PS5 were to meet its demand the Switch's demand and momentum is still far higher.

@dimi
Take a look at the top 10.

That's all back catalog.

Switch doesn't need "new games" to keep the momentum. It'll sell another 5 years on back catalog alone. That's what ppl are buying the system for. New games just keep adding even more value. They could stop making games tomorrow and Switch would still likely coast to the PS2 record. But, having games like Pokémon Arceus, Bayonetta 3, Mario Rabbids Spark of Hope, Triangle Strategy, Advance Wars, Splatoon 3, Zelda BotW 2, Metroid Prime 4, Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak... all those games keep piling on the value. More and more and more value. On top of the insane evergreen, always-system-selling backlog.

@iLikeUrAttitude @Multiplatfan

Switch sold 28m consoles last year and was originally forecasted to sell 26m this FY if not for the shortage which saw a double revision down to 23m.

PS5 was never in a million years going to sell 26m consoles this FY. Even PS2 and PS4 in their glory days never sold more than 22m in a year. Even without the shortage for PS5, but WITH the shortage for Switch, it still wouldn't have come close.

The numbers don't lie. No PS console has ever done the numbers Switch is doing right now, even despite the shortage.

That's not to say PS5 isn't doing well. It's doing great. But not even a miracle could have saved PS5 from Switch this year.

@Atariboy Good point. I failed to account for the fact that a majority of Wii owners likely also owned a DS, so - with that in mind - it could be that the Switch has achieved the same number of unique owners as Wii+DS, or possibly even more. I tend to not that think that the latter is likely, seeing as how there were a lot of folks who bought a Wii for Wii Sports and literally nothing else, however it could be pretty close.

@Specter_of-the_OLED
Breath of the Wild is NOT a dedicated WiiU game, it was released on the Switch at the same time.

@JaxonH Yeah my thoughts exactly.
Even if the supply shortages didn't exist, the PS5 would still be well behind the switch sales wise.

@RainbowGazelle The Switch really should not be compared to the Wii but rather the DS. Considering it's a replacement to both the handheld and home console, when you combine that generation in Nintendo's gaming you really are competing with 250+ million console sales.

@Spider-Kev That may have been the case in the early 2000s, but by 2006 I doubt anyone bought a PS2 just to play DVDs. The Switch has outpaced the PS2 in sales. The next two years could be telling if Switch can maintain its pace. I think it has chance to outsell the PS2.

I think compare it to the Wii and celebrate its success absolutely but remember the crazy sales for the Wii were against the backdrop of even crazier sales for the DS. The switch is one unit and definitely doing much better than the 3DS/WiiU era but doesn’t compare to Wii/DS era (probably nothing ever will). I’m happy though I love my switch and love seeing Nintendo grab headlines this way with the positive news for a brave (if overdue) move like Legends Arceus also.

It's success is as well deserved as the Wii U's failure. I just hope Nintendo are done with gimmicks now. A console should just be a platform for great games.

Think it’ll overtake PS4 and game boy. Not sure about ps2 and the DS

I’m so happy that the ‘mobile gaming’ trend turned out to not dominate. Console/PC gaming is seen as the ‘real’ gaming these days, and the switch and its games had no small part in this

Because nobody ask for, but it's need, XD

@electrolite77 i knew these numbers last week

Nintendo's 1-2 punch of the DS + Wii is hard to beat, even if you add Switch Lite + Switch.

@johnvboy "Best Nintendo console" Way to just completely ignore the SNES, 3DS, Wii, etc.

@TheAwesomeBowser "No original Mario Kart" points at Mario Kart Live
"ThAt'S a SpInOfF" aaaand? It's more like Mario Kart than Tour wishes to be.

@TheAwesomeBowser,

It's called a personal opinion, and in mine it's the best Nintendo console, not in anyway suggesting the others are rubbish, in fact the Wii U was awesome.

@electrolite77 Again wrong i got the numbers right long before they were here...get your facts right kiddo.... Goodbye!

Hmm interesting... I wonder which will surpass the Game Boy line first - the Switch or the PS4?

This is impressive considering the PS4 was released less than 4 years before the Switch.

@johnvboy "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe outsells the NES. More at 11"