SSBU Ridley Switch OLED
Image: Nintendo Life

Well it's official, the humble and delightful little hybrid from Nintendo, the Switch, is now five years old. If you're in Japan, Australia or equivalent timezones, that is.

We have celebratory content on the way for this notable anniversary, though that'll be rolling out on our 3rd March as most of our team is in Europe and North America. Consider this our acknowledgement that we understand how time zones work.

The Switch deserves a party, too, especially when you think back to Nintendo's position before it launched. The Wii U had struggled commercially - failed, if you want to be blunt about it - and the 3DS had battled and scrapped its way to respectability. In going for a hybrid handheld-console approach Nintendo was taking a gamble and putting its figurative eggs in one basket. Five years later it's clear that the move truly paid off, with the system still going strong and having already surpassed the lifetime sales of the Wii.

In Japan, which is what this anniversary post is really about, the system continues to dominate the charts on a weekly basis, in both software and hardware sales. In Nintendo's homeland alone the Switch has sold over 24 million units.

So we raise our glass to Nintendo Switch, we just hope it acts surprised when we do the real celebrations in the coming days.