Switch 2 Sets "All-Time" Launch Record For Video Game Hardware In The US

I wonder how big of a seller DK Bananza will be. Returns sold 6 million on Wii and Freeze sold 4 million on Switch.

I have a feeling 3D DK may not be as popular …

Now bring on the games, especially MP4. A direct would be cool

Maybe all the anti-fans will stop calling this a failed launch now. Who am I kidding, they'll always invent new rationales.

@LazyDaisy I'm hesitant because DK64 could be my least favorite style of game, but the odyssey team did great with the last Mario.
So waiting on more info, but it at least looks charming

Not yet.
I still wait until there is White bundle + new Animal Crossing for Switch 2.

It's a shame the UK is seemingly the only region the Switch 2 couldn't conquer but this is excellent news

@rvcolem1 I mean, DK64 was a Rare game way back on the N64. So it's not even comparable to the new game.

This is a great start for Nintendo but we still need a good 2-3 years to determine if it's a successful console or not.

Nintendo's customer base has grown substantially since 2017, which also means that the percentage of die hards that will buy no matter what has grown substantially as well. The die hards are always the first people to buy a new product, they are the first group in sales. The second are the "wait and see" group, and the third group always buys just before the product is pulled from the shelves. The real question is how many people in the second group with continue to support Nintendo.

Personally, the games that are coming are what is persuading me to buy one (or should I say persuaded). MP4, DKB, and don’t get me started on SR.

So hyped to get mine tomorrow. Hitman and Yakuza are my top picks. We'll deserved!

And people thought Mario Kart World would be a bad launch game.

I think Bananza will benefit greatly from the fact that everyone pretty much only has 1 or maybe 2 Switch 2 games.

@somnambulance yeah I almost got street fighter 6, then season 3 got announced so I can wait. I had a decent backlog, so I'm good for now

@MARl0 I was mostly being silly as n64 collectathons (banjo style), farm life sims and most sonic games are wood to my green lantern. Also because that is the only 3d experience I've had with donkey kong. Well at least in video games.

@Jumwa Yeah, they've already moved the goalposts. I mean, they're not a hive mind (or are they?), but at first the launch would fail, and now it's "obvious" that the Switch would sell well to hardcore fans — but it won't continue to sell well a year from now.

Does that include the units "sold" and immediately relisted at marked-up prices?

Hopefully they will keep pumping stock into the channel so that availability improves, but I asked a local retailer how many Switch 2 consoles they got this week and the answer was six.

IIRC the PS4 launch was smoother in terms of being able to purchase consoles at list price. The Switch 2 launch seems more like the PS5 launch in terms of availability at list price, though Nintendo does seem to have delivered more systems per week so far.

News just in:

Sony has discovered an extra million launch-week sales for the PS4 that it previously forgot to mention.

@somnambulance Welcome to early adoption of a video game system. I remember my nephew getting a Sega Saturn & N64 day one. He was in agony at the slow trickle of games. With the PS2 he waited till Christmas 2001 and there was so many games to choose from. From that point he waits 6 months to a year with all system purchases so he doesn’t instantly regret it.

Most launches don't have enough consoles available. Switch 2 has been sitting in store rooms a while because they kept pushing back the release to stock up it seems.

How much of these records are just because they actually had enough to sell at lunch?

The next round of sales will be more telling after the early adopters, youtubers, scalpers, and diehards.

@speedracer216
They kept pushing back the release? Any source for that claim?

@blecch - This is nothing like the PS5 launch. The Switch 2 is getting quicker restocks than the PS5 did and scalper prices on FB marketplace are dropping by the day because Nintendo has been doing a great job keeping up with the early demand.

All console releases has inflated secondary prices at launch, this is the first time any company has been able to mitigate it.

@somnambulance I was very foolish this week. Bought Hitman, Cyberpunk 2077, Yakuza 0, Fantasy Life I... 😅

@LazyDaisy it will be difficult to judge that game on sales at least initially.

The install base of the console is only 3.5m and DK doesn't have a huge pull like some of the other characters in Nintendo's arsenal.

On the other side though it will likely benefit from the lack of real options for other brand new titles.

So it's a bit of an odd one and quite hard to judge I think.

I'll be skipping this one until my arm gets twisted with Mario and Zelda. That's as far as my restraint will most likely extend. Sucks to miss a launch but I'll be fine. I've found that I need carts for my favorite Switch 1 games, and never really thought about that. The absolute must have bangers I got digitally as soon as I could.

So many people trying to explain away this success and I don't get it. Yeah momentum may drop off and I don't expect it to do S1 numbers in the long run but the steady stream of 1st party stuff along with the fact that most 3rd party titles will now run on S2 and you have a machine that has very little compromise to it and still fits into people's lives.

@Medic_alert So many people trying to explain away this success and I don't get it.
It's called they got butte hurt feelings they wanted Switch 2 to go away and instead it was a runaway success sales figures.

@Medic_alert it really is all over the place. Hell, I was hoping for a 3DS style backlash, and I'm not getting one until at least an OLED revamp. I still acknowledge it seems to be killing it.

@Medic_alert I'm not sure it can't/won't do S1 numbers long term. Whilst inherently less exciting it has a few big advantages.

1 - Nintendo's relationship with 3rd parties (devs and publishers but also retail partners) is significantly stronger than it was at the end of the Wii U era.

2 - The long term decline of XBox as a viable console platform for the mass market.

3 - The roll over of customers into an upgraded experience. We're all talking about how much better it is to play ToTK and BoTW on S2. How Mario Odyssey looks much better and loads faster etc. It makes S2 a natural and essential upgrade if you invested heavily into the S1 ecosystem.

I'm not saying that S2 will do S1 numbers - only that there are reasons to think it might be closer than many are automatically assuming.

@LazyDaisy I think it'll gain a significant boost over those by virtue of being the only first party title on the system aside from Mario Kart. People who bought the console want to see what the new hardware is capable of and are spoiling for AAA Nintendo games built for it.

Huh so the constant anti Nintendo propaganda by random youtubers didn't work? How surprising.

@Jumwa YUGA ENJOYER SPOTTED! NINTENDO SWITCH 2 WILL NOW SELL A YUGAILLON COPIES.

@Galaxy2IsTheGOAT

Yeah, the fact that there isn't a 'proper' new Switch 2 game will greatly affect the sales of Bananza, now we just have to wait for Nintendo to pull their socks up and go ahead and release a new Mario and Zelda, even if it's only a OOT remake, c'mon Nintendo where's all the new first party games.. Mario Kart World is fine but it's still the same old s*** different day stuff! we need more new games Now!

@Otoemetry UK is currently going through rough economic times, more so than other regions, so that’s got to be a contributing factor. Cost of living for basic necessities is climbing ever higher.

@StuTwo I just think the S1 was such a runaway success i think with higher prices and less of a novelty and hopefully no more pandemic like situations the S2 may just struggle to get itself into as many hands.

I agree with you assessment of the machine and the experience of third party AAA games like Hogwarts and Cyberpunk is certainly good enough for the masses to be enticing so we will see.

The main thing now is more console stock into the retailers.
I have managed to get one really easy for preorder and I know a few that got on launch day.

But the UK seems totally out of stock now, I haven’t seen a restock yet but Smyths Toys are saying around the 20th of June.

@Otoemetry I can’t give you exact numbers but I don’t believe for a minute that Switch 2 didn’t perform very well in the U.K. over the last week. It’s had great stock levels too. I’ve seen it go out of stock and back in numerous times in the lead up to launch and since.

Unbelievable. They have 1 new game out and people are running to get this thing. Dont even know what to say.
I bought one myself so im part of the problem (i still refuse to buy games for 90 OR digital though, wind waker it is)

So long as my wallet did not contribute to this. I can continue to play my 3DS/Switch 1, and PS4. Too much backlog to add another system. (Gave my nephew my Wii U, and a friend of mine a 2DS XL, and PSvita.)

@Medic_alert I don’t know. I think people work remarkably through a sense of inertia. They look for what they know to be a reliable brand over and over again - even if the brand has long depreciated or become otherwise irrelevant. S1 didn’t have this (only the strength of a wounded Nintendo brand which was still enough) - S2 has it bequeathed from the original.

People still go to shops and ask for the latest “GameBoy” for their kids or grandkids. For decades into the future a large number of people will automatically go into shops asking for “the latest Switch” whenever their old one breaks or the kids get old enough.

It’s not enough in itself to sustain S1 level sales but I really don’t think S2 has to necessarily do anything like as good a job at marketing to hit S1 numbers.

The more wildly this console succeeds, the funnier the negativity campaign online becomes.

@Fazermint Huh so the constant anti Nintendo propaganda by random youtubers didn't work? How surprising.
And some of those bought Switch 2 when they really shouldn't buy a Switch 2 for all the excuses they talked about.

@hashkey But somehow there are still loads of consoles being sold on ebay for $600+.

I am not surprised by this news at all. I am just glad I was able to secure one myself. I would have been a little disappointed waiting on the side for the chance to get one while everyone else was having fun.

@arabiansanchez oh no you misunderstand me, there was an article about how it's the biggest Nintendo launch ever (which is great!) I'm just lamenting the fact that even being the biggest Nintendo launch here it couldn't pass the most recent Xbox or PlayStation launch numbers. I think @Cakefish has the answer though, I haven't been able to afford one yet and neither have the other Nintendo gamers in my life so anecdotally at least I think this is the reason why

@Otoemetry

I made a pretty good prediction about its release timing months ago, and the price was within my estimate. Saved very slowly for a looooong time. Any console is a big investment, yeah.

From what I gather the U.K. is a weak market for Nintendo, but the Switch 2 is its biggest launch success by quite a bit. It’s true that many UK gamers have an idea of maturity meaning Call of Duty and FIFA etc are what’s on the gaming menu.

I saw an estimate of 160,000 sold in launch week in the UK, and 200,000 in France (which has a near identical population).

If you pump that up to reflect, say, the US population, at 5x here, you’d be looking at 800,000. It actually sold 1.1m in the USA. So the British interest was 30% less than the American.

All a fluffy way of saying, they could’ve been better but they’re still quite good.

@hashkey Yes. I filtered by completed items. So I would see all consoles that sold and all that went unsold. Every console sold for 600 (or more with some as high as 750) and some did not include Mario Kart. I didn't see any that went unsold.

@arabiansanchez definitely, it's just gonna take a while to build the market up. The Switch did massive heavy lifting but Nintendo have to continue doing what they're doing if they want to compete with PlayStation here, and to a lesser extent Xbox for which the UK is pretty much its only well performing market 😆
Nintendo used to ignore the UK for the most part, we only got their consoles by the good fortune of sharing a language with America. I suppose as Nintendo has slowly let itself become a more global corporation we've benefited from their increased investment but let me tell you those early days as a Nintendo fan in the UK were ROUGH 😂

with so many games coming out this next month and beyond switch 2 lineup looks so good.

@Otoemetry I’m not going to reveal my actual age but I do remember when the NES was current. I’ve seen it all! There have been some real lows.

The N64 release schedule was DIRE in its later life.

Switch and Switch 2 will probably be their most consistent period of success here. Long may it continue.

Great news for Nintendo! I was showing an in-law my new Switch 2 the other day, (they're mostly PC gamer) and they were surprised that a new Switch console released! A funny reminder that some people really do live inside their own little news bubbles. I showed them Hogwarts Legacy running in tablet mode, and they were genuinely shocked that a handheld could run the game so well and look that good.

@Anti-Matter Uh, that window font representing the O in Home Town kinda resembles a crosshair. . . 😨

@cedarhyped I've owned every game system released in the US with the exception of the PS5 Pro and the Switch 2. I'll be getting the Switch 2 soon. I have to say Sony "Fanboys" are the absolute worse. Why people become so vicious trying to "protect" their $500 purchase blows me away. I like Nintendo, but they're just a huge corporation, I don't defend them. The Switch 2 will most certainly become a huge success regardless of what fragile little fanboys want to think.

@arabiansanchez I was a bit young for the NES but I lost many an hour on the family SNES, I totally agree about the N64 and then my beloved GameCube... it was hard being a Nintendo fan back then, I guess it didn't help that Sony had two majorly successful consoles in a row while Nintendo was failing to capture people's attention but the games from those years count as some of my favourites! Here's hoping Nintendo have got some decent games in the pipeline so the success of launch can continue 😁

@prw_88 It's really obvious that it's going to keep selling and be very successful. The only way for that not to happen would be for Nintendo to either just stop developing games or make only mediocre to bad games all of a sudden.

@hashkey "Yes, it's had a very good launch. No, a good launch doesn't always translate into a successful lifetime (the opposite also applies)."

While some less successful consoles had good launches like the Xbox One, this launch is way beyond any other launch ever before. This is not just a good or solid launch. With 1.1 million consoles sold from June 5th to 7th, not even including Sunday and also not including the mynintendo store, it sold more than the PS4 sold in the entirety of November 2013. With the mynintendo store the gap is so large it's not even funny. The same applies for it's launch in various other countries and worldwide. Spain, France, even in Portugal it had the biggest launch ever. A console with such a massive launch is not just going to die quickly out of nowhere and fail to sell 50 million units lifetime.

@Otoemetry

Absolutely!

Honestly, as a launch period, as Nintendo called it during Switch 1, I’m pretty happy. Some 3rd party things I missed are actually playable now on this console- Cyberpunk, No Man’s Sky, Split Fiction- and from them we’ve got

MKW
DK: Bananza
HW: Age of Imprisonment
MP4: Beyond

and we’re STILL waiting on Silksong haha. But we’re on for 2025 allegedly.

I’m not made of money, nor do I have the time unfortunately , so that’s a huge amount of content. I can’t complain

That's a good point. I wonder what the sweet spot is... like if every system had 4 million available at launch, how many systems would sell that many? or would you hit the place where you have them left over.

Does scarcity create demand so people buy every last one? Or would they buy one anyway? Does a bunch sitting on the shelf cool demand (cuz I can pick it up later)...

@speedracer216 I have no doubt many people (myself included) picked one up out of FOMO. But also because there is a non zero percent chance that the price of the console will actually rise over time. Normally, I would not rush out and get a new console for one or two games. I already have a steam deck (and the og switch) and those could easily have held me over until there were more games I was interested in. But due to mostly full backwards compatibility and the fact that there is chance that the price would rise, means that it makes more sense to buy now than to wait and probably pay more later.

@LazyDaisy I recently found my old DK64 strategy guide. Took me back to how ANNOYING THIS GAME IS!

@Otoemetry Bear in mind that the numbers don't include the MyNintendo sales. With the invite only pre order option routinely restocked, I expect many purchases via that route not included in the UK total.

Wait, I thought no one was going to buy the game?

A strong launch was always on the cards, the question is momentum.

DKB is the last switch 2 game for 2025?

As all the other scheduled releases are actually switch 1 games with upscale.
Metroid 4
Pokemon ZA

I don't regret the purchase because I know it will see play. But the console is overpriced considering what Nintendo cheaped out on.

No excuse for the soft plastic screen film atop a super thin glass screen that is prone to firing out glass shards when cracked. Gorilla Glass is the minimum standard here.

I initially gave a pass to the no hall effect sticks on the joy-cons because I thought the system magnets would interfere, but since hall-effect mods are already being made, it's clear Nintendo could've figured something out here.

The dock feels super flimsy despite being a more powerful and more important component.

And Mario Kart World is filled with half-baked new ideas. That it commands such a high price on its own is a joke.

But what can you do? Nintendo knows they can get away with sub-par quality for premium pricing.

@Medic_alert Only only 3.5m, in 4 days! By the end of the month, it'll be closer to 5 million units, such a great start for a console.

@jolteon23 I want it. I will replace my black Switch 2 the second this launches.
Unfortunately some of us aren't made of money to just trade-in. I spent enough on two Switch 2 and hardware that I can't just pull it from "where the sun don't sunshine" like the rest of us without disposable income can do. Even if they make White Switch 2, Mario Switch 2, Pokémon Switch 2-I be furious but what can I do but sit and cry spilled milk all day....ugh...

@BTB20 SW1 had people that hadn't bought a Nintendo console since SNES or N64. How many of those people will jump to SW2? How many people will choose steam deck over SW2? Will parents keep buying it for their kids even though their bill have doubled or tripled since 2017? Do people that have kids even have time to play video games to justify the purchase? Most first party games since TotK had serious issues. Maybe I am old but I noticed that since the Wii, Nintendo games are not anywhere near as good as they used to be. MKW is one of the lowest rated kart games since MK64. What is the definition of success after the SW1?

Only time will tell.

@prw_88 "How many people will choose steam deck over SW2?"
Is that a serious question? You're still acting like any notable amount of people actually buy the Steam Deck? It sold below 5 million in a timeframe in which the Switch sold almost 50 million. And the Switch 2 is more capable than the Steam Deck and they still don't actually compete for the exact same audience as people who want a gaming console won't buy a Steam Deck.

Here's what metascores the various Mario Kart games got:

• Mario Kart 64: 83
• Mario Kart: Super Circuit: 93
• Mario Kart: Double Dash: 87
• Mario Kart DS: 91
• Mario Kart Wii: 82
• Mario Kart 7: 85
• Mario Kart 8: 88
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: 92
  (MK Live: Home Circuit: 75)
  Some are higher, some are lower, notably the still very popular Wii entry.

If you wanna talk about how their games are rated in general, you would've had an argument im 2015 or 2016, but not nowadays.
Some of the other things you said are unsurprisingly mirroring exactly what people were saying in 2017. Especially with parents not going to buy it for their children because it's apparently to expensive.

What serious issues did most first party games have since TotK? Framerate issues for EoW and Endless Ocean was a disappointment. Other than that idk what you're talking about. Was Brothership disappointing to you? Not enough graphical upgrades for LM2 HD and DKCR HD? Are those "serious issues"?

Your price related questions all apply to the PS5 even more so. And yet even despite price increases on top of an already higher price it's going to cross 100 million sold.

Success after the Switch 1 is what success for any console is: selling a lot and making a lot of money. Over 100 million is the minimum bar I'd say, right now.

@Jumwa They gotta find something to be unhappy about, how the internet works sadly.

@BuckStud I think all fan groups can be nuts, but I’ve noticed Sony fans are a bit crazier. Put another way: Sony fans spend more time thinking about Nintendo than Nintendo fans spend thinking about Sony.

I'm glad it's setting records but I do wish I could buy one already, everytime I look there out of stock reminds me when people went nuts over the Wii's release.

@cedarhyped This seems to be true.
I thought the PS4 was kinda meh, but I really miss how amazing the PS3 and even PS Vita was even if the latter wasn't really supported it was still a fun system

@Duncanballs do we know that's definitely the case in the UK? I'm sure I've read each country has different tracking systems and I was under the impression sales on the UK my Nintendo store did count towards our charts... maybe @Olliemar28 or @AlanaHagues could shed some light on it for us?

@arabiansanchez I have to be honest, I'm just not that enthused by DKB. I've never really been a huge DK fan and though I do usually buy the games they're not system sellers for me, none of the Switch 2 exclusive games are making me desperate to buy the console and I'm so uninterested in frame rate bumps that I'm struggling to care about the S2 "upgrades" when I can (and have) played those games to death on my OLED.
I'm also very much not made of money so the way Nintendo has used their old games to bolster the launch lineup just isn't for me, I need an essential AAA title from Nintendo to really grab me and unfortunately at the moment that title doesn't appear to exist. I'm sure it will come soon enough, but I have a feeling I will be waiting til the end of the year at least before I bite.

@BTB20 I am not a SW2 hater and you're treating me as such. I'm telling you is that it was foolish for people to say that the launch would be a failure before the launch and it's just as foolish to say it's going to be a success after the first month with record-breaking sales. It's best to not to live in absolutes.

Your right about steam deck.

In regards to the ratings I used NL. I should have clarified that.

Yes after tears of the Kingdom for the most part there's been a ton of frame rate issues, or overpriced remakes/remasters, or game design that I didn't agree with. Mostly it's the game design for me.

According to brave browser AI 43% of switch users are between the ages of 25 and 34. You know what else is happening in that age group? Marriages, kids, mortgages, retirement, auto loans, student loans, etc. Most people probably have the money to pay for it but it doesn't mean it's a wise investment as you age. Or even have time to play it. I was not upset at the price increases because it matches what it should be today. But I have learned over the years that's not worth paying $80, or even $60, for a game that's only 15 to 20 hours worth of content, for the most part. But that's just me.

I know it's antidotal but most of the people I know that haven't purchased a Nintendo product since the late 90s bought a switch. Can Nintendo retain them?

So far Nintendo retained 2.3% of their customer base in one month. it cannot be denied at how much of a great achievement this is but there is still a long way to go. The diehards are mostly happy, and that is needed, but just because they're happy doesn't always mean the product is going to be a success with the "wait and see" crowd.

Nintendo Switch 2 have a great launch.
There are games for me now like Mario Kart World, Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom and Street Fighter 6.

İ have played only here Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom but now you can play it on the Nintendo Switch 2. İ can play it again. This 2 games are now looking better.

İ am happy that Tears of the Kingdom is in the third place.

@LazyDaisy
To be honest, considering what we have seen of it, I think we will comfortably see a fair amount of sales. It looks exciting, it looks different, it makes me personally want to play it, 2d DK on the other hand, is enjoyable but was never a pull or a must play.

And now with Amazon NA coming online "scalpers" eat your heart out. Oh, wait they will now have a place to sell at MSRP to everyone....hmmm