The US Suffered Its Worst November Since 1995 In Terms Of Hardware Sales

I blame computers

Shocking, with Black Friday and two new games released 🙁 hopefully nintendo will do more promotion next year!

we are living in difficult economic times..

@OctolingKing13 Most of the world is in a recession of varying degrees, and inflation and cost of living is ever growing. No amount of promotions can make people spend money they don't have on something they don't need.

Clearly this means we should raise tariffs and hope prices don’t rise more

What is a NEX Playground?

Not at all shocking given the economic state of the country. Consoles can't keep getting more expensive if consumer spending power is stagnating or even getting worse. I predicted as much when the Switch 2 launched.

First off RIP Xbox. Brand is dead.

Second, I think it’s funny that it was also the same month that the Switch overtook the PS2 sales
Numbers to be the best selling console of all time.

Xbox got outsold by something I've never even heard of lol

Yup.

—(POLITICS WARNING - BUT IT’S DIRECTLY RELEVANT)—

Mango Mussolini made a post after Black Friday claiming that the folks panicking about holiday sales being crap had been “proven wrong” due to the amount of money spent on Black Friday being up 9% - but, as this article notes in part, what he of course left out is that prices of everything are on average up 9%-13% since he took office. So you can’t claim the economy is going well due to more money being spent since that isn’t actually translating into more items being sold.

Which he knows, but he’s not targeting an audience who would know the difference when he posts something like that.

Stupid god damn timeline.

this is not good for anyone in the gaming industry or for the rest of us especially with people losing jobs.

I don't think this is completely surprising because I bet a lot of people are very squeezed in the current economy, so I can imagine these sales very easily have to do with that, especially with the negative publicity basically all systems this year have gotten around price stuff

Maybe Nintendo will learn a lesson after abandoning it’s fans with the Switch 2. I love the Switch 2, but game key cards, prices of games and amiibo, are too far. They kind of deserve to fail, and maybe they will learn from taking advantage of fans.

@Nanoline52 Exactly. I remember seeing that from watching Atrioc and yeah it's insane the mental gymnastics the government takes in trying to make their data seem good, when it in fact shows the opposite. But I guess it's really in the benefit of companies, including those in the game sphere, "if dollar amount goes up, then more success!" instead of people actively buying and using things.

@Nanoline52 The fact that he would even bring it up at all is just as telling. It’s like shouting “I’m innocent!” when nobody was making any accusations to begin with.

Just repeatedly saying the economy is great doesn’t do anything to convince people struggling to make ends meet.

Yeah, even if somebody wanted to, they couldn't spin this into something slightly good, especially when you consider that the gaming industry in 1995 wasn't as big as it is now and just six months ago the latest system from one of the industry's legendary companies was released. This definitely isn't good for Nintendo. First holiday season for the Switch 2 and it got smoked by a five-year-old console on Black Friday, lost the month overall and there were several retailers offering deals on the console themselves. Furukawa is a freaking moron and somebody in a top position at Nintendo needs to wake him the heck up soon.

@koekiemonster An android cube that has family focused games, the Wii of 2025...

@PikminMarioKirby dude thank you for having the courage to say Nintendo has gone too far. That's exactly how I feel. A year ago, I thought the Switch 2 would have been a day one purchase for me. After the announcement of their anti-consumer policies in addition to the absolutely tone-deaf pricing, I'm wondering if I'll ever get one.

@PikminMarioKirby this is far deeper than disgruntled Nintendo fans. The economy is in the toilet and people can’t afford the new tech.

Yeah, it’s all because of the Game Key Cards, that’s why sales are down. Had nothing to do with the economy, nothing to do with a lack of exclusive S2 software. Nothing to do with the fact that several PS5 bundles, with a disc drive, were available for the same price as a Switch 2 this holiday.

Nope, it’s those dang Key Cards, that’s the real problem. All those brilliant minds who have run billion-dollar companies that post on Reddit and these forums tried to warn you Nintendo, but you wouldn’t listen. And now you will no doubt apologize to everyone and reverse course tomorrow.

RIP Xbox, getting outsold in its home country by something most people have never heard of 😬.

I wish I could say I remember a time when video games were affordable, but affordability is a democratic hoax, so I must be imagining things, clearly.

@Nanoline52 MANGO MUSSOLINI?! xD
I've never heard that one before, but I'm gonna start using that now xD

Americans voted for this.

So pretty much everybody’s saying it’s all due to the fact people can’t afford a Switch 2

But they can afford a PS5???

@PikminMarioKirby Amazing how you've completely overblown both issues. The prices are fine and game key cards are fine. You're freaking out over nothing.

> Recession indicators all across the board
> All hardware platforms more expensive this year compared to prior years
> Federal government shutdown leading to no pay for federal employees
> Federal government shutdown leading to no distribution of SNAP benefits

With hindsight, these results were kinda expected.

Not surprising at all. It's a combination of many factors, including the economy and Nintendo's own poor decisions with the Switch 2.

And allow me to add some more details and context from VGChartz reporting, because the author of this article wouldn’t: “Switch 2 sales compared to the same month (November) for the Switch 1 in 2017 are down by over 304,000 units, as the Switch 1 sold 890,593 units in the Americas in November 2017.

“913,299 units sold for PS5 in November 2025, the Nintendo Switch 2 was the second best-selling console with an estimated 586,123 units sold.”

Yeah, Sony “managed” to beat them.

@TerribleTerabytes So why is it suddenly selling so poorly? Ps5 is way more expensive but is still selling better.

If we keep blaming other things Nintendo’s gonna stay this way. Yes it’s a Nintendo problem because PS5 is still selling. You can say its other things, but the primary fault is Nintendo’s

Oof, but is it really a shocker if gaming is increasingly getting expensive each year? If it weren’t for the current economic state and the high pricing on consoles and games, then I bet you that number would have absolutely been higher. And, I feel like if they hadn’t priced the Switch 2 so high, then it very likely could have outsold the PS5 during that time.

But, what I will say is shocking is how the Xbox somehow got outsold by a console I have never heard of until now. Wonder how that happened…even though Xbox has had pretty low hardware sales compared to PlayStation and Nintendo in the past few years, they still manage to sell somewhat decently during holiday periods and always come in third, but maybe it isn’t surprising given they’ve been in a slump for a while…

@PikminMarioKirby
The PS5 was on sale during Black Friday while Switch 2 wasn't. That's why it sold better in November

Yeah, it is a good time to be NintenDeen.

@Jireland92
It's both. The economy is absolutely in the toilet, can't be argued otherwise. But Nintendo has made a lot of stupid decisions lately that have led to an anti-Nintendo sentiment online I haven't seen since the Wii U days.

@Jhena
You mean the weirdo who's utterly obsessed with Nintendo and who went to the midnight launch to watch how many people were in line to prove that the system was a failure?

@Willo567
He is just a former fan. There is no need to get personal.

@StewdaMegaManNerd
Yeah, it's a very weak argument and just smacks of people trying to cope with the fact that maybe Switch 2 isn't going to be the runaway hit they want. And that's not me saying there aren't other outside factors because there are but pretending Nintendo hasn't made some incredibly dumb business decisions doesn't help.

@Jhena
He's acts smug and condescending to anyone who disagrees with him about the Switch 2 being a failure, and made light of that horrible ICE video earlier this year

@Willo567
I think he makes some really good points about where the Switch 2 is standing and heading now. This is the reason why I like watching his channel.

@Gamer83 Correction: it got smoked by a 5 year old current-gen system that underwent significant price cuts for Black Friday.

On the whole, it's important we don't cherry pick sales data for 2 weeks in a year and over-generalise it as a catastrophe for Nintendo

@Gamer83 I’d argue one is indirectly causing the other. When economic times are hard people are a lot tougher with their spending decisions, which causes a lot of consumers to come up with reasons to justify not spending. Now the normal reaction is to simply say you can’t afford this and move on with your day, but because the online gaming scene is as far from normal as you can get and are some of the most slavish dedicated consumers out there, this whole thing devolves into a toxic quagmire where reasonable discussion goes to die.

That’s not to defend Nintendo’s decisions. They’ve made some pretty dumb choices as of late, but I think a lot of people are overblowing how severe those decisions are. Game Key Cards are dumb but I think most people are more indifferent to them than outright hate them. At the end of the day everyone is being affected by this economic downturn, to put it gently, and whatever happens to Nintendo next is unknown. I don’t think they’ll top the Switch 1, but at this point what will? Even Sony couldn’t top the PS2.

Most people here in the U.S. are barely living paycheck to paycheck. With tariffs, economy, job losses, and our ever-weakening dollar, I'm not surprised by this in the slightest.

@FrenchVaniIIuxe didn’t you hear? Sony dug into a closet for another 5 million 😂 /s

@N8tiveT3ch Everything's computer 😌

Eh, I'm gonna worry about the economy and overall sales and rather than console war crap.

The Switch 2 didn't have much in the way of BF sales from being so new and PS5 had a nice $100 off sales and $20-30 off accessories even on the direct website, so of course savvy buyers would go for that deal. Especially because I tend to save my money for those deals, I wouldn't be making expensive purchases I didn't need to make month that there are great deals on everything else.

It doesn't mean the downfall of Nintendo, as people love to claim if even a butterfly sneezes in their direction. Again I am much more worried about the people that can barely afford to Christma shop in any sector which will only get worse next year as the cost of living increases further.

Economics 101 - price goes up, sales go down.

For those wondering, apparently the NEX Playground is essentially a $249 Kinect system.

Game Key Cards.

The US suffered it's worse

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November

since 1865 in regards to pretty much everything.😝

@Pastellioli they have become really infamous through layoffs and cancellations this year. I don't even want to buy MS games, much less a whole console. Not to mention them pushing AI so hard in the new Black Ops which generated a lot of anger right before this major sale period.

Some people are mad about Nintendo but a US congressman even criticized Black Ops 7, that one runs deep.

@progx

Darn it must have been the PS2 pillows.

@PikminMarioKirby I am kinda on the same page with game prices. But considering recent developments they might just have done something early that the rest of the market will now have to do, as well.

Amiibo prices are ridiculous, luckily they are easy to ignore entirely. Or rather, continue ignoring.

Game-Key-Cards... not great, but better than regular "digital only". At least it enables reselling, which can be a dealbreaker with games you're not sure about.

Not sure how I will deal with that in the future. So far every game I wanted was available on cartridge.

Economy is in the toilet, at least here in UK it is because sky high cost of living. I’m guessing it’s a similar story for USA too.

We all know why, and it's not just consoles and the gaming industry.

I also have zero sympathy, people were told awful things would happen if he who shall not be named was elected again.

@Nanoline52 Its going to get worse before it gets better. Id advise people to slow spending on non essentials and beef up( or start.) Their emergency savings. Alot of people will be losing their jobs next year.

@PikminMarioKirby lol you are delusional if you think that the tiny whiny internet anti-GCK folks are at all representative of the vast majority of consumers. I'm sure the vast majority of people DO NOT CARE whether their game is digital, fully on-cart, or a GCK. I am sure that the vast majority of people shopping for games in a store cannot tell the difference between a physical game fully on-cart and a game key card.

If I had little kids, there's no way in hell I'd buy them a physical copy OR GCK, because kids lose that kind of tiny ***** like it is their job.

The ONLY people who are crusading with you are a tiny whiny minority of all of gamerdom.

@Jireland92
I think if the only dumb thing Nintendo did was game key cards, people would be annoyed but could look past it. The problem is several decisions that, on their own, wouldn't be as annoying, were all made at the same time. Then you factor in the economy and you get the situation you have. I would be interested to see how things would be going if the market was normal and stable but unfortunately it hasn't been that for several years now and doesn't seem like it will get better any time soon.

Let's face or this is not something to worry about, first of all the PS5 had a steep sale over black friday which resulted in an influx of sales. Secondly the big Nintendo game for the Holiday season is a niche game which never brings in big sales, and is also on the previous gen system. Nintendo won't start shifting huge numbers in the west until the big hitters start releasing and they are also Switch 2 exclusive.

In terms of GKC that would have have very little to no impact on actual sales, it's a very overblown issue that the minority on the Internet will eventually get over once they realise it's worse everywhere else (PS, Xbox, PC). For the pricing of games and the hardware itself then again it's pretty much in line with other game consoles and with the current money issues many countries are facing, coupled with the RAM shortages I think it's current price is perfectly fine, don't forget the current Xbox and Playstation consoles have gone up on price since launch, increased the price of accessories and subscriptions, and even lowered the amount of internal storage to save on costs. Nintendo aren't being greedy, they are being realistic within the current climate.

In all the holiday shopping ive been doing, I've consistently found Switch 2 in stock here in the US. It did make me wonder if sales fell off a cliff or if Nintendo might be keeping up with demand, so perhaps its the first?

It’s the games available - Donkey Kong, Kirby Air Riders and Metroid aren’t system sellers.

Pokémon was unimpressive and the most exciting thing about the switch launch was Zelda and a few other switch 1 games actually looking presentable.

The games are good, but not the best choices for a launch year alongside a surprise premium price-point and no SIGNIFICANT power difference to the PS4.

No stupid mouse tech, limit all the “amazing” joycon functionality that nobody talked about a month after the original switch launched, lose the stupid camera that nobody talked about for more than a day, boot the power a bit and drop the price by 50 dollars.

I really can’t believe they repeated the Wii-style gimmicks for this console, wasting R&D time.

It will objectively sell well, but internally, it will be viewed differently.

I think they really effed up launch year and now it’s too late to take it back, obviously. They neee to drop the price. Even the Wii-U’s honestly amazing game lineup didn’t save it long-term.

Hardcore Nintendo fans got their Switch 2 already. Now we will see if it can pull lots of casuals back in. Not a great start/sign here. Switch 2 still lacks big hitter games

@BaldB3lper78
The follow up to one of the most successful consoles of all-time which has the first new Mario Kart game in over a decade, a legit Game of the Year contender in Donkey Kong Bananza and a brand new Pokémon, getting destroyed in its first holiday season by a five-year-old console is, objectively, not a good thing.

Exclusive software sells new hardware. Nintendo had DK, MKW, Kirby Air Riders and Hyrule Warriors (the other games were playable on Switch 1). Not an an awful lineup, but no BOTW or Mario Odyssey to really make it really desirable.

@Omarzy
I think it was the price of Mario Kart that really got a lot of people more than the console itself. Obviously I can't speak to what the majority was thinking but I tuned into a livestream of that April 2nd Direct setup by one of my favorite youtubers. There were a good number of people watching and they weren't huge Nintendo fans but nobody had major complaints about the console price. At most it was slight disappointment. Then the stuff about key cards started coming in, then there was the $80 price of Mario Kart and, well, sh*t hit the fan. You're spot on, though. Nintendo needs to do something. Will be interesting to see what, if any, reaction there is in early 2026. I imagine December is going to be another massive L.

It's not the games, the system, or the software.

It's the tariffs, rising costs, and a developing recession here being somewhat held aloft by the current AI boom - which is set to implode within a year or two.

Lots of people are holding on to their money right now. Some of us have already lived through a couple of recessions, and realize that it's nice to have some savings on hand in case things go south. And a lot of folks don't even have savings - they are just living paycheck to paycheck, so a switch 2 or ps5 just doesn't make sense when there are perfectly fun legacy consoles already sitting under the tv.

On topic of the article: This is a shame to see, more so that it really drives the point home that people were forced to be much more frugal with their spending habits during the holidays this year.

To those talking sales: This impacted all platforms, not just Nintendo. We lack the relevant information to know what sales expectations this holiday were from all hardware manufacturers. They have professional analysts gauging market conditions 8 hours a day. I would imagine this was little surprise to these companies this holiday season as a result of the fluctuating market conditions leading up to November. This article has little to no reflection on any of these system's future success/failure.