Support NeoGAF

[ManaByte]

Lifetime Nintendo Switch sales surpass PlayStation 4 in the U.S.

Nintendo Switch has outsold the PlayStation 4 in the United States as the console continues its strong sales momentum.

venturebeat.com

Nintendo Switch’s sales momentum in the United States has pushed it past its most significant rival. The hybrid home/handheld’s lifetime sales have now surpassed the PlayStation 4, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group.

“Lifetime unit sales of Nintendo Switch have now surpassed those of PlayStation 4, making it the 4th highest unit-selling console in U.S. history, and the 6th highest unit-selling video game hardware platform overall.”

its probably the biggest success story in the gaming industry going from the Wii U to this.

Betting time: Do you think the Switch will be a success?

I always love to retrospectively read GAF's prediction threads and see how many crows are being served, the thread placing WiiU/XB first and Sony disappearing or failing with the PS4 before this gen started is so much fun! So now that we have enough details about the price, specs, launch line...

www.neogaf.com

 

[Bernd Lauert]

What a beast. Europe is still holding, but not for long. Should happen by the end of the year.

 

[Punished Miku]

Well deserved.

Look over that thread of doomsayers and look where we're at now. Pretty remarkable.

 

[Ezquimacore]

Love to see it, people keep calling it the "underpowered" system, but they don't seem to understand Nintendo developed the next evolution in handheld gaming more than 5 years ago. Why? It's either the switch/switch lite with the amazing library, your overpowered phone that has to stream games because even after 10 years developers don't use that power for real games, or the steamdeck that you can't even buy at stores.

Funny thing is this is the most pirated Nintendo console ever, even on phones already but the sales are there even with that. Switch 2 is going to be the actual menace.

 

[ReBurn]

And to think some of us believed that Nintendo couldn't even beat their own Wii.

 

[kingfey]

A console that sells that much, without call of duty and other big games is huge.
Props to Nintendo.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Just traded in the launch Switch for a Switch OLED. My daughter was freeking out because of 'island' copy syndrome. Animal Crossing really is really protective of their saves system I guess.
Nintendo needs to fix that mess right quick. I'm not going through that drama again if I get her her own switch.
I don't know why they have such convoluted save games that are game specific. Why can't I just move everything to the sd card and simply move the card to the new switch?
Anyway the new OLED Switch is working out pretty nice otherwise, Traded in the old switch for some games.

 

[jufonuk]

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Love to see it, people keep calling it the "underpowered" system, but they don't seem to understand Nintendo developed the next evolution in handheld gaming more than 5 years ago. Why? It's either the switch/switch lite with the amazing library, your overpowered phone that has to stream games because even after 10 years developers don't use that power for real games, or the steamdeck that you can't even buy at stores.

Funny thing is this is the most pirated Nintendo console ever, even on phones already but the sales are there even with that. Switch 2 is going to be the actual menace.

Yup.

I'm not a Ninty gamer and havent been since SNES, but got to respect the huge number of gamers who enjoy Nintendo first party games and handheld functionality.

Sony and MS dont come close to having insane first party software sales. Sony and others have tried their luck at handheld over the decades and they all dont come close, and all bail ship on portable gaming too.

Every portable maker going up against Gameboy or DS never understands that doing great in portable is simply good games on the go at a good price. Every competitor goes ape shit on features, specs at $100 more assuming a specs race in handhelds will do well. Most of the time it doesnt. And Ninty just steamrolls the competition with lower spec/lower price portable.

 

[IFireflyl]

Just traded in the launch Switch for a Switch OLED. My daughter was freeking out because of 'island' copy syndrome. Animal Crossing really is really protective of their saves system I guess.
Nintendo needs to fix that mess right quick. I'm not going through that drama again if I get her her own switch.
I don't know why they have such convoluted save games that are game specific. Why can't I just move everything to the sd card and simply move the card to the new switch?
Anyway the new OLED Switch is working out pretty nice otherwise, Traded in the old switch for some games.

Can you not transfer the saves?

How to Transfer Animal Crossing: New Horizons Save Data​

Applies to: Nintendo Switch Family, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite, Nintendo Switch - OLED Model

---

In this article, you'll learn how to transfer save data for Animal Crossing: New Horizons to a new Nintendo Switch system.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons allows you and up to 7 others on your Nintendo Switch system to live on one shared island. The save data for the island or for the individual residents of the island can be transferred to a new Nintendo Switch system after updating the game software to the latest version. The island save data can also be backed up in case you lose access to your Nintendo Switch system and can be restored on a replacement system.

Source:

Nintendo Support: How to Transfer Animal Crossing: New Horizons Save Data

en-americas-support.nintendo.com

 

[lh032]

lol, next gen Nintendo console is not coming soon I guess.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Can you not transfer the saves?

It was total drama.

 

[Sybrix]

Nintendo showing that to make great games and sell consoles you dont need to 4k @ 60fps tag line bullshit.

BOTW is one of the greatest games ever made, won countless GOTY awards yet you'd be lucky to get consistent 30fps on Switch, doesnt make it less of a game.

Sony and Microsoft can learn alot from Nintendo and vice versa, Nintendo's Online capabilities are woeful, however their 1st party line up is second to none.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Switch is killing it. Amazing library of games and the hybrid format is awesome. Probably gonna crush PS2 lifetime sales. Watch the fanboys erupt in flames tripping over themselves claiming "Switch is not a real console" or "Switch lite sales doesn't count, that's a different SKU".

 

[Jooxed]

SWITCHBROS ASSEMBLE

 

[Kacho]

 

[kraspkibble]

gg ps4

A console that sells that much, without call of duty and other big games is huge.
Props to Nintendo.

yeah cause pokemon, mario, zelda, smash, animal crossing etc aren't big games.

mario kart 8 deluxe - 53.8m sales
new horizons - 38.6m
botw - 28.2m sales
smash - 28.1m sales
odyssey - 23.5m sales

there are only 5 CoD games in the top #50 best selling games of all time.

 

[daclynk]

OH SHIT. well its a HANDHELD SO......................

 

[leo-j]

Switch is killing it. Amazing library of games and the hybrid format is awesome. Probably gonna crush PS2 lifetime sales. Watch the fanboys erupt in flames tripping over themselves claiming "Switch is not a real console" or "Switch lite sales doesn't count, that's a different SKU".

Nah, switch is falling behind DS numbers almost significantly world wide. Ds stopped selling well before getting to ps2 numbers. Nintendo is trying tho with 3 different switch SKU’s.

 

[93xfan]

And to think some of us believed that Nintendo couldn't even beat their own Wii.

anyone who thinks that can… go beat their own Wii

 

[leo-j]

Yup.

I'm not a Ninty gamer and havent been since SNES, but got to respect the huge number of gamers who enjoy Nintendo first party games and handheld functionality.

Sony and MS dont come close to having insane first party software sales. Sony and others have tried their luck at handheld over the decades and they all dont come close, and all bail ship on portable gaming too.

Every portable maker going up against Gameboy or DS never understands that doing great in portable is simply good games on the go at a good price. Every competitor goes ape shit on features, specs at $100 more assuming a specs race in handhelds will do well. Most of the time it doesnt. And Ninty just steamrolls the competition with lower spec/lower price portable.

Sony left because of the mobile gaming market eating into handheld sales:

DS + PSP = 240 + million
3DS + VITA= 90 + million

Switch is a console / handheld and it’s racing past 110 million soon. We shall see but the handheld market has fallen off a cliff due to the options of tablets.

 

[Hezekiah]

Switch is killing it. Amazing library of games and the hybrid format is awesome. Probably gonna crush PS2 lifetime sales. Watch the fanboys erupt in flames tripping over themselves claiming "Switch is not a real console" or "Switch lite sales doesn't count, that's a different SKU".

 

[jorgejjvr]

never count nintendo out

 

[Mr Hyde]

It didn't take long for the pathetic defense force to show up.

 

[kingfey]

gg ps4


yeah cause pokemon, mario, zelda, smash, animal crossing etc aren't big games.

mario kart 8 deluxe - 53.8m sales
new horizons - 38.6m
botw - 28.2m sales
smash - 28.1m sales
odyssey - 23.5m sales

there are only 5 CoD games in the top #50 best selling games of all time.

No one is talking about their games.

 

[Zeroing]

It is indeed a great comeback coming from the Wii U.
I love the switch but I still wish it was more ergonomic… hopefully they focus on that on their next hardware!

 

[TidusYuna]

Hopefully this convinces Sony to revisit the handheld market. Wouldn't mind a vita 2 with ps2/psp/vita carts. They can focus first party on ps5

 

[Orta]

A thoroughly deserved achievement.

 

[Tangerine]

I wub you Nintendo! Finished the new Kirby game 100% a week or so ago.

Mario Strikers soon!

 

[StateofMajora]

Extremely impressive for sure. No wonder they're nervous about switch 2 success.

 

[Astral Dog]

i think the Switch is a 3DS successor as much as Wii U, very impressive regardless

 

[BennyBlanco]

And Nintendo carried the system itself with its own software for the most part. They do not give a fuck about what the rest of the industry is doing and still pull in these crazy numbers. Gotta respect it. Now give me a Switch Pro, will ya?

 

[Monkeyball]

During the Wii U era I was worried Nintendo might cease to exist. Glad that's not the case. Even if I don't personally like the direction they took.

I still wish they would also offer high a tech version of their console and better services like online and achievements and so on.

 

[SantaC]

great system with a sparse AAA library of games. Worst Nintendo console ever.

 

[Danjin44]

great system with a sparse AAA library of games. Worst Nintendo console ever.

For me currently Switch is the one delivering on the games I enjoy.

 

[kraspkibble]

No one is talking about their games.

you made it out that it's impressive Nintendo can sell so many consoles without "Big" games and yet Nintendo has some of the best selling games of all time. it's not a surprise that Switch is selling well. Nintendo consoles generally sell well. they have the #2, #3, #5, #7, #10, #12, #13, and #15 best selling consoles of all time. that would make them more successful than Sony or Microsoft.

For me currently Switch is the one delivering on the games I enjoy.

same. it feels weird not to have a new Sony/MS console after almost 2 years into a generation but i really don't give a shit. my PC + PS4 are enough for now it seems. no real need to get a PS5 or Series X. Switch has real exclusives that I can't play anywhere else. It's easily my favourite console of the last 5-9 years.

 

[Celcius]

I finally bought a switch once the oled model and Metroid dread came out. I’ve been enjoying got it much more than I thought I would.

 

[kingfey]

you made it out that it's impressive Nintendo can sell so many consoles without "Big" games and yet Nintendo has some of the best selling games of all time. it's not a surprise that Switch is selling well. Nintendo consoles generally sell well. they have the #2, #3, #5, #7, #10, #12, #13, and #15 best selling consoles of all time. that would make them more successful than Sony or Microsoft.

My point was that, Nintendo managed to hit those numbers, without needing those games.
Meaning people care about their games more than anything.

 

[Jooxed]

It didn't take long for the pathetic defense force to show up.

hAndHeLdS DoNt CoUNt

 

[Captain Toad]

And to think some of us believed that Nintendo couldn't even beat their own Wii.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Nintendo is a beast and always has been even during dips in their home console popularity. The Switch simplified their offering into 1 hybrid machine but they always were overall dominant in gaming due to Gameboy sales.

 

[akaFullmetal]

COVID really helped them the last couple years. Congrats to Nintendo.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

 

[Mr Hyde]

hAndHeLdS DoNt CoUNt

I'm expecting lots of threads like that when/if Switch surpass PS2.

 

[Robb]

Switch killing it as usual, and all without a price drop. Crazy stuff!

 

[Luminoth-4545]

Will pass it worldwide soon. The Switch was actually selling a similar amount each year as PS4 launch aligned until Switch's FY 20-21 and then it went into overdrive, that year (blue) the Switch outsold PS4's comparative year by 9.82 million and this past year (purple) it outsold PS4's comparative year by 5.26 million. Certain circumstances might have had an impact.

 

[nominedomine]

I never doubted the Switch, all Nintendo games combined in a single portable console that can get docked on a TV is just an unbeatable idea. The results are beyond impressive.

I think the Switch 2 will be even bigger if Nintendo is able to just refine the idea instead of coming up with something crazy.

 

[Thaedolus]

Played my Switch more than PS4 and PC combined up until the last year or so. Great execution by Nintendo on the promise of the seamless console/handheld hybrid. Besides Metroid it’s kinda sat idle for a while though, usually only when my kid bugs me to play Mario is when I turn it on lately.

 

[Tangerine]

I'm doing my part!

 

[Surf Ninja]

I never doubted the Switch, all Nintendo games combined in a single portable console that can get docked on a TV is just an unbeatable idea. The results are beyond impressive.

I think the Switch 2 will be even bigger if Nintendo is able to just refine the idea instead of coming up with something crazy.

Yeah. I think they just need to make another Switch, but with more Switchiness.