Nintendo has surpassed all expectations in selling more than 60 million units worldwide (home console or Lite), according to VG Chartz. It surpassed the Xbox One, which is closing in on 50 million units, but the PS4 is projected to win the 8th-gen console race with more than 112 million sold. That makes the PS4 the second best-selling home console ever (behind the PS2’s 155 million).
After the Wii U’s massive failure (13 million units in 4 years), Nintendo made a huge gamble with the Switch, making it the first “hybrid” console in which players can either play it on their TV or on the go with a separate monitor. So far, that gamble has paid off. Games such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild are the Switch’s top-selling games.
The most interesting part is the ability to play current-gen console games on the go, such as Mortal Kombat 11, Doom (2016), and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, to name a few. It didn’t seem technologically possible to do that since handhelds are generally “inferior” to the home consoles, but somehow Nintendo pulled it off.
Yet one has to wonder how long the Switch’s success will last since the PS5 and the Xbox Series X will be out this holiday season? It’s highly unlikely that Capcom will port Resident Evil VIII: Village to the Switch, for example. But so far, Nintendo doesn’t seem very concerned with that since it’s targeting a “different audience”, like always (for better or worse).
But given recent events, don’t count Nintendo out.
