Nintendo is just shy of reaching 20 million Switch consoles sold, but momentum is slowing

Nintendo's hit Switch console is still doing well in its second year, but a lack of major games has slowed momentum for the once red-hot game console.

[Neonridr]

pretty sure sales will surge again this holiday season with Pokemon and Smash set to do huge numbers.

[Si-Fly]

Neither are my kind of game unfortunately :(

NEED Metroid, new F-Zero, new Pilot Wings, anything with a bit of meat to it!!

[KnowTechie]

PILOT WINGS!!!!

[Neonridr]

fair enough, but plenty of people will pick up those titles. Metroid is coming, I would rather see it next year and it be more polished than for them to rush it.

F-Zero would always be welcome, hell they could just hand the license to Shin'en (makers of Fast Racing) and let them create an F-Zero game. They clearly have the know-how to make it happen.

Pilotwings is great, always have loved those games, I would expect to see something again in the future. The new Labo Vehicle Kit #3 actually made me think of Pilotwings in many ways, so that might be something worth checking out.

[IanTH]

100% with you. I got the Switch after owning a Wii U. It's uses have been limited. And while I know lots of people love Smash and Pokemon, they are not my cup of tea either (nor are games like the upcoming Yoshi).

I was really hoping we'd start to get some of those developers from the 3DS to transition over to Switch - get some more grunt behind some of their solid AA titles. I think well priced AA titles like what the 3DS had would be great additions to the Switch - I basically bought a 3DS just to play some of those games at home anyway. This recent E3 really underwhelmed me and made me worry for the future content plans that Nintendo has in the pipeline, because right now it seems a little thin.

[indysurfn]

Meat? You dont mean deep, strategy I take it you meant, Tough, manly, wham bam? I get it. I can't wait for Metroid or pokemon.

[Nebaku]

I love Pilot Wings, but using it as an example of a game with meat on it is laughable. They've always been glorified tech demos for their respective systems, more or less.

[Sirk7x]

Those games are great, but not great sellers. Metroid sells like hot crap in Japan; they hate it.

[SierraGuy]

For crying out loud..just resurrect every single ip from snes.

My God they used to have so many awesome games.

[Nintentional]

Clamors for a game with “a bit of meat to it,” wants a Pilot Wings over Smash 🤦🏻‍♂️ Pilot Wings, a great series, has never been a series with anywhere near the amount of content of any Smash game.

They’re good games, but historically have been glorified tech demos made to demonstrate what the hardware they’re on is capable of. And Metroid has already been confirmed my guy that’s a game that’s 100% coming to the Switch lol

[Captain_J_Sheridan]

maybe, but then what else? You can't have a console that lives only of one or two big titles every year, especially when they're always the same franchises just alternating

[iofhua]

Pokemon on Switch would definitely impact sales in a huge way, but I don't think it's going to come out until 2019?

[Neonridr]

I am referring to the Let's Go games coming out this fall. These games, while more simplistic than the core game coming in 2019, will still pull in a lot of casuals and people who maybe aren't ready for a full game yet.

[Moonman]

It's only 1 year old and 5 months....2? It came out in 2017. :)

[porkChop]

Two-year-old console? The Switch only came out last March.

[-volt-]

PS4 is becoming boring also.

[ragnalamb]

.... Ja...

[AnubisG]

Nein!

[InKnight7s]

If PS4 is boring so does the whole industry because, 95% of Xbox games are also avaialable on PS4, furthermore, PS Now is packed with 600+ games + PS classics + PS4 exclucives.

Facts are always tops fanboying.

[Neonridr]

@InKnight7s - how come if someone insults the PS4 the go-to response is "Xbox sucks more"?

I never understood the insecurity around here and why that is always the common practice. It's like throwing shade to avoid the spotlight being on you. We all know the PS4 is doing just fine, you don't need to make some insecure response back showing your true colors. Just ignore the trolls...

[InKnight7s]

@Neonridr
In market that is so limited to 3-4 competitors all the time its so important ad effective to point that number one which is PS4 and its already more than double of sales of Xbox which the second. It will be always about PS4 and X1 because they are competitors.

@Mamoose I don't know why you are so mad about that a lot of people love and like PS brand??!! If N4g, Reddit, Twitter, Instagram isn't enough for you to realize actualy globaly PS4 is in better place, then take a look to sales which Ps4 is reaching 83 million whereas X1 which is the second is barely hits 35 million, and Nintendo which joined last year isn't anywhere near. Yes PS4 is better more than Nintendo and MS console olayers combined its fact and sales and library approved it.

[Skankinruby]

Lol please tell me this is sarcasm

[Atticus_finch]

Translation = please give me attention

[letsa_go]

This is about the Switch, not PS4. And if the PS4's 1000+ games are boring to you, then you probably aren't a real gamer.

[Thatguy-310]

Sales for PS4 are barely slowing down. It's on it's way to 5 years on the market and has been outselling the switch

[Tazzy]

If you think so you lack gaming knowledge PS4 has a bunch of exclusives coming their games aren't boring at all and sales aren't slowing down.

[bluefox755]

Weird, you wouldn't know from the millions of people that keep buying the darned thing, even 5 years in.

[ragnalamb]

I've had my switch for half a year now. I have the most important first party tires (5, I think) but im struggling to see my self buying any future games. And every time I check the e-store I can only find switch versions of Vita an indie PC games, I need more quality games. Manticore is on my wishlist as of now. But with spiderman hitting next month... Im not sure ill buy it.

[IanTH]

Which games do you have? I've gotten Kingdom Battle and Mario Odyssey (and Golf Story, which was meh). I liked those, but the deluge of Wii U ports the Switch has gotten doesn't do much for me because I still have my Wii U. I haven't gotten ARMS or Splatoon 2 because I'm not much of an online PvP typed guy and I understand their campaigns are pretty simple or short.

Any recommendations from what you have that I don't? I've had Xenoblade in the back of my mind, but the reviews and vids I've seen have made me question if it'll be like the XC I enjoyed on the Wii or not - not to mention the performance sounds pretty abysmal.

[NecrumOddBoy]

Octopath Traveler is incredible and perfect for the Switch

[Neonridr]

Vita? Pretty sure the majority of the indie titles on Switch didn't release on Vita.

AAA /= quality automatically. Plenty of indie titles are amazing and definitely worth a play.

[Skankinruby]

Nintendo played all their best cards first and are now exposed for how shallow the brand has become

[Old McGroin]

Wouldn't say shallow, just frustratingly reluctant to use their other IP besides Mario, Zelda etc. The likes of Star Fox and F-Zero are criminally underused and would add much needed variety to the line up.

[Neonridr]

Zelda comes out every 4-5 years.. I can't exactly say that's over-used in today's age of annual releases and remasters..

[iofhua]

Splatoon is relatively new, but isn't my kind of a game. It's target audience is kids. If I'm going to play a shooter, I want it to be violent.

I would love to see something more all-ages or mature from Nintendo. Other people have suggested Pilotwings - yes but with good crash animations. If I hit the ground at 100mph I want to see some broken bones. The X-ray vision that Skate 2 had when you crash would be awesome with Pilotwings.

[kevnb]

what the hell? They have the best lineup I have ever seen for such a young console.

[frostypants]

This is the same as most recent Nintendo consoles. They'll sell a bunch periodically when the big hitters come out but overall the library will be lackluster and the system sales will stagnate. I dunno, seems like they keep making the same blunders. It's doing better than the WiiU, but that was a low, low hurdle.

[SyluxPT]

There are NO GAMES

[Sirk7x]

I have about fifty on my Switch, but okay lol

[SyluxPT]

Fifty mobile games

[Neonridr]

really? I have around 12 physical and a crap load of digital.

BOTW, Mario Odyssey, Arms, Splatoon 2, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Octopath, Mario + Rabbids, Mario Kart, Bayonetta 1 + 2 are all fantastic and worthy of play. Those are just the exclusives I own off the top of my head, I am sure there are more digital ones I am leaving out.

[Skankinruby]

Three of the games you listed have mario in the title, makes a statement all on it's own

[paintedgamer1984]

Nintendo really just starved the wiiu in its later years so the Nintendo Switch could have an amazing 1st year, which it did and it worked masterfully. I always wondered if the Switch could have a year 2 that matched or rivaled its 1st year and so far its been a resounding nope. Yeah Smash Bros and Pokemon (not mainline pokemon) may move some consoles, i seriously doubt it will have the same effect Odyysey, BOTW, Mario Kart, and others had in year 1. Exclusives launched at the end of this year will mostly be bought up by existing Switch owners. 2019 will probably be the year to match what Nintendo offered in 2017 but thats still yet to be certain. To garner new customers outside of the die hard fanbase, Nintendo NEEDS fresh, new, experiences than the tried and true Nintendo franchises that as far as the big hitters go outside a mainline Pokemon game, have already seen releases. That seems to be Nintendos biggest problem outside of getting big hitting AAA 3rd partys, and thats making new 1st partys that all gamers want... not just nintendo fans.

[Sirk7x]

I mean, how exactly do you follow up two of the greatest reviewed games of all time in the same year? Not gonna be easy lol. Only thing Nintendo can do for next year is probably use the Zelda engine to make a more refined game akin to Majora's Mask (which was developed in a year). Or Pokemon. Want sales, just drop Pokemon lol

[Neonridr]

some consoles.. lol

I guess several million is now "some". You do realize that if it has a slow year 2 guess what that usually means for year 3? Devs can't release stuff every year unless you want Nintendo to turn into Ubisoft, EA, Activision and have their quality drop significantly.

[paintedgamer1984]

Yes, some consoles... i highly doubt ssb, pokemon lets go franchise, mario tennis, ect are going to push units like the first year did. Their sales are already down. It boggles my mind a 5 year old console is outselling a brand new 1 by nintendo on a monthly basis. I get it, your a nintendo fan and youre going to white knight them regardless... which is fine. The facts dont lie... this has been a very abyssmal year for the non die hard nintendo fans unlike yourself

[seraphym88]

...except the fact that the entire history of video game consoles show hot consoles sell more year after year up until its 5th year.. the ps4 our selling the switch monthly is nothing new. The switch has 20mil in a year and a half with one hiliday season. I get that your a Sony fan and will white knight no matter what... which is fine.

[Antnee534]

I think it just needs some solid 3rd party to carry it. As of right now nothing on this sysyem looks appealing till mario party.

[danny818]

The slow down of new releases have slot to do with it I'm sure. Kinda too early to to say it's slowing down forsure.

[AK91]

I see now why Ninty made Switch so that even if it tanked it wouldn't be a loss for Ninty.

[LgbtWarrior]

It will totally pick up this holiday and when the online launches. They haven’t even announced their full lineup yet

[PCgamer98]

It's slowing down because of the price and not to mention a lot of people now realizing that most third party and triple a games are nowhere to be found for the system, It's a pretty expensive secondary system if you ask me. I think a huge nintendo exclusive like pokemon/smash coupled with a price drop would jumpstart it again but not really expecting it would sell again like its first year.

[paintedgamer1984]

Exactly this, id be suprised if sales didny fall off a cliff after its 2nd year. I hope they also do a pricedrop, but looking at the wiiu i doubt it will be 249 anytime soon.

[Neonridr]

it shouldn't be $249, compared to the Vita and 3DS prices that would be lunacy.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

Nintendo hates doing price drops, they made crazy bank on the Wii, unfortunately you can't always have a Wii situation.

[hanko14]

but where are the games

[Platformgamer]

i think the switch can reach 20 million but it will not surpass 25/30 million

[Neonridr]

it's at 20 million now (in a year and a half). You are saying that it won't sell 5-10 million more in the next 4 years?

[Platformgamer]

exactly

[seraphym88]

And I think Abraham Lincoln with resurrect and USA will have a 2nd civil war based on French fries.

[Bleucrunch]

This will be the same issue with Nintendo...they have their first party on lock but the 3rd party is what will keep this console alive.

[masterfox]

Not surprising , is about the lifetime the time lapse I was giving to the Switch (1 year and half or two years), you have to be in denial not to see what's going on here, Nintendo strategically released their more famous franchises in a time frame of almost 6 months, literally only Zelda was the reason why the Switch manage to be able to sell alot in released day, this cause to consumers mind to think that the Switch was the hot device to get but at the same time they weren't thinking of what games that thing actually has, then with Mario release the spark started again and the vicious circle started again too, but now in 2018 there is no more Zelda, there is no more Mario and the released games so far are just mediocre, now, add to that all the limited specs that thing carries, developers can't go ahead and create something stunning looking or unique cause of its specs(welcome back to reality), but but Octopath this and that, well let me tell you something Octopath is just an oldschool looking JRPG with ATB mechanics absolutely nothing new there, if you think that's new you probably new to games as well ;).

[Einhander1971]

Agreed Metroid, Starfox, F-zero, Pilotwings, again Nintendo sat on all these great franchises and never bother to do anything about it. Except for Metroid. Oh and if PS4 is boring you really need to get a new past time.

[LoveSpuds]

I do love my Switch but I think it's fair to say that it feels like the buzz and hype for the platform is fading a little

[Adnanilyas21]

Aaanndd......Octopath Travellers just sold 1 million in less than a month, all of Nintendos 1st party are selling....not slowing down much

[mykeacid]

lol nintendo going third party any day now!

[bluefox755]

Was bound to happen eventually.

[Artemidorus]

It is a handheld with a TV feature, it doesn't qualify as a console.

[seraphym88]

20 mil consoles in a year and a half with only one holiday season under its belt... I’m not worried.

[seraphym88]

Also 2019 is looking great... new fire emblem, bayonetta 3 exclusive, Core Pokémon hd game, and most likely metroid prime 4

[PhoenixUp]

“The Switch's first year was packed with top-level blockbuster games”

Becauses Wii U’s last year was dramatically diminished to make room for its successor. That’s the only reason for Switch’s abnormal release schedule of its first year lineup

[zodiac909]

Nintendo seems to run into this problem every gen. If they just took a little more time to invest in tech that would at least allow 3rd party publishers to still release games on their platform, instead of preventing them due to out dated tech, they would see alot more stable sales.