Nintendo’s newest monetary outcomes have confirmed a milestone for Nintendo Change gross sales that we knew was coming, however that’s nonetheless a serious achievement. The hybrid handheld has racked up over 122 million gross sales in its lifetime, putting it forward of PlayStation 4 (117 million) and Nintendo’s personal venerable Sport Boy (118 million) because the third-best-selling recreation console of all time.
Solely PlayStation 2 (155 million) and Nintendo DS (154 million) have offered extra. With Nintendo projecting round 18 million gross sales for its present fiscal yr — a quantity the corporate says has been constrained by semiconductor shortages — and not less than one or two extra years earlier than Nintendo introduces a successor, the all-time crown will not be but out of Change’s grasp. It’s an unbelievable turnaround from Nintendo’s earlier {hardware} technology, when Wii U flopped to a meager 13 million models offered (versus Wii’s 101 million), and 3DS, whereas performing respectably, solely managed half the gross sales of its predecessor.
Nonetheless, there’s little doubt that Change {hardware} gross sales are slowing, and there’s a query mark over what number of extra main first-party video games stay to propel them. After The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in Might, Nintendo’s slate has Pikmin 4 due later within the yr, an undated Metroid Prime 4, and that’s about it. Nintendo is probably going weighing up whether or not its unannounced tasks, and perhaps even Prime 4, ought to be held again for its subsequent console.
In the interim, although, Change software program gross sales stay greater than wholesome. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet shifted an unbelievable 20 million copies of their first six weeks on sale, making this already the fourth-best-selling technology of Pokémon video games ever. Splatoon 3, one other current launch, has cruised to 10 million gross sales, whereas the Change’s prime vendor Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has cracked the 50 million barrier with an astonishing 52 million copies offered, placing it in a really unique membership with the likes of Tetris, Wii Sports activities, Minecraft, and Grand Theft Auto 5.
Right here’s what the Change’s all-time prime 10 appears like now:
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (52 million)
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons (41.59 million)
- Tremendous Smash Bros. Final (30.44 million)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (29 million)
- Pokémon Sword and Defend (25.68 million)
- Tremendous Mario Odyssey (25.12 million)
- Pokémon Sword and Defend (20.61 million)
- Tremendous Mario Social gathering (18.79 million)
- Ring Match Journey (15.22 million)
- Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! (15.07 million)
General, Change has reached 994 million video games offered, greater than another Nintendo console (thanks, presumably, to its thriving digital market).
When Change launched six years in the past, few predicted the platform — primarily based on {hardware} that was then already fairly dated — may attain this degree of success. However the simplicity of Nintendo’s pitch, combining house and handheld gaming in a single system, plus the normal energy of its in-house software program noticed it by. The query for Nintendo now could be whether or not to easily improve the Change idea for a brand new {hardware} technology, or attempt one thing new. The previous looks as if a no brainer, however Nintendo is a stressed innovator, and plenty of of its largest successes — together with the Sport Boy, the Wii, and the Change itself — got here out of left discipline. Will it shock us once more?