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[Jubenhimer]

So the Nintendo Switch has now sold 129 million units worldwide, making it Nintendo's most successful home console, their second best selling handheld system, and the third best selling gaming platform of all time.

A large part of its success is thanks to its unique hybrid gimmick of taking your console on the go, its variety of controller and local multiplayer features, as well as its massive game library.

But I think its success also vindicates the direction Nintendo took with its second best selling home console, the Wii. The Wii was Nintendo's most successful home console prior to the Switch. But by the end of its life, it was derided by the corporate media and "hardcore" gaming circles for its under-powered hardware compared to the other systems, focus on motion controls, and image of being a "casual" gaming console with nothing but shovelware. The failure of its direct successor, the Wii U, only added fuel to the sentiment that Nintendo needed to create a 'real' gaming console as powerful as its competitors, with just a regular controller.

So what did Nintendo do?... Make another comparatively under-powered console who's main controller is essentially a Wii Remote successor. Yet, it ended up being even more successful than the Wii was.

While you can make plenty of criticism for how Nintendo handled the last few years of the Wii, the fact that the Switch was able to be such a hit by going in the exact opposite direction from what the media wanted (Powerful console, Standard controller, 1:1 third party parity) proves that gaming journalists have absolutely no idea what they're talking about.

 

[Zones]

Switch is mainly a successor of 3DS, not Wii or Wii U.

 

[StueyDuck]

i just hate how the Wii U is all but forgotten, not because it was good, but because they pushed out some real jams for it and much like the GC, aren't getting much love.

at least we got some sequels like Splatoon and Mario Maker but still, I wish Nintendo would give some of those older games some love, fuck you've got those two zelda HD games just port and release them already.

 

[L*][*N*K]

Switch is mainly a successor of 3DS, not Wii or Wii U.

With all due respect but that is fucking retarded.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Combining console and handheld was a genious move by Nintendo.

Well deserved.

I do wonder if they can repeat this success with Switch 2.

 

[L*][*N*K]

Combining console and handheld was a genious move by Nintendo.

Well deserved.

I do wonder if they can repeat this success with Switch 2.

They could if they keep BC and don't name it Switch U

 

[amigastar]

Combining console and handheld was a genious move by Nintendo.

Well deserved.

I do wonder if they can repeat this success with Switch 2.

I think they will, this time their console will have more power, i think that will attract many people, including me.

 

[RoboFu]

Switch is a handheld that can be played on your tv. I don’t think that counts as a “ gimmick “ it’s a main function of the device.

 

[digdug2]

With all due respect but that is fucking retarded.

Agreed. The handheld aspect does continue the 3DS' lineage, and the Switch Joy-Cons are the direct successors of the Wiimote. It's quite literally the best of both worlds, and that was the intent.

 

[L*][*N*K]

Switch is a handheld that can be played on your tv. I don’t think that counts as a “ gimmick “ it’s a main function of the device.

Why is it so hard to call it a Hybrid?? it is not Type A (A console) or Type B (A Handheld), why can't it be Type C?

 

[MagnesD3]

I mean yeah people only had a problem with the directions of games, obviously getting casuals to play would lead to more money. I dislike the effect however as the switches target demo has negatively affected alot of the choices for thier games.

With that said Ironically the Wii has the best available library in nintendos catalog due to its amazing VC and incredible first party titles.

 

[NahaNago]

They could if they keep BC and don't name it Switch U

Yep, that pretty much killed the Wii U. The BC thing is debatable since the switch and ps4 both became super popular without BC, while BC and gamepass are the only thing keeping xbox alive for now.

While I would personally love it if the next switch adopted a similar ds form so that they could possibly play ds and 3ds games.

 

[Kilau]

Why is it so hard to call it a Hybrid?? it is not Type A (A console) or Type B (A Handheld), why can't it be Type C?

Because that’s just marketing and some of us aren’t drones for corporations.

Show me the “hybrid”.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Switch is mainly a successor of 3DS, not Wii or Wii U.

That didn’t take long, damn.

 

[Trunx81]

Switch on position 3 of the best-selling consoles of all time really is impressive (especially if you read the Gaf-thread for it´s announcement )

What I find even more impressive: Without cutting the price. The first two, PS2 and NDS, had huge price-drops during their lifetime, so the overall-achievment is even better. Or am I reading this wrong?

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

So the Nintendo Switch has now sold 129 million units worldwide, making it Nintendo's most successful home console, their second best selling handheld system, and the third best selling gaming platform of all time.

A large part of its success is thanks to its unique hybrid gimmick of taking your console on the go, its variety of controller and local multiplayer features, as well as its massive game library.

But I think its success also vindicates the direction Nintendo took with its second best selling home console, the Wii. The Wii was Nintendo's most successful home console prior to the Switch. But by the end of its life, it was derided by the corporate media and "hardcore" gaming circles for its under-powered hardware compared to the other systems, focus on motion controls, and image of being a "casual" gaming console with nothing but shovelware. The failure of its direct successor, the Wii U, only added fuel to the sentiment that Nintendo needed to create a 'real' gaming console as powerful as its competitors, with just a regular controller.

So what did Nintendo do?... Make another comparatively under-powered console who's main controller is essentially a Wii Remote successor. Yet, it ended up being even more successful than the Wii was.

While you can make plenty of criticism for how Nintendo handled the last few years of the Wii, the fact that the Switch was able to be such a hit by going in the exact opposite direction from what the media wanted (Powerful console, Standard controller, 1:1 third party parity) proves that gaming journalists have absolutely no idea what they're talking about.

The Switch is largely successful because it doubles down on big franchise sequels like BotW, Smash, Mario Odyssey, and Luigi’s Mansion 3. And also it has the most traditional control scheme since GameCube. It might have some traits of the Wii Remote in the Joycon, but how many people use it that way?

Switch vindicates that Nintendo’s audience always wanted core games on a normal controller, it’s just that it took Nintendo 2 generations after the GameCube to accept it. GameCube failed for its own reasons, which are well known.

Hybrid portability helps. The worst thing about 3DS was how many games came out for it that I wanted to play but didn’t want to play them on a tiny low-res screen with horrible controls.

 

[JimboJones]

What made a big difference between the Switch and Wii is that while both consoles were underpowered compared to their peers, the Switch used modern hardware and was compatible with all the same standards as the Xbox One and PS4. On the other hand, the Wii was a completely different beast compared to the Xbox 360 and PS3. It had more in common with a PS2 and GameCube.

 

[alucard0712_rus]

Switch is mainly a successor of 3DS, not Wii or Wii U.

It's a combination of both.
Nintendo couldn't maintain handheld and home markets at same time so they combined them.

 

[onnextflix5]

Considering that Nintendo abandoned the home console market, not sure what op is on about.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

I still don't get why people focus on comparing the sales numbers of the Switch to single consoles or handhelds. The Switch sales need to be compared to the Wii and DS combined, not just one or the other.

That number is 255 million. The Switch needs to sell more than 255 million units to be as successful as that generation for Nintendo.

 

[Elysion]

I don’t think the Switch is a successor to the Wii at all. The joycons aren’t nearly as precise as the Wiimote was (especially with Wii motion+), there are very few games that use motion controls, and the Switch Lite doesn’t even have joycons in the first place. It’s the same with touch controls btw; the Switch’s touch screen is almost never used for anything in games (other than optional menu selection), even though the DS sold >150million units in no small part thanks to its innovative use of touch controls. The Switch is pretty much a classic game console with classic controls, except that it can be played at home and on the go. I have no doubt that the Switch would’ve been just as successful if the joycons hadn’t had any motion control capabilities at all.

But speaking of the Wii, I always thought it was a shame that it’s pointer controls didn’t become standard for all consoles going forward. People often complained about tacked-on ‘waggle‘ mechanics in many Wii games (and not without reason), but playing shooters on the Wii was incredible, and felt like the natural evolution of video game controls. The VR controllers for the new Meta Quest 3 are pretty much how I always imagined future motion controllers to be, and it’s a shame that the idea of motion controls is now seemingly reserved for VR games. I personally hope the Switch 2 brings back proper motion control functionality for its joycons, to differentiate itself from other consoles (and handheld PCs).

 

[Mephisto40]

Lets all forget the Wii U existed...

 

[Magic Carpet]

It vindicates the cellphone as being a viable gaming platform.
The future is handhelds.

 

[Jubenhimer]

The Switch is largely successful because it doubles down on big franchise sequels like BotW, Smash, Mario Odyssey, and Luigi’s Mansion 3. And also it has the most traditional control scheme since GameCube. It might have some traits of the Wii Remote in the Joycon, but how many people use it that way?

There are quite a lot of people who do.

 

[Neff]

Because that’s just marketing and some of us aren’t drones for corporations.

Show me the “hybrid”.

 

[Kilau]

Unlike the Switch Lite, the Nomad could connect to a TV. The box even says portable game system lol. The Nomad, Switch, Switch lite all portables, all never need to connect to a TV.

 

[Neff]

Unlike the Switch Lite, the Nomad could connect to a TV. The box even says portable game system lol. The Nomad, Switch, Switch lite all portables, all never need to connect to a TV.

You're missing the point. It's futile to attempt to define gaming hardware by functionality when it's deliberately designed to reject hard definition, regardless of revisions which strip out features. It is whatever you use it for. In Switch's case, one, or the other, or both. A... hybrid, if you will.

 

[Kataploom]

Switch is mainly a successor of 3DS, not Wii or Wii U.

To me it is for the Wii, I never take it out of the dock unless for cleaning.

Nintendo philosophy may bother some but in these days of pretty expensive development and graphical diminishing return, they seem more than justified. The thing is, by the time they reached competition in the HD development, there were already lots of developed tools and techniques that helped them save costs and time.

 

[Kilau]

You're missing the point. It's futile to attempt to define gaming hardware by functionality when it's deliberately designed to reject hard definition, regardless of revisions which strip out features. It is whatever you use it for. In Switch's case, one, or the other, or both. A... hybrid, if you will.

Except the industry set these definitions themselves and Nintendo sells a Switch with zero “hybrid” capabilities.

 

[Neff]

Nintendo sells a Switch with zero “hybrid” capabilities.

Funny, mine doubles as a portable and as a console. I think there's another guy on GAF whose Switch does the same.

 

[Hayabusa83]

Shame about the disgusting visuals though.

 

[Kilau]

Funny, mine doubles as a portable and as a console. I think there's another guy on GAF whose Switch does the same.

You two bought magic Switch Lites then.

 

[rodrigolfp]

main controller is essentially a Wii Remote successor.

What???

 

[L*][*N*K]

Because that’s just marketing and some of us aren’t drones for corporations.

Show me the “hybrid”.

Here

 

[Elder Legend]

The Switch is largely successful because it doubles down on big franchise sequels like BotW, Smash, Mario Odyssey, and Luigi’s Mansion 3. And also it has the most traditional control scheme since GameCube. It might have some traits of the Wii Remote in the Joycon, but how many people use it that way?

Switch vindicates that Nintendo’s audience always wanted core games on a normal controller, it’s just that it took Nintendo 2 generations after the GameCube to accept it. GameCube failed for its own reasons, which are well known.

Hybrid portability helps. The worst thing about 3DS was how many games came out for it that I wanted to play but didn’t want to play them on a tiny low-res screen with horrible controls.

While that may be true, I think GC was an underrated console. I've really enjoyed mine. Discovering and playing Luigi's Mansion, Animal Crossing and Super Mario Sunshine for the first time was purely magical.

 

[ChoosableOne]

their second best selling handheld system,

Well, it looks like they couldn't surpass the DS. I wonder if they'll consider releasing a more powerful model alongside Switch 2? Wii(2006) and DS(2004) combined sold over 250 million units, while the Switch has sold around 120 million units.

 

[fart town usa]

i just hate how the Wii U is all but forgotten, not because it was good, but because they pushed out some real jams for it and much like the GC, aren't getting much love.

at least we got some sequels like Splatoon and Mario Maker but still, I wish Nintendo would give some of those older games some love, fuck you've got those two zelda HD games just port and release them already.

The WiiU is an amazing console by any standard. It has enough exclusive bangers to make it worth owning and it's unique features are just incredibly cool. It's also a God-tier console when soft modded.

I love the fact that the gamepad can be a dedicated monitor for Wii titles. The system is really versatile.

Spoiler: Wii version of REmake on WiiU

 

[Kataploom]

Why is it so hard to call it a Hybrid?? it is not Type A (A console) or Type B (A Handheld), why can't it be Type C?

Wait until it surpasses the PS2 in total sales lol

The only thing lacking in the Switch is some sort of IR pointer so we can use them for emulating some Wii games that are already lost in time like Pandora's Tower. I even think on getting a combo Wiimote + Nunchuck on Amazon, those things are still being sold by third parties but I just always forget.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

While that may be true, I think GC was an underrated console. I've really enjoyed mine. Discovering and playing Luigi's Mansion, Animal Crossing and Super Mario Sunshine for the first time was purely magical.

I don't disagree at all, it's one of my favorites as well. Some amazing games on that thing, many of which are quite unfortunately still stuck on that system and were never reprinted for Wii when it had BC built-in. TTYD coming to Switch is a huge win! Excited for that one.

1. Launched in purple as the primary color, before Nintendo quickly realized the mistake and made a silver one and increased production of the black model
2. Couldn't play DVDs
3. no built-in network functionality, had to buy a hard-to-find sold separate network adapter, which led to very low adoption and publishers not wanting to bother with it
4. No true second analog stick, which in hindsight was short-sided because the PS2/Xbox/GCN generation is when a second analog stick became the standard
5. Not enough shoulder buttons, which, like the lack of a true second analog stick, made it difficult to port games over for third-parties
6. Not enough space on the optical discs to store many games, leading to some ports being canceled, or having to use a tedious second disc
7. Memory cards had a tiny capacity most of the system's life until Nintendo finally released larger capacity ones late in the system's life, but for many third-party games like Madden, etc it was too little, too late
8. The overall reputation of the system was a game system for children, despite being the exclusive home for some excellent core games such as Rogue Leader, RE4 (until it was later ported), and REmake & RE0 Remake

 

[fart town usa]

I'd say the Switch vindicates the WiiU legacy.

Switch at launch was kept afloat with WiiU titles and Switch accomplished what many people wanted in the WiiU, a fully portable home console.

Wii's legacy is shovelware and poor controls.

 

[Elder Legend]

I'd say the Switch vindicates the WiiU legacy.

Switch at launch was kept afloat with WiiU titles and Switch accomplished what many people wanted in the WiiU, a fully portable home console.

Wii's legacy is shovelware and poor controls.

I really dislike the Wii tbh. It felt way to gimmicky. Only good was Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 for me personally and that's it. It was such a weird system that focused to much on "family time" with your gramma vs actual gamers imo.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

There are quite a lot of people who do.

My point is/was, how many high-selling games on Switch use motion controls? The vast majority of the highest-selling games for Switch are made for tradtional controls. Thus the thesis the OP goes with isn't really borne out by the reality of what makes Switch so popular, other than the obvious hybird nature.

Switch is not popular because of it's minor borrowed Wii attributes. It's popular because it has amazing games and it's snappy and sleek, and people like the optional portability.

 

[fart town usa]

I really dislike the Wii tbh. It felt way to gimmicky. Only good was Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 for me personally and that's it. It was such a weird system that focused to much on "family time" with your gramma vs actual gamers imo.

Yea, there's plenty of games I enjoy on the Wii but that console was like Gitmo torture. I had a PS2 at launch but it was my older brothers and he took it with him when he moved out after High School. So from 2001-2008 all I had was a GCN and Wii. I bought a PS3 in 2008 and couldn't believe what I had been missing out on. From there I went back and bought a PS2 slim and played catch up.

Point being, the Wii nearly killed gaming as a whole for me.

 

[Bridges]

THE GOAT

I still pull mine out for NBA Jam and Sonic 1 on occasion. Sega was so ahead of their time in so many ways

 

[Dream-Knife]

Switch's success is because they quit with the BS gimmicks unlike the Wii.

 

[Kataploom]

The Switch is largely successful because it doubles down on big franchise sequels like BotW, Smash, Mario Odyssey, and Luigi’s Mansion 3. And also it has the most traditional control scheme since GameCube. It might have some traits of the Wii Remote in the Joycon, but how many people use it that way?

Switch vindicates that Nintendo’s audience always wanted core games on a normal controller, it’s just that it took Nintendo 2 generations after the GameCube to accept it. GameCube failed for its own reasons, which are well known.

Hybrid portability helps. The worst thing about 3DS was how many games came out for it that I wanted to play but didn’t want to play them on a tiny low-res screen with horrible controls.

Nintendo audience has both casuals and core players tho, Just Dance is HUGE in Nintendo systems to the point it was still being developed for the Wii when the Switch came out so you can imagine joycons are currently being used for those types of games which are HUGE within certain communities gaming communities outside GAF.

There are gaming fandoms on Nintendo Switch that here we don't even know they exist, I know because my wife is part of those like Just Dance (this alone is pretty big) and cozy games that amase many subscribers on YouTube and social media. That's why you see so many devs putting farm simulators and Animal Crossing clones in the Nintendo Directs.

I still don't get why people focus on comparing the sales numbers of the Switch to single consoles or handhelds. The Switch sales need to be compared to the Wii and DS combined, not just one or the other.

That number is 255 million. The Switch needs to sell more than 255 million units to be as successful as that generation for Nintendo.

Well, it looks like they couldn't surpass the DS. I wonder if they'll consider releasing a more powerful model alongside Switch 2? Wii(2006) and DS(2004) combined sold over 250 million units, while the Switch has sold around 120 million units.

Wii and DS had vastly different libraries, you had reasons to get both or you'd lose on many popular releases, while Switch unified releases so basically nobody but collectors and maybe a handful more has no reason to get two switches.

How can this scape so many people's minds?

BTW Switch is $300 since it released and it's late on its life. At this point, Wii was $200 and DS Lite was $99 so they're selling the same not accounting for inflation (for which more expensive, bigger games and Switch OLED make for the difference).

What???

Well, Nintendo said Switch was the combination of all their previous consoles so it's easy to see how Joycons correspond to Wiimote in that soup.

 

[nush]

THE GOAT

I still pull mine out for NBA Jam and Sonic 1 on occasion. Sega was so ahead of their time in so many ways

NEC did it first.

 

[Celine]

NSW didn't vindicate the Wii's success and neither WiiU disavow it.
Wii was always designed to last shorter than PS3 and Xbo 360 because it was betting against the adoption rate of HD TV sets (it was the last mainstream SD TV console).
DS and Wii fortunes were based on the introduction of innovative input interfaces that were more intuitive for the general public, which coupled with suitable broad reaching software that use them (Wii Sports, Nintendogs etc.), garned huge popularity.
When 3DS and WiiU hit the road that path was under siege by smartphones and pads therefore Nintendo, while utilizing similar name conventions, was forced to move away in design from the DS and Wii for their successors.
With 3DS the focus shifted from the bottom touchscreen to the upper glassfree stereoscopic 3D screen whereas with WiiU the focus shifted to the GamePad and asymmetrical gameplay (between the smaller screen on the GamePad and the TV set visible to all the players) and the OS integrated social system and neither would prove to be truly enduring unique selling points beyond the inital novelty.
3DS and WiiU blew onto Nintendo's face because Nintendo misread the market's needs, not due to what Wii and DS were.
The very opposite happened with NSW (Nintendo hit a homerun with Switch's unique selling point).

Only fools who don't understand how Nintendo operates and strives would ever put in doubt Nintendo's strategy to leverage their unique hardware/software integration.
The tricky part is finding truly useful new ideas that entice the mass market.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

I'm still of the mind we overvalue the units sold of the Switch since it represents both the handheld and home console market segments for them. Consolidated, I'm not quite as impressed because it merges their target demographics and those who would have purchased both platforms now don't have to.

Contextualize: Nintendo moved 160m 3DS units and roughly 90-100m Wii units simultaneously and murdered their own GBA (which still had years to go). And they did this betting on novelty, gimmick offerings (motion controls and 3D). That was truly the golden era for sales.

 

[L*][*N*K]

Wait until it surpasses the PS2 in total sales lol

The only thing lacking in the Switch is some sort of IR pointer so we can use them for emulating some Wii games that are already lost in time like Pandora's Tower. I even think on getting a combo Wiimote + Nunchuck on Amazon, those things are still being sold by third parties but I just always forget.

Yeah I just can’t imagine how they will react