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NPD Analyst: Switch US retail SW on pace to be biggest Nintendo launch year on record

Gestault

Member
I'm glad to see the ongoing success of the Switch, and having green pastures for Nintendo publishing really is something of a relief. That said, the amount of growth since the mid-90s makes me a little less shocked by this, if it's a volume figure and not a percentage of the market.
 

Draxal

Member
Mario Kart (even a deluxe port), Zelda, and Splatoon 2 (with mario incoming). Is such a huge quartet of games.
 
This is probably their strongest digital platform as well with the likes of Wii not having digital versions of retail games, 3DS not having an eShop or much in the way of indie games for several months after launch, and Wii U...being Wii U
 

Aroll

Member
Yes 1995 was bigger than N64 launch. Nintendo's software sales during the entire NES and SNES era were off the hook. So even the final full year for SNES was crazy good.

Its interesting that none of the Wii years topped it though.
 

Metalmarc

Member
It would have sold even more if there was no Snes Classics and they ended the 3ds and not brought the new 2ds out, and of course if they had more stock ready available in the us etc, but of course they didnt expect to be as popular and they were competing with apple for parts.

If you don't own a Switch yet I feel sorry for you, fingers crossed you get one soon
 
Matt specified that this means calendar year- Wii launched in November, whereas Switch launched in March.

Still impressive, but I'd hazard a guess that the Wii's SW sales for the first six months eclipse the Switch's.

Oh okay, that makes more sense now. Still impressive that it's outpacing Nintendo's previous handhelds that launched in March though.
 
People buying the games is great news. Feels like shifting software has been a major issue for Nintendo's core console since the SNES.
 
Expected result, I definitely think Nintendo will ship much more than 10 million for the FY. It's still on course of getting to 5 million this year in NA.

To be fair the 10 million doesnt include last years nearly 3 million but I'm getting more and more confident of them comfortably beating projections
 
Yes 1995 was bigger than N64 launch. Nintendo's software sales during the entire NES and SNES era were off the hook. So even the final full year for SNES was crazy good.

Its interesting that none of the Wii years topped it though.

This is just talking about platform launch years I believe. And 1995 is used because that's when NPD started tracking, not since that year had higher software sales.
 

cw_sasuke

If all DLC came tied to $13 figurines, I'd consider all DLC to be free
Capcom shook.

Nah but honestly there is a reason why people want as many games as possible to come to Switch - no surprise.
 

emb

Member
Matt specified that this means calendar year- Wii launched in November, whereas Switch launched in March.

Still impressive, but I'd hazard a guess that the Wii's SW sales for the first six months eclipse the Switch's.
Oh, makes perfect sense then.
 

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
I would expect software sales to be big on Switch seeing as it has to do the lifting for two systems, handheld and console.
 

WestEgg

Member
Dat power of ARMS, Mario & Rabbits, Mario Kart, Splatoom and Indies.

This is NPD, let's be real, a lot of this is on Zelda having just been a phenomenal launching title. People can complain that the Switch prevented the Wii U release from coming a year or two earlier, but it's literally the smartest thing Nintendo did to support the Switch.
 
Note that it's "Nintendo platform launch year"

That would include 3DS, which launched in March, and didn't have any digital games until 2012 - so all software sold in North America on 3DS in 2011 would have been boxed.
 
I would expect software sales to be big on Switch seeing as it has to do the lifting for two systems, handheld and console.

Right now it's primarily handling the kinds of software you'd expect on a home console, plus the 3DS is still very much alive, so I wouldn't agree with you here.

You might expect software output to be big for those reasons, but not yet.
 

Kouriozan

Member
Nintendo is slaying this year indeed. They are releasing their biggest IP the same year and the new console is pretty popular.
 

Principate

Saint Titanfall
Note that it's "Nintendo platform launch year"

That would include 3DS, which launched in March, and didn't have any digital games until 2012 - so all software sold in North America on 3DS in 2011 would have been boxed.
Npd doesn't track Nintendo's digital anyway I don't believe.
 

Busaiku

Member
The only things that would matter here are GBA and 3DS.
The other hardware only had like 2 - 3 months.

It's cool, but nothing spectacular since handhelds generally sell less software than home systems.
GBA did better than 3DS, but it also launched in June.
 
OP, while this is definitely impressive (and compares favorably to handhelds like 3DS) you may wanna stress how Mat saying calendar year means this compares 10 months of Switch SW sales to 2 months of Wii software sales.
 

WestEgg

Member
Lightning struck twice in that bottle ;)

4fb304fb6e97ad62c5fff5db9fac49b2.gif
 

PantsuJo

Member
Cant wait when the Switch reach 100 Million, to read a lot of "Not surprised" and "Expected" here. Never change GAF... lol
Reading your post history says a lot but, excuse me, I must ask you this:

Do you believe firmly in every post you wrote, after reading it again?
 

Nightbird

Member
Well Switch owners are obviously starving for content, so the buy everything they can get, it's that easy! 💁🏾
 
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