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Sales Data Nintendo Switch has now outsold the PS4 in the US

Virtually everyone I know has a Switch which is just wild. Wonder how close it is to coming out on top?
 
Sure is a lot of people that could be playing a new Call of Duty, Madden, Sims, Need For Speed, Devil May Cry, Tales of, pulls out mile long list.

3rd-parties: "...nah, let's not do that"
Third parties who's been supportive of Switch (2K, Embracer): This prints money!!!!

Others: Well yeah. But what IS money? Have you ever thought about that? Why do we need it? Why? Why are we even here?
 
Third parties who's been supportive of Switch (2K, Embracer): This prints money!!!!

Others: Well yeah. But what IS money? Have you ever thought about that? Why do we need it? Why? Why are we even here?
It's maddening. Like, no-one expects GTA6 to all of the sudden be Switch-exclusive or anything, but at the same time, folks can attempt at smaller budget exclusives like in the Wii days, you don't NEED huge budgets to make more compact, Switch-specific games, even if it's an HD platform.

Konami's been making BANK doing that with games like Momotaro and even Baseball Spirits 2021 (not a HUGE seller but it still did 270k last year in JP).

There's some devs with a crap ton of Switch experience with engines and foundations that could be molded into Switch-exclusive entries. Example, why not get Arika to use their Fighting EX Layer Another Dash experience to bring Tekken to Switch like they did on 3DS (surely using that old Fighting Sample 3DS demo they showed prior). Maybe get Saber on a Call of Duty project as they did AMAZING work on those Crysis ports. What the hell stopped EA from giving us an Ignite engine Madden game like they've done with FIFA for 5 years?

And REMASTERS PEOPLE! A legion of PS360 AAA (and AA!) content ripe for the picking. Saber, Engine Software, Codeglue, 8ing, Hexadrive, QLOC, Tantalus, Virtuos, and others are experienced with ports and remasters on Switch. Why not give them more fantastic PS360 complete/definitive edition remasters to bring to Switch? Like you can't tell me a Modern Warfare 2 Complete Edition with all features and DLC intact wouldn't be a GIGA seller. Such efforts don't require breaking the bank folks. God.
 
Highest selling console in the US without a Call of Duty?
I know right lol.

Imo, AAA focused 3rd parties are becoming less important given how they are releasing fewer, & fewer titles these days and heavily focusing on big budget love service games. Its easier than ever to combat that lack of support if you have a ridiculous 1st party output/value such as Nintendo.

“Elden Ring type” 3rd party releases are so few and far between nowadays.
 
Sure is a lot of people that could be playing a new Call of Duty, Madden, Sims, Need For Speed, Devil May Cry, Tales of, pulls out mile long list.

3rd-parties: "...nah, let's not do that"
What's really impressive to me is that the Switch has found success in the US independent of those games. Hollow Knight is now more important to the Switch than Call of Duty.

In the past, missing those games was a death knell, but now they're just a "nice to have" instead of a "need to have."
 
starship-troopers-im-doing-my-part.gif
 
1st party software has been able to carry the Switch in huge part due to all focus of Nintendo being on the platform, this is the first console to get all big Nintendo franchises since the NES usually they were split into two platforms so it was hard for them to carry a platform, now it's possible.
 
It’s crazy to me how huge the 360 was in the US and how Microsoft lost most of that. I’m sure NA is still Xbox biggest market, but 360 was another level here.
 
1st party software has been able to carry the Switch in huge part due to all focus of Nintendo being on the platform, this is the first console to get all big Nintendo franchises since the NES usually they were split into two platforms so it was hard for them to carry a platform, now it's possible.
Counterpoint: It doesn’t have Wave Race, 1080° or Excite!! _____.

With these games, Switch sales would exceed the population of the US and Canada combined.
 
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It’s crazy to me how huge the 360 was in the US and how Microsoft lost most of that. I’m sure NA is still Xbox biggest market, but 360 was another level here.
When it comes to market share XBox biggest market is Mexico it's one of the only ones (if not the only one I can think off) that Xbox One outsold PS4. The dominance it's so big there you can get a PS5 right now in Amazon Mexico (probably only country in the world you can) while Xbox Series X stock still doesn't last more than 30 sec
 
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I was surprised to see this. I know Switch isn't ahead worldwide yet, and Switch is much stronger than PS4 in Japan, so outside of Japan PS4 is still something like 20-25 million in the lead. US is a big chunk of that non-Japan market, so I thought maybe half of that lead would come from there. So I guess PS4 is just stronger in Europe and "Other" than I realized. Harder to keep track of these things since Sony's shipment numbers are just worldwide.
 
It's maddening. Like, no-one expects GTA6 to all of the sudden be Switch-exclusive or anything, but at the same time, folks can attempt at smaller budget exclusives like in the Wii days, you don't NEED huge budgets to make more compact, Switch-specific games, even if it's an HD platform.

Konami's been making BANK doing that with games like Momotaro and even Baseball Spirits 2021 (not a HUGE seller but it still did 270k last year in JP).

There's some devs with a crap ton of Switch experience with engines and foundations that could be molded into Switch-exclusive entries. Example, why not get Arika to use their Fighting EX Layer Another Dash experience to bring Tekken to Switch like they did on 3DS (surely using that old Fighting Sample 3DS demo they showed prior). Maybe get Saber on a Call of Duty project as they did AMAZING work on those Crysis ports. What the hell stopped EA from giving us an Ignite engine Madden game like they've done with FIFA for 5 years?

And REMASTERS PEOPLE! A legion of PS360 AAA (and AA!) content ripe for the picking. Saber, Engine Software, Codeglue, 8ing, Hexadrive, QLOC, Tantalus, Virtuos, and others are experienced with ports and remasters on Switch. Why not give them more fantastic PS360 complete/definitive edition remasters to bring to Switch? Like you can't tell me a Modern Warfare 2 Complete Edition with all features and DLC intact wouldn't be a GIGA seller. Such efforts don't require breaking the bank folks. God.
There are four big reasons for the third party situation on Switch:
  • Devs prioritizing ease of development over game sales
  • Stupid and ignorant executives/sales and marketing teams
  • Platform loyalty
  • Past grudges

EA checks all four of those boxes. Devs refuse to be limited by a weaker hardware (like DICE), many people there see Nintendo as children's platform, grudges over Wii U game sales and of course, they want to bribed well enough. Sadly, it's up to Nintendo to correct these wrongs. Their efforts on Switch had been much bigger than Wii U and 3DS but still falls a little short. Nintendo has converted likes of 2K and Bethesda into Nintendo fans but even more effort is needed for someone like EA. Even for the older, easy to port titles. If you want a healthy third party support on your platform, you need healthy communication with them going.
 
1st party software has been able to carry the Switch in huge part due to all focus of Nintendo being on the platform, this is the first console to get all big Nintendo franchises since the NES usually they were split into two platforms so it was hard for them to carry a platform, now it's possible.
Nintendo removing Pokemon from the shackles of being strictly handheld surely helps lol.
 
I was surprised to see this. I know Switch isn't ahead worldwide yet, and Switch is much stronger than PS4 in Japan, so outside of Japan PS4 is still something like 20-25 million in the lead. US is a big chunk of that non-Japan market, so I thought maybe half of that lead would come from there. So I guess PS4 is just stronger in Europe and "Other" than I realized. Harder to keep track of these things since Sony's shipment numbers are just worldwide.
the ps4 only had 10 million more than switch, and yeah in europe sony is really strong, especially in the CODland (also known as the United Kingdom)
 
It's crazy that with how much dominant the PS4 was in the US it still was below 3 other consoles before the Switch, and with how hard it dropped out of the market compared to last-gen predecessors after PS5 it might remain that way. Haven't really monitored the NA market especially the previous gens.

Currently how far is the Switch from overtaking the top 3?
 
It's crazy that with how much dominant the PS4 was in the US it still was below 3 other consoles before the Switch, and with how hard it dropped out of the market compared to last-gen predecessors after PS5 it might remain that way. Haven't really monitored the NA market especially the previous gens.

Currently how far is the Switch from overtaking the top 3?
Using a disfavored source it looks like Switch is just shy of 40M in NA, PS and GBA just above 40M, GB at 43M, Wii at 45M, XB360 at 49M, PS2 at 53M, and the DS at 57M. I think Wii gets passed in the next year and maybe XB360.
 
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That is pretty bonkers when you think about it. And it's still chugging along nicely to boot. Could end up doing truly insane numbers if Nintendo don't pull the plug early
 
It's true though, a game that exists has more selling power then one that doesn't simply because the one that exists can sell.
This is kinda what I was trying to say. I think critical darling indies like Hollow Knight were the bread and butter of the Switch and should be a key focus for the successor (if Tunic and Death's Door were day and date or timed exclusives, that would've been huge).

At the same time, I also believe that if the Switch 2 has better online functionality, getting a competent port of CoD Warzone will be a much bigger deal in the US than the sequel to Hollow Knight. In that sense, Hollow Knight is not more important than CoD, but it's a matter of perspective.
 
Congrats to Switch.

the ps4 only had 10 million more than switch, and yeah in europe sony is really strong, especially in the CODland (also known as the United Kingdom)

CoD is in Massive decline in UK. It's not codland at all.







It's crazy that with how much dominant the PS4 was in the US it still was below 3 other consoles before the Switch, and with how hard it dropped out of the market compared to last-gen predecessors after PS5 it might remain that way. Haven't really monitored the NA market especially the previous gens.

Currently how far is the Switch from overtaking the top 3?
PS4 was never dominant in US. Just did better then, Xbox 56-44 ratio between them
 
It's crazy that with how much dominant the PS4 was in the US it still was below 3 other consoles before the Switch, and with how hard it dropped out of the market compared to last-gen predecessors after PS5 it might remain that way. Haven't really monitored the NA market especially the previous gens.

Currently how far is the Switch from overtaking the top 3?
From Welfare on IB:

NDS: ~53.5M
PS2: ~46.4M
360: ~43.2M
WII: ~41.7M
GBA is below Wii but something above 35M

Switch at minimum should be ~35M right now.
 
the ps4 only had 10 million more than switch, and yeah in europe sony is really strong, especially in the CODland (also known as the United Kingdom)
10 million worldwide, but since Japan is something like 25m Switch and 10m PS4, that leaves the "Not Japan" totals through March around 82m Switch vs 107m PS4.
It's crazy that with how much dominant the PS4 was in the US it still was below 3 other consoles before the Switch, and with how hard it dropped out of the market compared to last-gen predecessors after PS5 it might remain that way. Haven't really monitored the NA market especially the previous gens.

Currently how far is the Switch from overtaking the top 3?
At least going by shipments, I expect Switch to overtake Wii in North America in the January-March 2023 quarter. If April-December matches last year it could happen that soon, but it probably won't.
NSW_NA
 
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It's surreal to think about the time in early 2017 before launch where everybody laughed at the very idea of the Switch outselling the Wii. It feels like eons ago when the Switch seemed like a huge gamble on Nintendo's part and nobody was sure if it would succeed or not.
 
That’s crazy. And even crazier it’s still behind the PS4 with the Switch dominating in Japan. Just continues to show how far behind Nintendos appeal is in Europe and other regions compared to Sony.
 
That’s crazy. And even crazier it’s still behind the PS4 with the Switch dominating in Japan. Just continues to show how far behind Nintendos appeal is in Europe and other regions compared to Sony.
Bigger difference is in regions outside of Western Europe/Japan+East Asia/USA , in the regions usually treated as 'Other' that's where PS dominates most markets while Nintendo struggles.
 
Bigger difference is in regions outside of Western Europe/Japan+East Asia/USA , in the regions usually treated as 'Other' that's where PS dominates most markets while Nintendo struggles.
Yeah so it’s the “other” regions probably like South America, Australia, Middle East, Antarctica (😏), etc
 
It's surreal to think about the time in early 2017 before launch where everybody laughed at the very idea of the Switch outselling the Wii. It feels like eons ago when the Switch seemed like a huge gamble on Nintendo's part and nobody was sure if it would succeed or not.
It was, as usual, that weird gamer myopia. After the October reveal presentation it was clear that Nintendo had something with wide appeal – that reveal spread far outside of the usual “core Nintendo fan” circles. But then the January presentation hit, and spec-and-number-focused gamers were dismayed by its “too high” price of “still lower than any other console” and its “ridiculous” pricing of $80 for a set of Joy-Cons. But normal people are willing to pay for an appealing producf, even if it’s “more than a Nintendo portable should be,” and no one in the real world is basing their hardware purchase decisions between completely different types of platforms based on whether a second controller is $15 more than the competition or not. Simply put, Switch was a product that was more than the sum of its parts, and spec-focused geeks and gamers have always struggled to understand the appeal of that type of product, even if its obvious to less knowledgeable people. It’s the same way some of the most plugged-in tech enthusiasts initially dismissed the iPod, like with the infamous “no wireless. less space than a nomad. lame” quote, completely missing the point of the iPod’s key innovations (a pocketable as opposed to a CD-player-sized design and an easy-to-navigate interface). Almost no one even remembers what a Nomad is today, but that was the clear winner to geeks back in the day.

It’s the same myopic reason why gamers are convinced that it was the memory card pricing that doomed the Vita, even though the Vita was just fundamentally a product that didn’t have mass appeal in 2012. Most people didn’t even get to the part where they discovered the memory card prices; they just weren’t interested in the hardware and it didn’t have any big games to change their mind.
 
Nintendo put out a number of straight bangers this generation, so I'm not surprised.

What really helps even more than that, though, is the breadth of IP that Nintendo was able to cover by themselves on Switch. There's pretty much something for everyone, with relatively few gaps in genre.
 
There are four big reasons for the third party situation on Switch:
  • Devs prioritizing ease of development over game sales
  • Stupid and ignorant executives/sales and marketing teams
  • Platform loyalty
  • Past grudges

EA checks all four of those boxes. Devs refuse to be limited by a weaker hardware (like DICE), many people there see Nintendo as children's platform, grudges over Wii U game sales and of course, they want to bribed well enough. Sadly, it's up to Nintendo to correct these wrongs. Their efforts on Switch had been much bigger than Wii U and 3DS but still falls a little short. Nintendo has converted likes of 2K and Bethesda into Nintendo fans but even more effort is needed for someone like EA. Even for the older, easy to port titles. If you want a healthy third party support on your platform, you need healthy communication with them going.
Its also possible that EA has determined that PS4/5 and Xbox One/Series combined represent a significant portion of their potential fanbase and that the number of potential customers on Switch, who do not already own another console is too insignificant to mandate the dev teams support Switch.

Maybe this dovetails into your first bullet, but I naively assume that if Fifa did gangbusters on Switch that perhaps other yearly titles would have had their PS4/X1 games ported to Switch.

Im curious to see if the rumored CoD installment materializes.
 


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