No current games are making me rush out to buy the console, so im waiting for a future must play, or a special edition. Might even wait until a revision.
Honestly, they have kind of done this to themselves in my mind. I never bought a Switch OLED since my Switch was fine, but it made me decide I'm waiting for the 'upgraded' version for the next console. I don't have a super pressing need to play Donkey Kong right this minute. I can wait a year or 2 for the Switch 2 OLED or whatever they end up doing.
OLED was a big enough difference on the OG that I’d love to wait for it. But really any Zelda special edition will get me to cave. I’ve never been patient enough to wait for a themed console and this seems like the perfect time to do it. DK and Mario Kart will only get cheaper
As an OG switch owner I was debating between steam deck and switch 2 ever since switch 2 was announced. I was able to get a steam deck for $250 over black friday and it was an easy choice between spending $250 and having access to 240 games in steam library, vs spending $450 just to play games that I can already play on my switch 1, or pay even more for new games, and then pay monthly on top of that to be able to play online.
The only reason I wanted to get a switch 2 was for Pokemon and Animal Crossing, but Pokemon hasn't been delivering in the last 8 years, and there's no way I'd pay $500 for the privilege of playing their next slop when I can just emulate all the older games on the steam deck.
I really regret getting the Switch 2. Played ToTK remastered for a while, realized I don't really want or need to play through that game again. Downloaded the DK demo, thought it kinda sucked... haven't found a single other game to buy.
I wish I had waited. It does not feel like a new console at all. I am so tired of rereleases. I was a Wii U owner which was basically given an entire catalog redo with switch…playing the same Mario kart for a decade. I feel like Switch 2 is the same thing all over. The big release is the same animal crossing that’s been out since 2020. The big release is decades old Mario games which I already have for switch 1 and the selling point is that the grass graphics look marginally better. Or PC/xbox/ps5 games that have been out for even longer.
DK Bananza, might be the shallowest game I’ve ever played. Imagine Pac-Man but there are no ghosts chasing you. Just endless eating and endless wandering. You want it to end but there is nothing around to make it stop.
Mario kart world, I didn’t know it was possible to make a boring Mario kart. I played the last Mario kart for a decade waiting for a new release. I honestly can say the mobile game was more fun than this.
You made the right call. Maybe in like 5 years they will have released enough actually new stuff to make it worth while. But it’s collecting dust for me.
DK Bananza is the only game that tempts me to get the system now. If it turns out I wouldn't like it, I think I'd feel just like you. I'm going to keep waiting for a better exclusive library.
This and Sony / m$ having mid refresh on previous gens. Especially when economic times are getting rougher, it's hard to justify buying into initial release when all I can do is hope 3 years form now things got better and there will be Switch 2 OLED. Even if it did not, it's $500, enough llive a little longer. 😥
Eh, given that this has been year 1 so far, yeah I think I'm okay waiting for 4 years. If the Switch is your only gaming console / PC, then I understand struggling to wait, but I got enough to keep me busy between my PC and my Switch 1. I can get to the Switch 2 titles once they built a nice little collection of games and an OLED model releases in 3 more years.
I own / have owned every Nintendo system, I’ll get a Switch 2 at some point, but I’m still playing indies on my gen 1 OLED and having a great time (thanks Deku Deals) there is just nothing I “need” on Switch 2 now, and that my OLED gets better battery life does not make me want to move over either
Same. Where is the next 3D Mario? Odyssey initially sold me on the first Switch. The catalog of must have Nintendo first party games just isn't there for me yet.
It really is still wild to me how lacklustre the launch line up for the Switch 2 was. The only real new game was Mario Kart World and while a decent game and a popular franchise I don't think I've ever seen it as a system seller like a mainline Zelda or Mario title is.
DK Bonanza looked to be quite a good game but it came out a fair bit after launch and again, I'm not sure it's a major system seller.
I have zero interest in DK Bonanza or any of the other big titles. Glad that it got good reviews and people here enjoyed it, I'm just not interested. Then again I'm mostly interested in stuff they'll never develop and have a deep backlog on Switch 1. I would like to play BOTW/TOTK (haven't played either) and play the "premium" versions of games like DQ7, but it's not worth the investment at this point.
Pokemon pokopia is the only game I'm interested in so far that's switch 2 exclusive, and that's really just animal crossing with a pokemon skin as far as I can tell. And animal crossing new horizons is about to get a big update in a week, so there's just no desire to spend that much money unless my OLED suddenly breaks down. 450$ minimum is a big ask with everything the way it is right now.
The IP is still incredibly strong, and will generate console sales if it's good. I ended up buying a copy of it + switch because of how busy the primary switch got when the family started playing that game.
The Switch was still the most sold console at that point in its lifetime, even before the pandemic despite numerous hardware shortages its first two years.
Yeah but New Horizons sold nearly 50 million copies. New Leaf sold like... 13 million. It was such a once in a lifetime smash hit to be released spring / summer 2020
Part of that was the Wii U sucking. Easy to justify getting a switch if you didn’t have a Wii U, but if you already have a switch there’s less pressure to upgrade.
Kind of a similar situation here. I bought a Switch 2 a couple days after release, but I have yet to play a single Switch 2 exclusive. So far it's been a backlog of Switch games and two games with Switch 2 upgrades (which is nice but not 100% necessary). I don't regret buying a Switch 2 only because I don't think the price will drop any time soon (if ever, and there's a good chance that the price will increase).
Not to mention the people that bought a switch never played it. My sisters old friend saw AC online, bought a Lite and AC. Played it once or twice then sold it.
Plus where a lot of the games for Switch 2 are upgraded Switch 1 games, a vast majority of people who wanted to play them already have, and those that havent likely arent going to buy a Switch 2 just for that unless they never had a Switch to begin with. And even then, Switch 1 are cheap af used right now and a great option if you dont really care about performance and just want to play the games.
Switch 1 had both new 3D Zelda and 3D Mario + games like Splatoon and Xenoblade by its first Christmas season. That paired with it being genuinely difficult to get one during launch window, particularly throughout summer, just naturally created more demand. But Switch 1 launch window was just unreasonably good. Like in terms of games you couldn't have a better scenario of stars aligning and I don't think any console could replicate that going forward. That'd be like if a new PlayStation launched with Uncharted, InFAMOUS, LittleBigPlanet, Ratchet & Clank and a new Team Ico game within like months of each other
It seemed like Nintendo thought Prime 4 was going to be a system seller, but I don't think Metroid games were ever that popular. The GameCube has two of them but sold middling
I feel like smash, botw and animal crossing were the major ones for sw 1?
It's hard to compare the two release years though as they came at different times, drastically affecting the sales at this time of year. Switch 1 came out in March, so early adopters got the console and 8-9 months later black Friday and Christmas deals came into play for less diehard fans, whereas for Switch 2 it only came out in June and with a very good bundle, so it had a huge early adoption rate and the aforementioned sales came only 5-6 months into it's lifetime and were never going to be too appealing to wait around for when it's initial deal was so good (and lasted until these sales anyway!)
And just looking at games, both had a massive system seller on launch day (BOTW vs MKW), both had a follow-up within the first 6 weeks that was similarly strong (MK8D vs DKB), both had a bunch of updated versions of old games (WiiU ports/sequels vs Switch 2 Editions), both had a couple of games that people complained about the pricing for and thought should be pack in titles (1 2 Switch & Snipperclips vs Welcome Tour & DXD), both had a Warriors game with a Nintendo franchise (Fire Emblem vs Hyrule), both had a first person shooter (Splatoon 2 vs Metroid Prime 4)... And that's all within the first seven months! You could go even more in depth and point out that each console got a multiple Mario titles in that time, a Zelda title, a Pokémon title, and a new IP sports game!
All the comparisons break down when you hit the seventh month of the console's life, and it's all because of the release date. For Switch 2, that's right now - January is always a lull month for games because buyers are saving money after Christmas and as such big games are released a lot less frequently, meaning that this month the only Nintendo release is a NS2 edition of Animal Crossing New Horizons, which is admittedly still pretty big as things go! But for the Switch 1, month 7 was October, right when major games are always released ahead of the biggest sales, and they released Mario Odyssey, undoubtedly a system seller that pushed sales through the holiday period. To be clear, a brand new Pokémon game like Z-A would absolutely also be a system seller, except that it also released on Switch 1, so pretty much by definition couldn't be one in this case.
So for Switch 1 prospective buyers and parents of wannabe Switch 1-owning children in October 2017, they'd had half a year to see what the console was and a brand new system seller dropped just ahead of the biggest sales - for the same group for Switch 2 in October 2025, they've only had 4 months to look at the console, the best deal already existed with the bundle, and the system seller was also being sold on a console they likely already owned. The two situations are night and day
Yeah, the launch also wasn't that far off from the holiday season. I think the majority of people who were going to buy by eoy just bought at launch, or whenever they could get their hands on one.
And for as solid of a lineup as the console has, and for as good as Bananza is, Mario sells consoles and doesn't necessarily appeal to the younger demographic as much as the older demographic - who likely bought early.
This. It's kind of in a weird spot. While I didn't pick it up, Metroid Prime 4 didn't seem to light the world on fire. The last standout exclusive for me was Donkey Kong.
The console needs a broad seller outside of Mario Kart.
Metroid Prime 4 felt dumped without much fanfare from Nintendo. It’s not the terrible game that people acted like it was on Reddit but its not exactly a must buy either. I think Nintendo were just fed up of putting money into it and released it to get it out of the road.
Yeah like, 3 million is incredible for Metroid. But us Metroid fans aren't exactly going to move 100 million consoles like Marios and Zeldas would haha
Yes, but with the understanding that Metroid isn't going to be a Zelda or a Mario game. It's a solid B-tier franchise for Nintendo. It sells well, it has a lot of fans, but it's not going to move systems. It might, but generally it shouldn't be expected to.
I still haven’t finished Prime 3 so I am holding off on 4 until that happens. Will purchase Prime 4 at some point but yeah it seems to be a nice addition to the series and not a platform defining game.
It's a solid entry to the Metroid Prime series. Problem is, the first is still the best one by far and none of the sequels come close to that first entry.
My biggest issue with MP4 was how disconnected the map was. Compare it to 1 where everything is intricately linked together and it’s really disappointing how spaced out everything was. The open world area felt like a remnant of an earlier version of the game that stuck around after the project was restarted but that no one knew what to do with. The desert was pretty dull and it ended up just feeling like something you had to drive across to get to places rather than an area with a lot to look at and do.
Metroid also released simultaneously in Switch 1. You can point to BotW doing the same but not many people had WiiUs, so most who really wanted to play it had to buy a new console to do so.
Metroid Prime could have been the best game in the franchise and it probably wouldn't have moved the needle on console sales. It's never had near universal appeal like some other Nintendo franchises
Personally I wouldn't have gotten the console for fear of a price increase. I'm excited for Mario this year but other than that it looks like a lackluster year for me again.
Yeah, I haven't gotten an actual exclusive NSW2 game yet. I have gotten switch games, some with an ugprade path I haven't taken advantage of yet, but none of the switch 2 exclusives have called out ot me.
I literally only own the 2 because its backwards compatible and to avoid price jumps. I know one day an exclusive will come but until then it's sort of just a... normal switch to me.
My friend asked me to convince him to buy a Switch 2, because he wanted to play Metroid Prime 4 in the best way possible but just Metroid wasn't enough for him to justify the cost. I seriously couldn't name another reason for him to get it. He likes Mario Kart but not enough to play it frequently, same issue with Air Riders. He has little interest in Bananza, and musou games aren't his thing. That's basically all Switch 2 exclusives out, and all other games so far are playable on Switch 1.
That leaves the new Splatoon, Yoshi and Pokopia, but we don't know much about the former and the other two are also not his type of game.
Long story short, I couldn't in good conscience recommend him to buy the console. I'm happy with mine, but for more casual gamers and people who aren't hardcore Nintendo fans Nintendo really needs a stronger argument than they have now.
Economy sucks, and it’s getting worse. Not just in the US but in the whole world. As the economic adage used to say the US sneezes and the world catches a cold.
So they’re probably adjusting to lower demands due to increased costs of household essential items and services.
That's a big part of the reason a few people I know bought one recently, myself included
It feels almost inevitable that the non-bundle price is gonna hit $500 soon, and I'd rather save the $80 by getting Mario Kart for 'free' by buying now rather than waiting for a better lineup of titles.
Ive bought every Nintendo console/handheld in the past but the lack of new games or features that are must haves make it a financial bad decision to buy a console thats sitting idle 300+ days in the year
I’m not trying to be doom and gloom but I get downvoted every time I say this: the switch needs 3rd party exclusives and not ports of games that run better elsewhere. It needs hype games to build up sales not Nintendo fans saying ( “look how many exclusives the ps5 had at launch”)
I’m not calling this the Wii U electric bugaloo because it’s nowhere near that but Nintendo’s philosophy continues to just be strange
You don’t need them. It’s Christmas. Santa has to bring families a new console. That in itself is the push.
Nintendo priced the console too high and it’s showing. Mario kart or Donkey Kong should have been enough to get Christmas sales.
But they lost the average family looking to buy a family console. A kid asking for a switch 2 and a game at this price point is going to get a ton of pushback. A switch 1 was affordable.
Lol at people downvoting someone for saying they don’t want to spend $1000 on a system and a game, as well as an actual controller and not the joy cons. Nintendo fans lol
Yeah ikr? I spent $899 on both cuz I had luck and got a couple good coupons from AMZ, but for instance I have a couple friends in South America and the console there its pretty much costing almost 5,000 bucks (in their local currency). And most ppl don't make that in a whole month's salary. So yeah it is crazy expensive. And unfortunately it's going to get worse.
Yeah this should’ve been the time when it sold boatloads, but it didn’t. Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong are both months old and are as good as new to people who don’t have a switch 2, so it’s crazy to try to use that as a reason.
Everything tech is gonna get more expensive and sales will decline as a result from here on though, so I don’t think it’ll really register as time goes on.
Also not a lot of disposable income. If things weren't so tight, I would have splurged and picked on up for my kid (and low key for myself lol) but its hard to justify buying it to mostly play switch 1 games.
This is it for me - I really don’t see any first party items that push it over the threshold for me from launch through currently known 2026 releases, so I’m in a wait state with my LED Switch 1 and SteamDeck covering all my needs. I went as far as to impulse buy Cyberpunk 2077 during its pricing error at 17.49, but figure I’ll hold off on S2 hardware until next Zelda, Mario or other compelling 1st party entries arrive.
AI companies are buying parts that aren’t made yet for data centers that aren’t built yet to support a platform that makes no money and nobody wanted in the first place.
9070xt is at MSRP at my local Micro Center. There's an ASRock 3 fan model for $599 (which is the reference model MSRP) and they have 25+ in stock according to their website
Mine has the same pricing. I originally checked Amazon and my 9070 xt Asrock steel legend is $740, $669 at Microcenter. I looked a week or so ago and seen it was around $669. That’s why I was so shocked.
This is why I just don't believe the rumours of Nvidia cutting GPU production to "serve AI." They're doing it because sales are dropping because the upgrades are underwhelming, the new games are underwhelming, and people have no money, so just play their backlog with their older hardware.
Same with RAM prices. AI infrastructure has been building out for the better part of the past decade, especially the past half a decade, but now there's all of a sudden a huge shortage and price surge?? Are we sure it's a shortage and not RAM companies price fixing again coupled with panic buyers reading all the clickbait headlines? They wanted a new covid shortage so they manufactured one.
AI is the best new excuse. Oh, you hired too many people over lockdown and now can't afford the headcount? Well, don't worry, don't tell your investors you over-hired, instead lay everyone off and say AI took their jobs.
So happy I got a 5070 at $550. It does crash infrequently whereas my 3070 ($500 back in the shortage days) was butter (still is in my living room), but still.
Point taken. It may be better now than its going to be, but it is definitely worse than it was the previous year, which is what this bad article is comparing it to.
And the Switch 2's 2025 still performed better than the Switch 1's 2017 in most markets and WW, despite 2 fewer months on sale. The article doesnt even have data for December in the US, its just guessing based off November which was way down across the board (even hitting a 30 year low).
Right I mean you just need to look up the ps5 numbers for November if they are going to pull that Bs and that only sold 3.6 mill in that period. It's not just the switch which isn't selling, everything isn't selling.
I still feel in my bones one of the biggest issues Nintendo was going to face with the switch 2, is getting casuals to upgrade. Especially since it’s just a beefier system of the previous system.
This was something the 3ds had issues with, even though it was still a good console and success. It didn’t really get those soccer moms and wine aunts who had the ds to upgrade. The switch 2 was always going to be a high floor lower ceiling type system compared to the switch 1.
I think it's even more like the Wii than the DS. The Wii was an insane hit among casual players. Like half of the top 10 games were Mii based casual gaming titles.
Yeah but the point they’re making is about the delta between a console and its successor.
Wii > Wii U is not a very good comparison because Switch 2 is still performing well, just might not reach Switch 1 levels. Which is similar to DS > 3DS.
Exactly. I got kids and 3 Original Switches in my house. They haven't said a word about the Switch 2. The minute Animal Crossing is announced I am sure some Switch 2s will find their way into my house.
I really don't think so. Animal crossing new horizons release was lightning in the bottle with covid lockdowns. Next entry wouldn't even do half of that. Unless you know, some other disaster happens.
I think that's it: the intended early adopters pretty much all managed to get a Switch 2 within the first few months, so the initial sales peak was incredibly high followed by a bit of a tailing off. Had the console not been as well stocked as it was, you'd have probably seen lower initial sales (as the console went OOS) but more steady sales as it was resupplied and demand was still high.
For the record it’s not just the Switch. Price increases across the board make it hard to justify upgrading consoles right now if your current one works. Same for PC and PlayStation.
This isn’t “Nintendo fell off” it’s “Groceries and Sh*t is too expensive.”
This. Im not buying a Switch 2 until it has several killer games. My Switch 1 backlog is huge and I'd rather that money go to bills than a pretty Switch 1+ Mario Kart World.
That’s perfectly understandable. Most systems on launch didn’t have the same value appeal until a little while after. A lot of switch purchases for switch 1 happened when animal crossing dropped during covid
I'd argue that the Switch 2 is still worth it, even for playing your backlog of S1 games as many of them got performance increase, and sometimes a dedicated free update for S2.
Also with RAM price inflation, S2 price might hike at some point
Yeah, there's no real new information here beyond the Circana report we already had that detailed, at least in the US, that consoles across the board had their worst holiday since 1995 or something to that effect.
Unless you were buying a PS5 massively discounted, people bought bugger all this holiday.
This is the correct answer. Plus as the report points out, switch 2 is still outpacing the rate at which the switch 1 sold pretty significantly. Switch 2 almost didn't need to have a good November or December based on how well it sold July-October. (I'm being slightly hyperbolic but I hope that makes sense)
World was disappointing and DK was like 6 months ago.
Hyrule Warriors 3, Air Riders and a mid-received Prime game are not system sellers or heavy hitters. Compared to the first 9 months of the Switch: BOTW, MK8D, ARMS, Splatoon 2, Mario & Rabbids, FE Warriors, XC2 & Odyssey.
People need more money to buy the games and the hardware to play them. The economy is ass, and the RAM and GPU market are extremely volatile due to AI slopfest investing. It's definitely not just the lack of games...
Not me man. I jumped the gun and bought a switch 2 on NYE just to be ahead of any potential price increases that may or may not be coming due to RAM prices and Nvidia selling out.
Right now it's cheaper than it'll ever be, might as well get one.
Yes, but what's the reason I SHOULD buy a Switch 2?
It's costly, I can't afford it, there aren't any games that I DESPERATELY need for it, and, truthfully, I don't feel like the value is there. Last summer, I started playing my 3DS again. I streetpassed someone at my dentist's office (ironically, my dentist whose Mii was named "Teeth" and designed to look like a tooth) and I had a thought. The Switch 2 just feels overly corporate to me, too stuffy and not much like a whimsical Nintendo console. That thought along killed any enthusiasm I had for the console.
I feel like the amount of success switch 1 got, got to their head that people were going to go in and buy switch 2 at that price. but really they priced out their casual consumer who probably will buy secondhand in a few years or if they ever will be a sale. I like nintendo as a brand, moreso than ps, but when I made my decision to buy a console for the first time when I only had switch oled and ps5 as my options, I went with the cheaper ps5 on sale, because the switch was at the end of its cycle, and switch 2 was rumored only for it to come out a almost a year after I bought a ps5 lol.
For the last nine weeks of 2025, 1.32 million Switch 2 consoles were sold in Japan (Famitsu data). This is slightly down (-5.5%) on the 1.39 million units that the Switch 1 sold over the same period in 2017.>
To be quite frank, I am shocked the Switch 2 even sold that much. The current economic landscape in the US is pretty shaky to say the least with flip of the coin fiscal decisions being made weekly by certain people in power. Its not just the Switch or even gaming, its almost all consumer spending. Things that used to be a hobby are suddenly becoming a luxury and I'm even saying that as someone with a healthy salary.
Did anyone read it. It’s nothing we didn’t already know. Sales are actually up apart from USA due to higher price from tarrifs. Can we stop doing this?
Yeah, everything is down. Switch 2 is obviously going to bear the brunt since it’s all new. Expensive new hardware lacking killer apps, and ready availability for months… not surprising sales dropped.
It’s funny how a lot of people are trying to label the Switch 2 as a massive success/failure this early on. Switch 2 will presumably be around for 6-8 years, so it’s only been on the market for a fraction of the time. Yeah launch day sales were amazing, but that’s just 1 day out of over 2500 days. Yeah this holiday season was a slump, but it’s just one holiday out of many. If we were to judge early sales for Nintendo consoles, Wii U would’ve been a success instead of a massive flop, and Switch 1 would have been just okay not one of the best selling video game consoles of all time.
I'd say two things are really hurting switch 2 sales
1) The cost of the console vs the Switch 1 OLED. (related to cost of living)
2) The exclusives offered on switch 2. Most games released in 2025 have a switch 1 and 2 version of the game and while the S2 offers upgrades, it doesn't justify the greater cost of buying the console.
All that being said, considering that console and PC sales are on the decline as a whole, I don't think Nintendo are doing too bad. And with the majority of games going forward being Switch 2 exclusives, I can see the sales going steadily over the next year.
There’s only 3 original games on Switch 2 that cannot be purchased on Switch 1. MKWorld, DK Bananza, and Kirby Air Riders. Out of these 3 I think it’s plausible for many to not want the console yet as MKWorld is a very shallow addition to that franchise, it’s probably my least favorite Switch 2 game and it’s replayability is minimal after all the costumes/characters are unlocked.
I’ve seen many people admit that they wanna wait for DK Bananza which is very fair, and I don’t think Kirby Air Riders is getting the attention it deserves. Kirby Air Riders is phenomenal though, my friends/brother and I have been playing that game a lot more than MKW so I would recommend that, but everything is so expensive I know that it’s tricky.
Hopefully this year puts the peddle to the metal and gives us some really solid and amazing because off the top of my head Mario Tennis Fever and the leaked (SPOILER) Pokemon Gen 10 games are the only things I know that for sure are coming this year.
Not everyone has the disposable income these days to afford a luxury plaything. A new gaming console isn’t exactly high up the hierarchy of needs when rent is due and grocery and gas prices are skyrocketing.
I think I have to write this over and over again. These are still just november circana numbers. The origin article wrote „November-December“ so misleads that these numbers are from November AND december data. But Circana estimates will come 21. january. So this is just november where Us was in a shutdown for weeks and had the badest month for economy since ages.
The console is priced too high, games have been priced too high, and there really isn’t a super compelling reason to buy this instead of using existing consoles at this time outside of the S2 exclusives.
Honestly, I have dusted off my n3ds this holiday season and have been enjoying it a lot. Also have plenty of backlog on my Switch 1 to last me a long while.
S2 is a fantastic console and I absolutely want one… but not just yet
There aren't that many S2 exclusives and they're all expensive.
I used to buy Nintendo consoles for Pokemon, but the Switch era titles are bad (other than Arceus). I will buy the new Fire Emblem day 1, but it's still a while away. I was hoping for a few nice ports of games that are more convenient on a handheld, but Atlus dropped unoptimized Persona 3 and no Metaphor in sight at all. Bananza was cool, but what else?
I still bought Switch 2 because I had the money, but honestly, I'm not really using it for much that I couldn't do on my old Switch. I can see why people are holding back.
I got a Switch 2, knowing it would be a long-term investment. There aren’t too many games for it right now. But at least I can catch up on the massive backlog of Switch 1 games while waiting for new releases to drop.
I wonder if Sony and Microsoft see the current economy’s impact on hardware sales and think to themselves, “OK, maybe we don’t need the next PlayStation or Xbox until 2030.”
We don't need a PS6 until we have maxed out the utility of the PS5 and that hasn't happened yet. This console generation, for me, has been incredibly lackluster with some big gaming studios (naughty dog, rockstar, etc) not having released their first game of the decade.
One senior Nintendo employee told me that a “complicated economic landscape”, mixed with higher price points and “the absence of a major Western game” during Christmas could make for tough comparisons with Switch 1, but overall, he’s proud of what was accomplished during a tricky year.
Is it known how were the sales relative to PS and Xbox?
As someone who bought a switch 2 for the family - I do get it.
It really wasn't discounted significantly at all, it's a very expensive system - a Switch 1 could be bought for significantly less and still play almost all the same games. So far we've played only 1 "new" game (Mario Kart World) which is nice but not revolutionary. And my kid can't play it online with school mates as most of them still have the switch 1.
I did debate this a lot, but decided in the longer run it would be worth it. But it was a close thing.
Definitely not an ideal position to be in, but there's no doubt the much higher price of the Switch 2 in addition to a higher cost of living overall doesn't help. I wonder if these sales indicators are in units or dollars/other currency, and what the difference would be there.
I think many people are still waiting for a game that truly makes waves. Mario Kart World should have been it, but I think it needed to be a 10/10 to really have that effect, and as small as they may be, the complaints online probably lessened its impact a lot. Donkey Kong Bananza is the closest contender for that spot, but even though it's the Mario team, it's still Donkey Kong, so the brand recognition isn't there as much.
But this approach could work. I think the core audience has a lot to love on this platform, and that will slowly spread word of mouth. When more broad-appeal titles hit the scene, they will be on top of all the great games that are already on the platform, which could produce a snowball effect of sorts.
The cost of living sucks and it’s a brand new console that didn’t get much of a discount compared to the PS5. I feel like it’s not hard to understand why this is happening.
No current games are making me rush out to buy the console, so im waiting for a future must play, or a special edition. Might even wait until a revision.
Honestly, they have kind of done this to themselves in my mind. I never bought a Switch OLED since my Switch was fine, but it made me decide I'm waiting for the 'upgraded' version for the next console. I don't have a super pressing need to play Donkey Kong right this minute. I can wait a year or 2 for the Switch 2 OLED or whatever they end up doing.
Exactly. I only got a switch oled because my switch died the day before XC3 came out, and I NEEDED to play that.
Im in no rush for switch 2. Im even debating just getting a steam deck oled to hold me over
OLED was a big enough difference on the OG that I’d love to wait for it. But really any Zelda special edition will get me to cave. I’ve never been patient enough to wait for a themed console and this seems like the perfect time to do it. DK and Mario Kart will only get cheaper
As an OG switch owner I was debating between steam deck and switch 2 ever since switch 2 was announced. I was able to get a steam deck for $250 over black friday and it was an easy choice between spending $250 and having access to 240 games in steam library, vs spending $450 just to play games that I can already play on my switch 1, or pay even more for new games, and then pay monthly on top of that to be able to play online.
The only reason I wanted to get a switch 2 was for Pokemon and Animal Crossing, but Pokemon hasn't been delivering in the last 8 years, and there's no way I'd pay $500 for the privilege of playing their next slop when I can just emulate all the older games on the steam deck.
Honestly more tempted by a steam deck than a switch 2 right now, so I understand and support that choice, especially for $250
Not that it matters to most people, but imo GC on the SD > GC on S2 (I have both)
I really regret getting the Switch 2. Played ToTK remastered for a while, realized I don't really want or need to play through that game again. Downloaded the DK demo, thought it kinda sucked... haven't found a single other game to buy.
I wish I had waited. It does not feel like a new console at all. I am so tired of rereleases. I was a Wii U owner which was basically given an entire catalog redo with switch…playing the same Mario kart for a decade. I feel like Switch 2 is the same thing all over. The big release is the same animal crossing that’s been out since 2020. The big release is decades old Mario games which I already have for switch 1 and the selling point is that the grass graphics look marginally better. Or PC/xbox/ps5 games that have been out for even longer. DK Bananza, might be the shallowest game I’ve ever played. Imagine Pac-Man but there are no ghosts chasing you. Just endless eating and endless wandering. You want it to end but there is nothing around to make it stop. Mario kart world, I didn’t know it was possible to make a boring Mario kart. I played the last Mario kart for a decade waiting for a new release. I honestly can say the mobile game was more fun than this.
You made the right call. Maybe in like 5 years they will have released enough actually new stuff to make it worth while. But it’s collecting dust for me.
DK Bananza is the only game that tempts me to get the system now. If it turns out I wouldn't like it, I think I'd feel just like you. I'm going to keep waiting for a better exclusive library.
This and Sony / m$ having mid refresh on previous gens. Especially when economic times are getting rougher, it's hard to justify buying into initial release when all I can do is hope 3 years form now things got better and there will be Switch 2 OLED. Even if it did not, it's $500, enough llive a little longer. 😥
I mean if you want to wait 4 years lol
Eh, given that this has been year 1 so far, yeah I think I'm okay waiting for 4 years. If the Switch is your only gaming console / PC, then I understand struggling to wait, but I got enough to keep me busy between my PC and my Switch 1. I can get to the Switch 2 titles once they built a nice little collection of games and an OLED model releases in 3 more years.
6 months not even a year. But yeah I guess if you have other things you're interested in playing it's not a long wait
I own / have owned every Nintendo system, I’ll get a Switch 2 at some point, but I’m still playing indies on my gen 1 OLED and having a great time (thanks Deku Deals) there is just nothing I “need” on Switch 2 now, and that my OLED gets better battery life does not make me want to move over either
Same. Where is the next 3D Mario? Odyssey initially sold me on the first Switch. The catalog of must have Nintendo first party games just isn't there for me yet.
I guess Dk Bonanza was meant to be a kind of successor to Odyssey.
It really is still wild to me how lacklustre the launch line up for the Switch 2 was. The only real new game was Mario Kart World and while a decent game and a popular franchise I don't think I've ever seen it as a system seller like a mainline Zelda or Mario title is.
DK Bonanza looked to be quite a good game but it came out a fair bit after launch and again, I'm not sure it's a major system seller.
it honestly feels like this is just the Switch Pro rather than a new console because wtf
I regret buying it on launch cause there’s no game I really want to play.
Seriously. There are simply not enough solid new games to sell this thing. DK bonanza looks fun, but otherwise it's all cricket noises...
I have zero interest in DK Bonanza or any of the other big titles. Glad that it got good reviews and people here enjoyed it, I'm just not interested. Then again I'm mostly interested in stuff they'll never develop and have a deep backlog on Switch 1. I would like to play BOTW/TOTK (haven't played either) and play the "premium" versions of games like DQ7, but it's not worth the investment at this point.
Dairy Queen 7
I was in the same boat, however it looks like it will rise in price so that's a pain...
Pokemon pokopia is the only game I'm interested in so far that's switch 2 exclusive, and that's really just animal crossing with a pokemon skin as far as I can tell. And animal crossing new horizons is about to get a big update in a week, so there's just no desire to spend that much money unless my OLED suddenly breaks down. 450$ minimum is a big ask with everything the way it is right now.
I think there isn't really many fresh new announcements to push console sales right now.
Higher prices in a tougher economic environment than 2017 will also be a major factor - everything is so much more expensive than it used to be
Yeah folks will prioritise necessities more compared to before.
They probably need a console seller title really. I feel like smash, botw and animal crossing were the major ones for sw 1?
Animal crossing wasn’t until 2020 and the pandemic really helped push those sales
Animal Crossing dropping in 2020 was a once in a lifetime perfect storm for Nintendo
Not only that but I remember it had been delayed and actually released later than anticipated and it just happened to release peak pandemic
The IP is still incredibly strong, and will generate console sales if it's good. I ended up buying a copy of it + switch because of how busy the primary switch got when the family started playing that game.
Nintendo opening a new lab as we speak 🤣
The Switch was still the most sold console at that point in its lifetime, even before the pandemic despite numerous hardware shortages its first two years.
Yeah but New Horizons sold nearly 50 million copies. New Leaf sold like... 13 million. It was such a once in a lifetime smash hit to be released spring / summer 2020
Part of that was the Wii U sucking. Easy to justify getting a switch if you didn’t have a Wii U, but if you already have a switch there’s less pressure to upgrade.
That's where i am. I don't see the need at this price point. I'm very content with the switch & Steam deck combo.
Kind of a similar situation here. I bought a Switch 2 a couple days after release, but I have yet to play a single Switch 2 exclusive. So far it's been a backlog of Switch games and two games with Switch 2 upgrades (which is nice but not 100% necessary). I don't regret buying a Switch 2 only because I don't think the price will drop any time soon (if ever, and there's a good chance that the price will increase).
Not to mention the people that bought a switch never played it. My sisters old friend saw AC online, bought a Lite and AC. Played it once or twice then sold it.
Plus where a lot of the games for Switch 2 are upgraded Switch 1 games, a vast majority of people who wanted to play them already have, and those that havent likely arent going to buy a Switch 2 just for that unless they never had a Switch to begin with. And even then, Switch 1 are cheap af used right now and a great option if you dont really care about performance and just want to play the games.
Switch 1 had both new 3D Zelda and 3D Mario + games like Splatoon and Xenoblade by its first Christmas season. That paired with it being genuinely difficult to get one during launch window, particularly throughout summer, just naturally created more demand. But Switch 1 launch window was just unreasonably good. Like in terms of games you couldn't have a better scenario of stars aligning and I don't think any console could replicate that going forward. That'd be like if a new PlayStation launched with Uncharted, InFAMOUS, LittleBigPlanet, Ratchet & Clank and a new Team Ico game within like months of each other
Yeah also many games from Wii U that people haven't played because they skiped Wii U.
Seems like most of the better Wii U games were re-released as Switch titles.
MK8D too
It seemed like Nintendo thought Prime 4 was going to be a system seller, but I don't think Metroid games were ever that popular. The GameCube has two of them but sold middling
They know what metroid sell, they weren't planing on it being the seller.
They expected mario kart to carry this year, and honestly the sales are there.
Just because the christmas rush wasn't the biggest yet, they have been widely available since launch and have been selling amazing for the year.
It's hard to compare the two release years though as they came at different times, drastically affecting the sales at this time of year. Switch 1 came out in March, so early adopters got the console and 8-9 months later black Friday and Christmas deals came into play for less diehard fans, whereas for Switch 2 it only came out in June and with a very good bundle, so it had a huge early adoption rate and the aforementioned sales came only 5-6 months into it's lifetime and were never going to be too appealing to wait around for when it's initial deal was so good (and lasted until these sales anyway!)
And just looking at games, both had a massive system seller on launch day (BOTW vs MKW), both had a follow-up within the first 6 weeks that was similarly strong (MK8D vs DKB), both had a bunch of updated versions of old games (WiiU ports/sequels vs Switch 2 Editions), both had a couple of games that people complained about the pricing for and thought should be pack in titles (1 2 Switch & Snipperclips vs Welcome Tour & DXD), both had a Warriors game with a Nintendo franchise (Fire Emblem vs Hyrule), both had a first person shooter (Splatoon 2 vs Metroid Prime 4)... And that's all within the first seven months! You could go even more in depth and point out that each console got a multiple Mario titles in that time, a Zelda title, a Pokémon title, and a new IP sports game!
All the comparisons break down when you hit the seventh month of the console's life, and it's all because of the release date. For Switch 2, that's right now - January is always a lull month for games because buyers are saving money after Christmas and as such big games are released a lot less frequently, meaning that this month the only Nintendo release is a NS2 edition of Animal Crossing New Horizons, which is admittedly still pretty big as things go! But for the Switch 1, month 7 was October, right when major games are always released ahead of the biggest sales, and they released Mario Odyssey, undoubtedly a system seller that pushed sales through the holiday period. To be clear, a brand new Pokémon game like Z-A would absolutely also be a system seller, except that it also released on Switch 1, so pretty much by definition couldn't be one in this case.
So for Switch 1 prospective buyers and parents of wannabe Switch 1-owning children in October 2017, they'd had half a year to see what the console was and a brand new system seller dropped just ahead of the biggest sales - for the same group for Switch 2 in October 2025, they've only had 4 months to look at the console, the best deal already existed with the bundle, and the system seller was also being sold on a console they likely already owned. The two situations are night and day
Missing like 8-10 other console sellers there
I mean it’s been 8 years since Mario odyssey, I might consider a switch two when there is a new 3d Mario game? Or a new Zelda game?
I 100% have not gotten a Switch 2 yet because of a change in my financial situation
That’s pretty much it right there, it got released at a weird time for everyone financially.
And a complete lack of a game library. Switch has like 3 1st party games and mostly relies on updates to older titles.
Yeah, the launch also wasn't that far off from the holiday season. I think the majority of people who were going to buy by eoy just bought at launch, or whenever they could get their hands on one.
And for as solid of a lineup as the console has, and for as good as Bananza is, Mario sells consoles and doesn't necessarily appeal to the younger demographic as much as the older demographic - who likely bought early.
This. It's kind of in a weird spot. While I didn't pick it up, Metroid Prime 4 didn't seem to light the world on fire. The last standout exclusive for me was Donkey Kong.
The console needs a broad seller outside of Mario Kart.
Metroid Prime 4 felt dumped without much fanfare from Nintendo. It’s not the terrible game that people acted like it was on Reddit but its not exactly a must buy either. I think Nintendo were just fed up of putting money into it and released it to get it out of the road.
Metroid doesn’t have the same kind of fan base their other first party games have. It’s always felt very niche
Wasn't Metroid Dread a hit?
For a Metroid game, yes, but it's still a niche. It sold like 3 million copies I think. Which is good but won't sell many consoles.
It only sold 3 million. That’s GOOD, don’t get me wrong, but for an install base of nearly 160 mil? Yeah, no.
Yeah like, 3 million is incredible for Metroid. But us Metroid fans aren't exactly going to move 100 million consoles like Marios and Zeldas would haha
Yes, but with the understanding that Metroid isn't going to be a Zelda or a Mario game. It's a solid B-tier franchise for Nintendo. It sells well, it has a lot of fans, but it's not going to move systems. It might, but generally it shouldn't be expected to.
Metroid gives Nintendo more hardcore gamer cache which helps its reputation overall.
It didn’t sell nearly as well as other Nintendo IPs.
I agree. The game was short and totally not worth 7 years of waiting and its price tag.
*8 years of waiting. My son was born a few months after the initial announcement. He's in 2nd grade now.
12 hours used to be the standard for games. Some people don't like spending 100+ hours on RPGs.
The problem isn't the length, it's how much meh padding it had to achieve that length.
I still haven’t finished Prime 3 so I am holding off on 4 until that happens. Will purchase Prime 4 at some point but yeah it seems to be a nice addition to the series and not a platform defining game.
It's a solid entry to the Metroid Prime series. Problem is, the first is still the best one by far and none of the sequels come close to that first entry.
My biggest issue with MP4 was how disconnected the map was. Compare it to 1 where everything is intricately linked together and it’s really disappointing how spaced out everything was. The open world area felt like a remnant of an earlier version of the game that stuck around after the project was restarted but that no one knew what to do with. The desert was pretty dull and it ended up just feeling like something you had to drive across to get to places rather than an area with a lot to look at and do.
Echoes is underrated. i think it’s about as good as prime 1.
The second game is much better than the first game. And is slowly gaining traction finally as the popular opinion as it deserves
Metroid also released simultaneously in Switch 1. You can point to BotW doing the same but not many people had WiiUs, so most who really wanted to play it had to buy a new console to do so.
Nintendo never liked Metroid, it does not sells well in Japan
They "like" it well enough to keep making it for 40 years despite that.
Oh! BA-NA-NA!
Metroid Prime could have been the best game in the franchise and it probably wouldn't have moved the needle on console sales. It's never had near universal appeal like some other Nintendo franchises
I wish Nintendo would bring back Pilotwings.
Personally I wouldn't have gotten the console for fear of a price increase. I'm excited for Mario this year but other than that it looks like a lackluster year for me again.
Yeah, I haven't gotten an actual exclusive NSW2 game yet. I have gotten switch games, some with an ugprade path I haven't taken advantage of yet, but none of the switch 2 exclusives have called out ot me.
I literally only own the 2 because its backwards compatible and to avoid price jumps. I know one day an exclusive will come but until then it's sort of just a... normal switch to me.
Seems like you probably could’ve gotten away with the og switch
My friend asked me to convince him to buy a Switch 2, because he wanted to play Metroid Prime 4 in the best way possible but just Metroid wasn't enough for him to justify the cost. I seriously couldn't name another reason for him to get it. He likes Mario Kart but not enough to play it frequently, same issue with Air Riders. He has little interest in Bananza, and musou games aren't his thing. That's basically all Switch 2 exclusives out, and all other games so far are playable on Switch 1.
That leaves the new Splatoon, Yoshi and Pokopia, but we don't know much about the former and the other two are also not his type of game.
Long story short, I couldn't in good conscience recommend him to buy the console. I'm happy with mine, but for more casual gamers and people who aren't hardcore Nintendo fans Nintendo really needs a stronger argument than they have now.
This console didn’t really release with a stacked lineup of new AAA Nintendo games.
Feels more like a Switch Pro than a Switch 2 IMO.
Economy sucks, and it’s getting worse. Not just in the US but in the whole world. As the economic adage used to say the US sneezes and the world catches a cold.
So they’re probably adjusting to lower demands due to increased costs of household essential items and services.
no but anyone paying attention would know theres a 50usd price hike coming by march.
That's a big part of the reason a few people I know bought one recently, myself included
It feels almost inevitable that the non-bundle price is gonna hit $500 soon, and I'd rather save the $80 by getting Mario Kart for 'free' by buying now rather than waiting for a better lineup of titles.
Or, you know, people with expendable income.
Ive bought every Nintendo console/handheld in the past but the lack of new games or features that are must haves make it a financial bad decision to buy a console thats sitting idle 300+ days in the year
It has 3 exclusives out in 6 months, the lineup has been insanely dry.
I’m not trying to be doom and gloom but I get downvoted every time I say this: the switch needs 3rd party exclusives and not ports of games that run better elsewhere. It needs hype games to build up sales not Nintendo fans saying ( “look how many exclusives the ps5 had at launch”) I’m not calling this the Wii U electric bugaloo because it’s nowhere near that but Nintendo’s philosophy continues to just be strange
What sells Nintendo consoles are Nintendo games, not third parties. Been that way since the beginning.
You don’t need them. It’s Christmas. Santa has to bring families a new console. That in itself is the push.
Nintendo priced the console too high and it’s showing. Mario kart or Donkey Kong should have been enough to get Christmas sales.
But they lost the average family looking to buy a family console. A kid asking for a switch 2 and a game at this price point is going to get a ton of pushback. A switch 1 was affordable.
This is my experience. In Canada, a Switch 2, a game, and maybe a Pro controller and I’m shelling out $1000. No thanks.
Lol at people downvoting someone for saying they don’t want to spend $1000 on a system and a game, as well as an actual controller and not the joy cons. Nintendo fans lol
Yeah ikr? I spent $899 on both cuz I had luck and got a couple good coupons from AMZ, but for instance I have a couple friends in South America and the console there its pretty much costing almost 5,000 bucks (in their local currency). And most ppl don't make that in a whole month's salary. So yeah it is crazy expensive. And unfortunately it's going to get worse.
Yeah this should’ve been the time when it sold boatloads, but it didn’t. Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong are both months old and are as good as new to people who don’t have a switch 2, so it’s crazy to try to use that as a reason.
Everything tech is gonna get more expensive and sales will decline as a result from here on though, so I don’t think it’ll really register as time goes on.
Nintendo gets drunk in success from time to time and requires a whop over the head to bring them back in line.
The 3DS was priced way too high as well when it came out. They had to do a big drop
Also not a lot of disposable income. If things weren't so tight, I would have splurged and picked on up for my kid (and low key for myself lol) but its hard to justify buying it to mostly play switch 1 games.
This is it for me - I really don’t see any first party items that push it over the threshold for me from launch through currently known 2026 releases, so I’m in a wait state with my LED Switch 1 and SteamDeck covering all my needs. I went as far as to impulse buy Cyberpunk 2077 during its pricing error at 17.49, but figure I’ll hold off on S2 hardware until next Zelda, Mario or other compelling 1st party entries arrive.
Im not buying anything until the Supreme Court rules on the Tariffs. Waiting to build mini pc but not paying 20-50% more for the same items.
Yeah switch 2 really should have had a massive game release to drive sales during the holidays. Kinda weird they didn’t.
People say this while also ignoring Pokemon Legends ZA sold 5.8 million copies in a week, primarily on the Switch 2…
By primarily you mean “half”. Let’s not lie to make our points fit
https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/s/3w5wSFmLKM
Considering the relative install bases of Switch 1/2, the fact that half of all sales were on Switch2 is pretty crazy.
I got one for Christmas and have spent more time playing NES games.
Along with Prime 4 being sadly a flop.
Yeah, I didn’t even pick up mine in the past month… nothing exciting being released 🤷♂️
As did every single system year over year. Not a good time to buy hardware.
“PC sales slow over 2026.”
“No shit, Ram is the price of a mid range PC now. And don’t get me started on GPU’s”…
GPU pricing has came down. 9070xt is near msrp…checks prices…THE FUCK HAPPENED?
Gen AI is ruining everything
I hate Sam Altman so much
Change it to all tech bros, VC firms and billionaires.
AI companies are buying parts that aren’t made yet for data centers that aren’t built yet to support a platform that makes no money and nobody wanted in the first place.
Make it make sense.
AI and Tariffs.
9070xt is at MSRP at my local Micro Center. There's an ASRock 3 fan model for $599 (which is the reference model MSRP) and they have 25+ in stock according to their website
Mine has the same pricing. I originally checked Amazon and my 9070 xt Asrock steel legend is $740, $669 at Microcenter. I looked a week or so ago and seen it was around $669. That’s why I was so shocked.
I hope this AI bubble pops soon.
This is why I just don't believe the rumours of Nvidia cutting GPU production to "serve AI." They're doing it because sales are dropping because the upgrades are underwhelming, the new games are underwhelming, and people have no money, so just play their backlog with their older hardware.
Same with RAM prices. AI infrastructure has been building out for the better part of the past decade, especially the past half a decade, but now there's all of a sudden a huge shortage and price surge?? Are we sure it's a shortage and not RAM companies price fixing again coupled with panic buyers reading all the clickbait headlines? They wanted a new covid shortage so they manufactured one.
AI is the best new excuse. Oh, you hired too many people over lockdown and now can't afford the headcount? Well, don't worry, don't tell your investors you over-hired, instead lay everyone off and say AI took their jobs.
Republicans
Amazing name!
So happy I got a 5070 at $550. It does crash infrequently whereas my 3070 ($500 back in the shortage days) was butter (still is in my living room), but still.
We’re back to buying pre-builts and scavenging for parts
When my custom ITX 5090/9800x3d build is somehow now cheaper than an ATX 5070/intel pre-built 💀
It's a great time to buy console hardware, all this shit is about to get exponentially more expensive
I bought the Switch 2 with that in mind, prices will go up this year and I didn´t want to risk it.
Point taken. It may be better now than its going to be, but it is definitely worse than it was the previous year, which is what this bad article is comparing it to.
And the Switch 2's 2025 still performed better than the Switch 1's 2017 in most markets and WW, despite 2 fewer months on sale. The article doesnt even have data for December in the US, its just guessing based off November which was way down across the board (even hitting a 30 year low).
Right I mean you just need to look up the ps5 numbers for November if they are going to pull that Bs and that only sold 3.6 mill in that period. It's not just the switch which isn't selling, everything isn't selling.
Or spend money in general
I still feel in my bones one of the biggest issues Nintendo was going to face with the switch 2, is getting casuals to upgrade. Especially since it’s just a beefier system of the previous system.
This was something the 3ds had issues with, even though it was still a good console and success. It didn’t really get those soccer moms and wine aunts who had the ds to upgrade. The switch 2 was always going to be a high floor lower ceiling type system compared to the switch 1.
Yeah I could see the sales of the Switch 2 being relatively similar to how 3DS sold compared to the DS.
I think it's even more like the Wii than the DS. The Wii was an insane hit among casual players. Like half of the top 10 games were Mii based casual gaming titles.
Yeah but the point they’re making is about the delta between a console and its successor.
Wii > Wii U is not a very good comparison because Switch 2 is still performing well, just might not reach Switch 1 levels. Which is similar to DS > 3DS.
The second they announce Animal Crossing, people will buy it. (I am people)
Same, waiting for either a new Animal Crossing or the next mainline Zelda, either games will make me instantly buy the switch 2.
Literally the two games I'm waiting for.
A new Luigi's Mansion or 2D/2.5D Pokemon are probably the only other things that would get me to pounce.
Exactly. I got kids and 3 Original Switches in my house. They haven't said a word about the Switch 2. The minute Animal Crossing is announced I am sure some Switch 2s will find their way into my house.
I really don't think so. Animal crossing new horizons release was lightning in the bottle with covid lockdowns. Next entry wouldn't even do half of that. Unless you know, some other disaster happens.
who would have thought that a cost of living crisis pretty much all over the globe would impact sales ? /s
Everyone's broke and theres no killer app
Yep my wife lost her job and I have bills. Still playing my Switch 1 backlog
Meta Quest out sold the Switch 2 this past December.
I mean, it came out 6 months ago. I'm happy we got a console where we didn't have to fight for one during the holiday rush.
I think that's it: the intended early adopters pretty much all managed to get a Switch 2 within the first few months, so the initial sales peak was incredibly high followed by a bit of a tailing off. Had the console not been as well stocked as it was, you'd have probably seen lower initial sales (as the console went OOS) but more steady sales as it was resupplied and demand was still high.
It'll be absolutely fine in the long run.
For the record it’s not just the Switch. Price increases across the board make it hard to justify upgrading consoles right now if your current one works. Same for PC and PlayStation.
This isn’t “Nintendo fell off” it’s “Groceries and Sh*t is too expensive.”
This. Im not buying a Switch 2 until it has several killer games. My Switch 1 backlog is huge and I'd rather that money go to bills than a pretty Switch 1+ Mario Kart World.
That’s perfectly understandable. Most systems on launch didn’t have the same value appeal until a little while after. A lot of switch purchases for switch 1 happened when animal crossing dropped during covid
I'd argue that the Switch 2 is still worth it, even for playing your backlog of S1 games as many of them got performance increase, and sometimes a dedicated free update for S2.
Also with RAM price inflation, S2 price might hike at some point
I’m gonna wait for the February report. They’re mostly speculating based on November Numbers here.
Yeah, there's no real new information here beyond the Circana report we already had that detailed, at least in the US, that consoles across the board had their worst holiday since 1995 or something to that effect.
Unless you were buying a PS5 massively discounted, people bought bugger all this holiday.
This is the correct answer. Plus as the report points out, switch 2 is still outpacing the rate at which the switch 1 sold pretty significantly. Switch 2 almost didn't need to have a good November or December based on how well it sold July-October. (I'm being slightly hyperbolic but I hope that makes sense)
World was disappointing and DK was like 6 months ago.
Hyrule Warriors 3, Air Riders and a mid-received Prime game are not system sellers or heavy hitters. Compared to the first 9 months of the Switch: BOTW, MK8D, ARMS, Splatoon 2, Mario & Rabbids, FE Warriors, XC2 & Odyssey.
Yeah year 1 of the switch really was cookoo bananas looking back.
It’s slow everywhere. Nintendo will be fine. The need more games that’s all
People need more money to buy the games and the hardware to play them. The economy is ass, and the RAM and GPU market are extremely volatile due to AI slopfest investing. It's definitely not just the lack of games...
Not me man. I jumped the gun and bought a switch 2 on NYE just to be ahead of any potential price increases that may or may not be coming due to RAM prices and Nvidia selling out.
Right now it's cheaper than it'll ever be, might as well get one.
Yes, but what's the reason I SHOULD buy a Switch 2?
It's costly, I can't afford it, there aren't any games that I DESPERATELY need for it, and, truthfully, I don't feel like the value is there. Last summer, I started playing my 3DS again. I streetpassed someone at my dentist's office (ironically, my dentist whose Mii was named "Teeth" and designed to look like a tooth) and I had a thought. The Switch 2 just feels overly corporate to me, too stuffy and not much like a whimsical Nintendo console. That thought along killed any enthusiasm I had for the console.
I feel like the amount of success switch 1 got, got to their head that people were going to go in and buy switch 2 at that price. but really they priced out their casual consumer who probably will buy secondhand in a few years or if they ever will be a sale. I like nintendo as a brand, moreso than ps, but when I made my decision to buy a console for the first time when I only had switch oled and ps5 as my options, I went with the cheaper ps5 on sale, because the switch was at the end of its cycle, and switch 2 was rumored only for it to come out a almost a year after I bought a ps5 lol.
To be quite frank, I am shocked the Switch 2 even sold that much. The current economic landscape in the US is pretty shaky to say the least with flip of the coin fiscal decisions being made weekly by certain people in power. Its not just the Switch or even gaming, its almost all consumer spending. Things that used to be a hobby are suddenly becoming a luxury and I'm even saying that as someone with a healthy salary.
Did anyone read it. It’s nothing we didn’t already know. Sales are actually up apart from USA due to higher price from tarrifs. Can we stop doing this?
Switch 2 console didn't get a price hike in USA, and is still the second cheapest place to buy the console just behind Japan.
Yeah if you don’t count Canada, Korea, or Australia?
Until every post on reddit that posts a link links to a website that isn't an ad ridden nightmare, no, nobody is ever going to read the link.
edit: not to say this one is, just in general.
Next holiday will definitely be big with pokemon Gen 10 coming along with whatever else Nintendo might have up their sleeve
Because I want OLED
I mean, when your console has no holiday sales and the other ones do, you'll struggle for a bit.
Yeah, everything is down. Switch 2 is obviously going to bear the brunt since it’s all new. Expensive new hardware lacking killer apps, and ready availability for months… not surprising sales dropped.
Nintendo needs to announce some killer apps.
I couldn’t afford it for my kids this year … we broke
I want one but I don't need one. My Switch still plays perfectly fine and I've got a ridiculous backlog of games anyway.
Now when a new main Zelda arrives I'll morph into the "take my money" guy. Right now there's nothing there they feels like I need to upgrade.
I mean I can think of a few reasons why the US doesn’t have the money for a game console…
It’s funny how a lot of people are trying to label the Switch 2 as a massive success/failure this early on. Switch 2 will presumably be around for 6-8 years, so it’s only been on the market for a fraction of the time. Yeah launch day sales were amazing, but that’s just 1 day out of over 2500 days. Yeah this holiday season was a slump, but it’s just one holiday out of many. If we were to judge early sales for Nintendo consoles, Wii U would’ve been a success instead of a massive flop, and Switch 1 would have been just okay not one of the best selling video game consoles of all time.
I'd say two things are really hurting switch 2 sales
1) The cost of the console vs the Switch 1 OLED. (related to cost of living)
2) The exclusives offered on switch 2. Most games released in 2025 have a switch 1 and 2 version of the game and while the S2 offers upgrades, it doesn't justify the greater cost of buying the console.
All that being said, considering that console and PC sales are on the decline as a whole, I don't think Nintendo are doing too bad. And with the majority of games going forward being Switch 2 exclusives, I can see the sales going steadily over the next year.
There’s only 3 original games on Switch 2 that cannot be purchased on Switch 1. MKWorld, DK Bananza, and Kirby Air Riders. Out of these 3 I think it’s plausible for many to not want the console yet as MKWorld is a very shallow addition to that franchise, it’s probably my least favorite Switch 2 game and it’s replayability is minimal after all the costumes/characters are unlocked.
I’ve seen many people admit that they wanna wait for DK Bananza which is very fair, and I don’t think Kirby Air Riders is getting the attention it deserves. Kirby Air Riders is phenomenal though, my friends/brother and I have been playing that game a lot more than MKW so I would recommend that, but everything is so expensive I know that it’s tricky.
Hopefully this year puts the peddle to the metal and gives us some really solid and amazing because off the top of my head Mario Tennis Fever and the leaked (SPOILER) Pokemon Gen 10 games are the only things I know that for sure are coming this year.
Not everyone has the disposable income these days to afford a luxury plaything. A new gaming console isn’t exactly high up the hierarchy of needs when rent is due and grocery and gas prices are skyrocketing.
Maybe release good games and you'll get sales?
Next Xmas they will fly of the shelves with the release of Gen 10 of pokemon.
I think I have to write this over and over again. These are still just november circana numbers. The origin article wrote „November-December“ so misleads that these numbers are from November AND december data. But Circana estimates will come 21. january. So this is just november where Us was in a shutdown for weeks and had the badest month for economy since ages.
I’m broke
If you were gonna buy your kid a console this year there's already been a £280 PS5 from black Friday which is a no-brainer.
I mean. People don't have money for gaming.
The industry as a whole is going through a slump. Barely any games are achieving "success" even when they are really good games.
Same thing is happening for almost every industry.
The console is priced too high, games have been priced too high, and there really isn’t a super compelling reason to buy this instead of using existing consoles at this time outside of the S2 exclusives.
Honestly, I have dusted off my n3ds this holiday season and have been enjoying it a lot. Also have plenty of backlog on my Switch 1 to last me a long while.
S2 is a fantastic console and I absolutely want one… but not just yet
There aren't that many S2 exclusives and they're all expensive.
I used to buy Nintendo consoles for Pokemon, but the Switch era titles are bad (other than Arceus). I will buy the new Fire Emblem day 1, but it's still a while away. I was hoping for a few nice ports of games that are more convenient on a handheld, but Atlus dropped unoptimized Persona 3 and no Metaphor in sight at all. Bananza was cool, but what else?
I still bought Switch 2 because I had the money, but honestly, I'm not really using it for much that I couldn't do on my old Switch. I can see why people are holding back.
Need that big new 3d Mario/Zelda game
maybe make games that aren't 80 dollars
Well it came out in June and has sold well.
I got a Switch 2, knowing it would be a long-term investment. There aren’t too many games for it right now. But at least I can catch up on the massive backlog of Switch 1 games while waiting for new releases to drop.
I wonder if Sony and Microsoft see the current economy’s impact on hardware sales and think to themselves, “OK, maybe we don’t need the next PlayStation or Xbox until 2030.”
We don't need a PS6 until we have maxed out the utility of the PS5 and that hasn't happened yet. This console generation, for me, has been incredibly lackluster with some big gaming studios (naughty dog, rockstar, etc) not having released their first game of the decade.
nobody read the article. only 5% less sales comparing to the original switch during holidays the year it launched. clickbait title.
Switch 2 has no games
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When Wii U accept the inevitable!!!
Call the ambulance, Wii U Wii U Wii U!
Is it known how were the sales relative to PS and Xbox?
PS5 also saw massive decrease in sales vs comparable months in prior years.
in general the entire video game industry saw its worst Nobvember since 1995
These percentages are meaningless, maybe wait until we actually have sales NUMBERS which we will get in February.
As someone who bought a switch 2 for the family - I do get it.
It really wasn't discounted significantly at all, it's a very expensive system - a Switch 1 could be bought for significantly less and still play almost all the same games. So far we've played only 1 "new" game (Mario Kart World) which is nice but not revolutionary. And my kid can't play it online with school mates as most of them still have the switch 1.
I did debate this a lot, but decided in the longer run it would be worth it. But it was a close thing.
Probably waiting for switch 2 oled or a cool special edition
I was looking for numbers in the article, but for now, it's just speculation.
Definitely not an ideal position to be in, but there's no doubt the much higher price of the Switch 2 in addition to a higher cost of living overall doesn't help. I wonder if these sales indicators are in units or dollars/other currency, and what the difference would be there.
I think many people are still waiting for a game that truly makes waves. Mario Kart World should have been it, but I think it needed to be a 10/10 to really have that effect, and as small as they may be, the complaints online probably lessened its impact a lot. Donkey Kong Bananza is the closest contender for that spot, but even though it's the Mario team, it's still Donkey Kong, so the brand recognition isn't there as much.
But this approach could work. I think the core audience has a lot to love on this platform, and that will slowly spread word of mouth. When more broad-appeal titles hit the scene, they will be on top of all the great games that are already on the platform, which could produce a snowball effect of sorts.
Or that's the hope, at least.
The cost of living sucks and it’s a brand new console that didn’t get much of a discount compared to the PS5. I feel like it’s not hard to understand why this is happening.