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Nintendo have just confrmed that the launch of the Switch and sales of Zelda are the largest in Nintendo's history, for both hardware and software.

Here is Nintendo:

We can confirm that, across Europe, Nintendo Switch sold more in its launch weekend than any other Nintendo hardware in history.

Launch title The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has not only been bestowed with some of the highest review scores in gaming history, it's also the biggest-selling Nintendo launch title ever in Europe, even outselling Wii Sports in first weekend sales.

And all this in March – traditionally a quiet time for the games industry.

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Nintendo didn't release any specific numbers with this press release.

Source: GBAtemp Inbox​

 

[Zhongtiao1]

I'm looking forward to the lego city undercover port for the switch. Supposedly it will have a bigger map and more objectives. It was an underrated game on the Wii U, so I hope the remake is even better.

 

[Xzi]

I expect sales to sharply decline when all the die-hard fans secure a unit, as there are no games to keep the system going at present. The only physical launch titles available are Zelda, Bomberman, 1-2-Switch, Just Dance and Skylanders Imaginators, there's only so many units you can sell with 5 games. The system lacks core titles at present and, in my opinion, should've been released during the Autumn season when Skyrim, Mario Kart and other games are primed for release.

Then they would've sold out just like launch did anyway, but they'd be selling the first batch of 2 million instead of a whole new batch of 2 million. The die-hard fans bought it for BotW, other people will buy it for Skyrim and Mario and Splatoon 2. Summer sales may not be crazy but there will definitely be demand again for the holidays.

 

[flame1234]

Someone is gonna come in here and call this propaganda or something of the like. That's amazing to hear though. Even with these issues. I'm hoping they can keep pace for a while.

Propaganda (or the like).

Nintendo sold 330k consoles the first week. That's a lot for a week, sure. I'll be surprised if they report how many sold the second week.

You can't use that as a measure of long-term success. There's 3M Nintendo fanboys who will buy any Nintendo console. You can only start judging performance when there's regular retail availability of the Switch. Which is not yet. It's also supply based. If they're supplying lots of units and they're selling through immediately, that's great. If they're supplying a trickle of units and they're selling through immediately, it's not an indicator of long-term success.

Declaring victory without having won yet. Victory is when people who are not Nintendo customers buy them. There's some of those people out there but I think it's too early to tell.

 

[Kioku]

Propaganda (or the like).

Nintendo sold 330k consoles the first week. That's a lot for a week, sure. I'll be surprised if they report how many sold the second week.

You can't use that as a measure of long-term success. There's 3M Nintendo fanboys who will buy any Nintendo console. You can only start judging performance when there's regular retail availability of the Switch. Which is not yet. It's also supply based. If they're supplying lots of units and they're selling through immediately, that's great. If they're supplying a trickle of units and they're selling through immediately, it's not an indicator of long-term success.

Declaring victory without having won yet. Victory is when people who are not Nintendo customers buy them. There's some of those people out there but I think it's too early to tell.

No, you're right. I'm referencing another thread where reports like these are apparently false and just used to generate hype for the "sheep/fanboys" to buy into. It doesn't guarantee long term success, we know that.

Reading something from IGN, they compare the Switch's first 48 hour sales (313k) to the Wii U's first 48 hour sales (308k)... but the Wii U inevitably died.

Strong opening numbers are great.. but it means nothing if they can't keep it going for at least a year or two.

 

[Bladexdsl]

I'm looking forward to the lego city undercover port for the switch. Supposedly it will have a bigger map and more objectives. It was an underrated game on the Wii U, so I hope the remake is even better.

i just want the bugs, freezes and glitches to be fixed...

 

[Lightyose]

Switch Neo incoming...

 

[Captain_N]

launch titles don't mean crap. the snes launched with 3 titles. the n64 launched with 2. The 3rd parties have to get off their high horse and actually make for it. This Im going to wait till it sells to make anything is stupid. How is the Switch gonna sell well if they don't make anything for it. It takes time to make a good game. Do they really think ports are going to sell it? Dumb Asses those third parties... No wonder they need dlc for a profit.

There is to much Nerd rage in this post. So much Nerd Rage I'ma have to slap JarJar Binks.....

 

[Molina]

Someone is gonna come in here and call this propaganda or something of the like. That's amazing to hear though. Even with these issues. I'm hoping they can keep pace for a while.

Then here I am:
I call Propaganda

You don't have enough mana to attack me.

Joke aside, game "reviewers" helped a lot by building the hype and with their release's review...
Seriously 10/10 everywhere? I call bullshit like overwatch goty.

 

[Ericzander]

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to be the buzzkill here. Although it's possible this has already been brought up earlier in this thread... But the stats are misleading. Simply put, It just means that Nintendo had more Switches in stock than they had Wii's which also sold out immediately. I don't think the demand is actually anywhere near what the Wii's was.

For example, imagine that:
Demand for unit x is 1,000 and supply is 500.
Demand for unit y is 200,000 and supply is 100.

If both sell out, then the creators of unit x can say that they sold more than unit y, even though unit y had a much higher demand. I'm sure if there were an unlimited amount of Switches at launch and an unlimited number of Wiis during its launch, the Wii would have blown the Switch's numbers out of the water.

 

[Deleted User]

Eh I'll buy a switch when they actually release games (not a fucking port for the love of God I want something new), that and once the stupidly high price for such a weak console goes down.

Sounds negative unintentionally, I do wish Nintendo the best and I can't wait for an actual Animal Crossing game on a home console.

 

[Xzi]

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to be the buzzkill here. Although it's possible this has already been brought up earlier in this thread... But the stats are misleading. Simply put, It just means that Nintendo had more Switches in stock than they had Wii's which also sold out immediately. I don't think the demand is actually anywhere near what the Wii's was.

For example, imagine that:
Demand for unit x is 1,000 and supply is 500.
Demand for unit y is 200,000 and supply is 100.

If both sell out, then the creators of unit x can say that they sold more than unit y, even though unit y had a much higher demand. I'm sure if there were an unlimited amount of Switches at launch and an unlimited number of Wiis during its launch, the Wii would have blown the Switch's numbers out of the water.

Impossible to know for certain what continuing demand will be like until more time passes. That's obvious.

 

[Deleted User]

Sure, it's called spacing out the releases over a year and have a solid catalog when Christmas hit and their biggest title (Switch exclusive that is) comes out.

I really don't get all the people complaining about "I want more launch games!" when most people buy 1 to 3 games at max, on launch. Because the big inital price of the console, people don't have a huge budget to put on games, then people complain there are no games for the console since all of them got released on the launch. By spacing it out, there will be a stready stream of new games to the system. Plus a lot of indie titles are incoming as well.

How could I buy more then one game at launch when there IS only one? What , i will buy a 1 2 switch? Or a mario kart? Again? Youre right about spacing but at launch there should be at the very least 3 worth mentioning games...

 

[Steena]

A quick search will point you to where you need to go. IGN has an article with actual numbers.

Aha yeah, the article has updates. Got it. Thank you.

 

[Deleted User]

But i wonder if the switch concept will happen to every thing imagine having a gaming pc thats portable but not as big as a laptop

That will be great! And why would it fail? Small or large, the pc has tons and tons of games that are exclusive to pc. So when you buy any pc (mac is shit. Dont even talk about it) you by default have back comp. with all the games released in the last 15~ years, and even before if you count dosbox and virtual box. Gta, minecraft, half life... everything is compatible with this computer. Wheres the switch is a closed platform as any console, and has no back comp. (yet) and with such bed launch variety it isnt apealing for everyone...

 

[Foxi4]

Then they would've sold out just like launch did anyway, but they'd be selling the first batch of 2 million instead of a whole new batch of 2 million. The die-hard fans bought it for BotW, other people will buy it for Skyrim and Mario and Splatoon 2. Summer sales may not be crazy but there will definitely be demand again for the holidays.

I know this stuff from the kitchen side of things, Nintendo sent us a thimble's worth of units, and I work in a rather sizable establishment. There were about 14 people at launch, so not exactly a crowd, and we "sold out" the next day since there were almost no units available for sale that weren't pre-ordered. It's all to create artificial demand, make sure that people pre-order and pick up the system least stores "run out" for some reason, as if factories weren't cranking these consoles out 24/7. 91% or so of Switch consoles are being picked up for Zelda, very few customers show interest in the other games, and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to buy them since we had maybe 5 copies of Bomberman total. There's just nothing out there, buddy - if you think Skyrim, a game that everybody and their dog already played on the PS3/360 half a decade ago, will cause blockbuster sales, I've got bad news for you - the price had to be drastically reduced on PS4/XBO since the demand was low. The library situation is atrocious, I think we can at least agree to that extent. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see strong launch numbers, but I don't see how Nintendo could keep the momentum going, and they desperately need to because you only get one chance at a first impression.

 

[Xzi]

I know this stuff from the kitchen side of things, Nintendo sent us a thimble's worth of units, and I work in a rather sizable establishment. There were about 14 people at launch, so not exactly a crowd, and we "sold out" the next day since there were almost no units available for sale that weren't pre-ordered. It's all to create artificial demand, make sure that people pre-order and pick up the system least stores "run out" for some reason, as if factories weren't cranking these consoles out 24/7. 91% or so of Switch consoles are being picked up for Zelda, very few customers show interest in the other games, and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to buy them since we had maybe 5 copies of Bomberman total. There's just nothing out there, buddy - if you think Skyrim, a game that everybody and their dog already played on the PS3/360 half a decade ago, will cause blockbuster sales, I've got bad news for you - the price had to be drastically reduced on PS4/XBO since the demand was low. The library situation is atrocious, I think we can at least agree to that extent. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see strong launch numbers, but I don't see how Nintendo could keep the momentum going, and they desperately need to because you only get one chance at a first impression.

They're going with a release schedule similar to the 3DS, which over time attracted more and more customers (and third parties). I doubt they care that much if they match launch sales with sales numbers in summer, it's the long game that counts.

 

[Foxi4]

They're going with a release schedule similar to the 3DS, which over time attracted more and more customers (and third parties). I doubt they care that much if they match launch sales with sales numbers in summer, it's the long game that counts.

Here's for hoping that you're right, but I just don't see it.

 

[SoslanVanWieren]

Should you get the switch if you don't have an xbox one or ps4

 

[Ericzander]

Impossible to know for certain what continuing demand will be like until more time passes. That's obvious.

Of course, and yes that's obvious. I'm just pointing out that the actual statistics don't tell us very much about demand, just that they supplied more Switches than Wiis and that we can't yet say definitively that the Switch has a higher demand (and in my opinion it doesn't).

Should you get the switch if you don't have an xbox one or ps4

You should get whatever system you want. If it looks appealing to you then yes. If PS4/Xbox One looks more appealing then pick that. Personal preference and all that.

 

[SoslanVanWieren]

Switch is probs gonna have Pokemon on it so il have to buy it anyways.