On March 3, 2017, the Nintendo Switch made its worldwide debut, instantly becoming a hit. Fans new and old alike could enjoy what the Switch had to offer, especially due to the fact that one of the launch titles was the highly anticipated The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Other titles were available as well, such as the co-op focused Snipperclips, a beloved indie in the form of Shovel Knight, and the somewhat gimmicky 1-2 Switch. For those that wanted something more, a sequel to Splatoon, a port of Mario Kart 8, the unexpected Fire Emblem Warriors, a weird crossover that was Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, the new competitive IP Arms, and dozens of other games were all slated to release in the coming months.

Within the console's first year on the market, it had sold over 10 million units, and would go on to surpass its predecessor, the Wii U, quite handily. The first anniversary of the Switch arrived quickly, with our recap from last year going into full detail of the system's initial year on the market.

As of today, March 3, 2019, we've reached the second anniversary of the Nintendo Switch. A lot has changed in the past year, with a multitude of surprise reveals, tons of new successes, and lots of sales. And I mean a lot. Shortly after the celebration of the Nintendo Switch's first anniversary, Nintendo made a bold claim, stating that they expected to sell 20 million more Switch consoles within the coming fiscal year. Analysts and industry experts were skeptical of such a projection, but the company was more than confident that they could pull it off, with both Nintendo JP president Shuntaro Furukawa and NOA CEO Reggie Fils-Aime expecting stellar performance from the Switch. Although we won't know the exact results until the fiscal year comes to a close at the end of this month, Nintendo recently dialed back its target to a lower number of 17 million units shifted.

Though it's unlikely that Nintendo will reach that 20 million mark, having gotten so close is nothing short of impressive, and it goes to show just how successful the Switch was throughout 2018. Currently, the Nintendo Switch has sold a whopping 32.27 million units, already having outsold the Nintendo Wii U, the GameCube, and soon enough, it'll even surpass the sales of the Nintendo 64.

Of course, people are buying the console for a reason, and that reason tends to be the large lineup of available games. 2018 saw the release of a bevvy of exclusives, such as Super Mario Party, Mario Tennis Aces, Pokemon Let's Go, Octopath Traveler, Kirby Star Allies, and of course, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Multiplatform games also made their way to the Switch in droves, with both indie and AAA developers benefiting from high software sales by releasing their games for the platform. This past year has certainly proved that the Switch is a juggernaut, and exactly what Nintendo needed.

However, despite the popularity and success, not everything was perfect. The controversial Nintendo Switch Online service launched last year, with many of its users being skeptical, unimpressed, and disappointed. Though we find ourselves in 2019, Nintendo still lags behind the competition in terms of online infrastructure, and that can be off-putting to those who want to use the service.

As the second year of the Switch comes to a close, we turn our heads to look towards the future. New hardware rumors are still rampant; will we perhaps see a newer, improved version of Nintendo's hybrid console by the time its third anniversary rolls around? How will the Nintendo Switch Online service have changed by this same time next year? We also have many more new games to look forward to, such as Animal Crossing, Pokemon Sword and Shield, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Luigi's Mansion 3, the Link's Awakening remake, Daemon X Machina, Yoshi's Crafted World, and so much more. After these past two years, what are your thoughts on the Nintendo Switch, and what upcoming things are you excited for?

Review Retrospective

Kirby Star Allies - 7/10
Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition - 8.2/10
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - 8.5/10
Mario Tennis Aces - 8.5/10
Octopath Traveler - 9/10
Super Mario Party - 8.2/10
The World Ends With You: Final Remix - 9.3/10
Pokemon: Let's Go - 8.2/10
Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition - 9.7/10
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - 9/10

 

[Zaiphon]

erf... I just don't have more exemple in mind right now
But there are still tons to come soon as well...

Super Mario Party is another exemple

See? After two years you have maybe MAX 10 Games, which is generous from my site to say this Number that this System has as Exclusives.
Rest is Wii U reboots/rerelease/Copy&Paste Games and the other Part is Indie Garbage.

People Hype the Switch because of Soy, nothing else.
And so many features every electronics offers these days are missing.

 

[Enryx25]

See? After two years you have maybe MAX 10 Games, which is generous from my site to say this Number that this System has as Exclusives.
Rest is Wii U reboots/rerelease/Copy&Paste Games and the other Part is Indie Garbage.

People Hype the Switch because of Soy, nothing else.
And so many features every electronics offers these days are missing.

Switch has already sold more than double of WiiU units. (32m vs 13m)
This means that for the majority of Switch users, WiiU ports are entirely new games.

Switch has exactly 33 exclusives at the moment. (20 developed by Nintendo, 17 excluding Labo)

Spoiler: List

1) 1-2 Switch
2) Arms
3) Astro Duel Deluxe
4) Black Hole
5) Dark Witch Music Episode: Rudymical
6) Fast RMX
7) Fitness Boxing
8) Flip Wars
9) Golf Story
10) Kamiko
11) Kirby Star Allies
12) Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
13) Mario Tennis Aces
14) Labo: Variety Kit
15) Labo: Robot Kit
16) Labo: Vehicle Kit
17) Octopath Traveler
18) Picross S
19) Picross S2
20) Pode
21) Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu / Pokemon Let's Go Eevee
22) Snipperclips
23) Soccer Slammers
24) Splatoon 2
25) Super Mario Odyssey
26) Super Mario Party
27) Super Smash Bros Ultimate
28) Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun!
29) Tetris 99
30) Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes
31) Xenoblade Chronicles 2
32) Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country
33) Yoshi's Crafted World

 

[Bladexdsl]

Switch has exactly 33 exclusives at the moment. (20 developed by Nintendo, 17 excluding Labo)

and out of that shitlist only 2 games are actually worth playing

 

[AdenTheThird]

The sales the Switch has made is pretty crazy, outselling the Gamecube and Wii U, so it's not doing too shabby

Yea, but outselling the WiiU isn't hard to do lol

 

[JavaScribe]

Set up said gofundme I’ll donate just actually buy a switch i expect photo updates with receipts with date visible

If you're serious, and he doesn't take it, I will.

console = convenience

Meanwhile I'm trying to figure out why my PC randomly BSOD's about once every two days. (I'm not kidding btw)

The Switch, honestly, is what the Wii U should have been.

Look at the Switch with joy-con attached. Now look at the Wii U gamepad. I know I'm not the only one that thinks the Wii U gamepad looks something like a bootleg Switch.

 

[Kioku]

If you're serious, and he doesn't take it, I will.


Meanwhile I'm trying to figure out why my PC randomly BSOD's about once every two days. (I'm not kidding btw)


Look at the Switch with joy-con attached. Now look at the Wii U gamepad. I know I'm not the only one that thinks the Wii U gamepad looks something like a bootleg Switch.

Not the right thread but a BSOD usually is accompanied by an error message.

 

[JavaScribe]

Not the right thread but a BSOD usually is accompanied by an error message.

I didn't go into detail because the point was "PC's are sometimes not very convenient."

Long story short, the stop codes/error codes keep changing, all hardware tests say I'm a-okay, and the minidumps are dead ends so far.

 

[SleepingGuru]

I'll see everyone in 12 months for the 3rd anniversary.

 

[Deleted User]

I haz no money

Well, you can always steal one if you have something like gamestop nearby (but look for an unpatched unit und don't get caught).
Or the other way would be Ebay.

 

[shadow1w2]

I'm still holding off on buying the console hoping for an improved version.
Maybe at least a budget pack with just the screen unit alone to save costs and use compatbile controllers I already have.
More surprised a competitor didn't crop up by now but I guess it's just not cost effective yet.

 

[FAST6191]

More surprised a competitor didn't crop up by now but I guess it's just not cost effective yet.

To buy in a failed design from someone else and ship that? Nvidia were shopping their shield design around somewhat before then.

That said you are still right -- it is seldom cost effective to follow a design logic that is never going to lead anywhere.

 

[guisadop]

With all.the exclusivities.out so far...
You still think it lacks.of games? Really?

Most of them don't catch my interest, so yes.

 

[TerminatR]

I haz no money

Gotta love capitalism.

I have 3 unpatched switches for reasons.

 

[the_randomizer]

and out of that shitlist only 2 games are actually worth playing

To each their own, there's no point in trying to convince people hard set in their ways to think any different. Sorry but I'm going to have to wholeheartedly disagree, sure beats having a PS Waifu/Vita.

 

[Zaiphon]

Switch has already sold more than double of WiiU units. (32m vs 13m)
This means that for the majority of Switch users, WiiU ports are entirely new games.

Switch has exactly 33 exclusives at the moment. (20 developed by Nintendo, 17 excluding Labo)

Spoiler: List

1) 1-2 Switch
2) Arms
3) Astro Duel Deluxe
4) Black Hole
5) Dark Witch Music Episode: Rudymical
6) Fast RMX
7) Fitness Boxing
8) Flip Wars
9) Golf Story
10) Kamiko
11) Kirby Star Allies
12) Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
13) Mario Tennis Aces
14) Labo: Variety Kit
15) Labo: Robot Kit
16) Labo: Vehicle Kit
17) Octopath Traveler
18) Picross S
19) Picross S2
20) Pode
21) Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu / Pokemon Let's Go Eevee
22) Snipperclips
23) Soccer Slammers
24) Splatoon 2
25) Super Mario Odyssey
26) Super Mario Party
27) Super Smash Bros Ultimate
28) Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun!
29) Tetris 99
30) Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes
31) Xenoblade Chronicles 2
32) Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country
33) Yoshi's Crafted World

Yea, and most of them are garbage and not even worth looking into it.
Labo for example. Who plays that Crap?

>Buying a 250-300€ System
>Plays with Paper boxes
>???
>Profit

And outselling the WiiU is like braging running faster then a 5 years old.

Only case which would make me buy a Switch would be a new Golden Sun, otherwise keep that thing away from me.

 

[Enryx25]

Yea, and most of them are garbage and not even worth looking into it.
Labo for example. Who plays that Crap?

>Buying a 250-300€ System
>Plays with Paper boxes
>???
>Profit

And outselling the WiiU is like braging running faster then a 5 years old.

Only case which would make me buy a Switch would be a new Golden Sun, otherwise keep that thing away from me.

But that's your opinion.

 

[Rabbid4240]

Would it kill you to give anything a 10/10

You know you did good when you get more likes than the OPs post

 

[DANTENDO]

I still don't understand the appeal of this console, why is it selling so well? It is just a tablet with okay graphics and multiplayer, no? Is it merely the software released that has people buying it?

If you won a switch I bet youd be jumping up and down and telling all Yr mates