The Nintendo Switch broke another record today, this time held by one of Nintendo's most beloved consoles.
The Switch has easily passed its predessors in terms of lifetime sales, including the Wii U and the GameCube. It was theorized that it will only be a matter of time before the handheld/console hybrid finally dethroned one of Nintendo's most memorable consoles. Earlier yesterday, it has finally happened, and now the Nintendo Switch has officially passed the Nintendo 64 in sales. A report from VGChartz officially broke the news, stating that the Nintendo Switch has surpassed 33 million units sold after selling another 217,000 units this past week. The Nintendo 64, on the other hand, officially peaked at 32.93 million units.
The Nintendo 64 was on the market for four years before its successor, the GameCube, was released. This means that the bulk of those 32.93 million units were sold during those four years. The Nintendo Switch, meanwhile has been out in the market in the span of just two years, meaning it managed to sell the same number of units as the Nintendo 64 in half the time.
The next milestone for the Nintendo Switch sits at 49 million units, which is held by the legendary Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). Given the available data, it is currently expected that the Switch will hit 50 million units sold at around 18 months. These numbers could be affected by the upcoming release of two more Nintendo Switch models; a mini, cheaper version has already been confirmed for fall, while the higher-end 'Pro' model is expected to drop within the year. Of course, that could also mean that the original Switch will drop its pricing, but we will have to see how sales will hold up in the coming months.
These numbers are still rookie numbers, though, since the Switch has yet to pass both the Wii and 3DS. For the breakdown on the Nintendo Switch units sold per region, here are the numbers, as well as the top-selling games for the console last year.
Units sold per region
- US - 11.59 million units
- Europe - 8.82 million units
- Japan - 7.86 million units
Top 10 best-selling Switch games (as of December 31, 2018)
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - 15.02 Million Units
- Super Mario Odyssey - 13.76 Million Units
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - 12.08 Million Units
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 11.68 Million Units
- Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! / Eevee! - 10.00 Million units
- Splatoon 2 - 8.27 Million Units
- Super Mario Party - 5.30 Million Units
- 1-2-Switch - 2.86 million units
- Mario Tennis Aces - 2.53 Million Units
- Kirby Star Allies - 2.42 Million Units
(source: VGChartz)
