Nintendo Switch outsold the most optimistic predictions

By Gabe Gurwin Published November 22, 2017

Nintendo Switch review — Mike Epstein/Digital Trends

The Nintendo Switch has been quite difficult to find since it launched in early March, quickly selling out on sites like Amazon as well as in brick-and-mortar stores. Nintendo increased production of the console in order to better meet demand, but many are still left waiting to get their hands on the console. According to Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé, however, this doesn’t mean the company is ignoring fans.

Speaking to Mashable, Fils-Aimé said that Nintendo produced 2 million Switch units for the system’s launch window, but analysts didn’t predict that the company would be able to sell them all — during that time, about 2.8 million ended up being sold.

Recommended Videos

“So what do some of the consumers on Reddit say?” he continued. “‘Gosh, Nintendo, if you would’ve made more you would’ve sold more.’ Well, we did make more! And certainly we’re on a pace to supply in the current fiscal year 10 million units.”

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Nintendo clearly wanted to avoid its mistakes with the Wii U, which quickly fizzled out after having a fairly strong start in late 2012. Third-party support for the system dried up as publishers moved to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but this doesn’t seem to be the case with the Switch. On the contrary, more publishers have jumped on board since launch, including Bethesda. The company will release Switch versions of both Doom and Wolfenstein: II The New Colossus, and a special edition of Skyrim is on the way, as well.

Fils-Aimé did concede that Nintendo’s solutions are perhaps rolling out slower than fans would like, as is the case with the NES Classic and SNES Classic systems. Nintendo recently revealed that the NES Classic and SNES Classic will both be sold in 2018, but short supply and third-party vendors have already made the prospect of getting the plug-and-play consoles rather daunting. With the SNES Classic, fans have the only legal way to play the previously canceled game Star Fox 2, which was scrapped in favor of Star Fox 64 on Nintendo 64.

The Nintendo Switch will be a mighty fine present during the holidays this year. In addition to great games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Splatoon 2, Super Mario Odyssey releases on October 27.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

Gaming

RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic will bring PC nostalgia to Nintendo Switch

A very long white rollercoaster going from one edge of the image to another.

RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic has been on mobile and Steam for many years, and it's finally coming to Nintendo Switch this December, Atari announced Thursday. It's available for preorder now on the eShop for $25.

Classic is actually a remastered bundle of the first two RollerCoaster Tycoon games and the three expansion packs: Toolkit, Wacky Worlds, and Time Twister, created by Chris Sawyer. The first debuted in 1999, and it set the standard for some of our favorite management sims. The series has staying power, too, although a lot of the recent entries have all been on mobile, especially for iOS. Atari released RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic, which was made in conjunction with Sawyer, for iOS and Android in 2016, and on Steam in 2017. And by all accounts, despite its age, Classic is absolutely worth the time.

Gaming

Your video game consoles could become much more expensive soon

A PS5 Pro sits on a table with a DualSense.

People have a lot of questions about what a second Donald Trump presidential administration will look like, and one of the big concerns surrounds proposed tariffs on foreign imports, with larger ones targeted for China. If these are passed, it could signal a big change in how video game hardware and software is manufactured and could lead to increased costs for players.

Digital Trends spoke to analysts about the potential impact that tariffs could have on tech like game consoles. As of this writing, the proposal is to implement a 10% or 20% tariff on all imports, but a specific 60% tariff on Chinese imports. Some analysts we reached out to declined to comment on the impact of the tariffs because while Trump has discussed a plan, it hasn't gone into effect and might not. Others, like Serkan Toto of Japanese games industry consulting firm Kantan, warned that consumers could be the ones paying the cost if plans go into effect.

Gaming

All upcoming video games (PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC): 2024, 2025 and beyond

Yasuke in Assassin's Creed Shadows fighting an enemy. He's dressed in his samurai armor.

Keeping track of every new video game release is a nearly impossible task. Ggames are constantly being announced, delayed, rereleased on new platforms, remastered, canceled — you get the point. With the upcoming games lineup constantly shifting on PC, Switch, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5 and mobile, it can be hard to find games to look forward to playing (and to budget for) in the coming months.

Despite the herculean task of tracking an entire year of video game release dates, we're giving it our best shot. Check out this month-by-month schedule of new video game releases. We're focusing mainly on highly anticipated titles with concrete release dates, but will also include little-known indies and keep an eye on launch plans for up-in-the-air titles like Grand Theft Auto 6 or games that are still very early on in development like Hogwarts Legacy 2 or The Last of Us Part 3. If you're looking to get a quick glance at the future of video games, this is the place. We'll keep this list updated and as accurate as possible at regular intervals.
November release dates