As of right now, the 3DS is the first Nintendo console to have sold more in Japan than in the U.S.
| 10 | Nintendo 3DS (3DS) | 21.89 | 19.05 | 23.50 | 3.83 | 68.27 |
...And because the Switch is also a handheld, with virtually no competition in its respective sector, it would seem like a no-brainer that the console will be more popular in Japan than in the West.
However, I think the biggest takeaway from this is that the biggest games for the platform (sales-wise) will be Japanese games, not Western ones. While the Switch will benefit from more third-party support, no matter what region it originates, I really think we should be keeping a Japanese perspective when looking at this console. We shouldn't be surprised if some of the bigger AAA Western games skip the console, or if they do come to the console they fail to find an audience as big as it would on the PS4 or XBOX One.
Nintendo has their home region in the bag, and I don't think we should be worried about the long-term prospects of the system if the Switch fails to secure every third-party game on the market.
