they didn't have to do anything. consoles get temporary deals around the holidays when they aren't new. When Nintendo does it this year, i hope you have the same opinion 

Again I don't like that either, a different size slice of the overall pie. UK is a big market for Xbox and has been for quite a few years, more so than other European countries. I'm a PS4, Xbox One and wii u owner I don't see the  reason to factor in multiple formats. A simple how many Switches sold per 1000 people etc seems more logical especially where some countries have more diverse gaming habits. Using data like that skews it towards countries with more  polarised gaming habits even if such markets are actually quite small. A market worth 1/2 billion that buys 20% Switches is seen as more positive than a market worth 5 billion that buys 15% Switches despite the huge revenue difference for Nintendo. Also most companies are focused on units sold not market share ratio. Yes they see importance in market share percentage but their focus is always on units sold, driving sales in units same as any business. Your local cornershop is more interested in actual revenue than knowing the percentage of sales they get for that town/city etc compared to other cornershops. I'm sure Nintendo would rather have 20 million consoles sold  rather than 10 million. It's difficult to make a deposit at a bank with a market share ratio. At least I understand now how people are comparing Switch sales and can basically ignore it now because its not relevant at all to me in how I would compare success of  the Switch console which is purely by units sold.

It's not something I agree with I have to say. For me units sold is most important. Units sold per 1000 of the population would be an easy indicator for me of Switch popularity not comparing to markets that  may not have been as enthusiastic for wii as uk and have tiny gaming markets in comparison. I'm not missing the point I totally disagree with it as an indicator of Switch popularity its ruined by factoring past console sales. Any market that basically was more enthusiastic for wii or another Nintendo console is somehow viewed as less positive towards the Switch even if more people in 1000 buy Switch consoles in that country than other countries. It's just statistics being manipulated to give a untrue verdict. However I take your point they can claim biggest Nintendo console launch and sales ever but not the popularity end of your comment surely that is dictated by the percentage of people in that country that own Switch consoles and no other factors.

It will outsell PS4 easily if it gets price cut next year.

That's my opinion. 

The only reason Sony and Microsoft beat Switch in November was because of crazy price cuts. So why would I have problems with the November NPD results? It's quite obvious by now that Sony and MS can't compete with Nintendo in North America on equal footing. 

that's nice, but Switch is brand new, so it should be selling better when it's at a similar price

and try not to take it too hard when Switch doesn't catch up with PS4's lifetime worldwide sales, ok? :)

Xbox One was $200 for all of December in the USA and the PS4 was $250 with a free game included (Star Wars: Battlefront 2), but sure... similar price... 

Nintendo's first party games will sell much more than the first party games on the other consoles and that's where Nintendo makes the bulk of its money anyway. And I wouldn't be too sure about the Switch not outselling the PS4 if I were you.

$200 Switch + Pokémon HD will sell gangbusters. 

The bar is pretty low in EU though. Wii sold to 6% of Germans, 10% of Frenchies and 14% of Brits. Switch is as popular in UK as it is in Germany (probably more) when population is taken into account.

Fact is that that Switch is best selling console ever or best selling Nintendo console ever in all biggest European market expect UK (curently), so I dont see how you cant agree with that.

When we talking about best selling console ever or about best selling Nintendo console ever, thats not low bar.

Mario Odyssey is a big game. No doubt. However you are severely underestimating how good a 2D Mario game can do. We are talking about 30+ million sales series here. NSMBWii was incredibly popular back in the day. However I would consider its performance handicapped. Thing is that Nintendo has not been treating 2D mario games with the respect it deserves. Here is an analogy using the Zelda series. 

Imagine that instead of Breath of the Wild we got Skyward Sword Switch. Skyward Sword Switch will have the same worlds,music,story and characters as Skyward Sword on the Wii. The only difference is better graphics and level design. Now imagine if  Nintendo released Skyward Sword 3DS just 3 months earlier. The main gimmick of Skyward Sword 3DS is that you must collect a bunch of rubies to get a secret ending of sorts. However Nintendo says its a different game since the level design is different and all. However it uses the same worlds,music,story and characters. I don't know about you but I would be pretty mad about this if I was a Zelda fan. This is how 2D Mario fans feel about the series. NSBWii is lucky in that it didn't feel the fatigue yet. Despite that the game feels stale and unambitious because in a lot of ways it just feels like the DS game but blown up into a Wii game. 

A proper 2D Mario game with the love and care as say Super Mario bros 3 or even Galaxy will blow Mario Odyssey out of the water. A proper Zelda like Breath of the Wild blew up the sales. I expect them same thing to happen to 2D Mario if given the same respect. 

mario kart on wii did 37 million, i think its safe to say mario kart 8 deluxe which blew away mario kart wii in quality will not touch those sales, probably ever. it's always better to look at the latest entries  of franchise to judge sales, not a outlier.