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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - The Holiday Quarter for Nintendo Consoles

Unfortunately, Nintendo only tracked per half-year during the N64 and beginning of the Gamecube eras, and before that only annual sales.

1. Gamecube

Yr. 1 - 3.29m (6 months)

Yr. 2 - 2.87m (6 months)

Yr. 3 - 3.5m

Yr. 4 - 2.06m

Yr. 5 - 1.3m

Yr. 6 - 310K

Yr. 7 - 60K

Yr. 8 - 0

https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Nintendo_GameCube

1. Wii

Yr. 1 - 3.19m

Yr. 2 - 6.96m

Yr. 3 - 10.41m

Yr. 4 - 11.31m

Yr. 5 - 8.74m

Yr. 6 - 5.61m

Yr. 7 - 2.2m

Yr. 8 - 600K

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_sales

1. Wii U

Yr. 1 - 3.06m

Yr. 2 - 1.95m

Yr. 3 - 1.91m

Yr. 4 - 1.87m

Yr. 5 - 200K

Yr. 6 - 0

Yr. 7 - 0

Yr. 8 - 0

https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Wii_U

1. DS

Yr. 1 - 5.6m

Yr. 2 - 8.79m

Yr. 3 - 11.15m

Yr. 4 - 11.89m

Yr. 5 - 11.65m

Yr. 6 - 9.01m

Yr. 7 - 2.06m

Yr. 8 - 1.17m

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS_sales

1. 3DS

Yr. 1 - 8.35m

Yr. 2 - 7.64m

Yr. 3 - 7.76m

Yr. 4 - 4.98m

Yr. 5 - 3.59m

Yr. 6 - 3.73m

Yr. 7 - 3.01m

Yr. 8 - 1.13m

https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Nintendo_3DS

Nintendo Switch

Yr. 1 - 7.63m

Yr. 2 - 9.41m

Yr. 3 - ??.??m

Given traditional sales data, if the Switch follows a trajectory similar to either the Wii or DS, its holiday sales peak will be next year, and it should have a holiday season around the same numbers as 2019 in 2021 with still high sales in 2022.



I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.

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If it keeps following this trajectory it should be around 11m this holiday quarter. And yeah, I agree it will be even more next year. It very much is like a return to the DS and Wii era.



Switch has a change to do around 11 this year and i also think next year could do even better but we'll see.



Hopefully the Lite and the combined momentum of Pokemon, Luigi's Mansion, and Ring Fit can make up for Smash and keep Switch level or even up from last year in spite of the lack of a big December release.



One strength of Switch that existed in the Wii and DS era are the titles with a longterm appeal. That is games that still sell or help sell the console even years after they released. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Breath of the Wild are continuing to draw audiences to the Switch. This is why I think next year, and perhaps even the year after, are going to be bigger years than this year (and at least bigger years than last), ESPECIALLY if Nintendo begins doing multi-game bundles: Switch + Breath of the Wild + Mario Kart 8 DX + New Super Mario Bros U/Mario Maker (The Gen X appeal Bundle) and a Switch + Odyssey + Splatoon 2 + Pokemon (The Millennial appeal Bundle) and perhaps reach out to third parties: Minecraft + Fortnite + Rocket League (Gen Z appeal bundle).

Last edited by Jumpin - on 10 December 2019

I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.

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I still think Animal Crossing is going to be the hydrogen bomb that blows the charts up. Smash, Zelda, Metroid, etc are games traditionally popular with men, but Animal Crossing is massive for both genders and will move some serious hardware because of it, in my opinion, even more than Pokemon. 2020 going to be nuts and we don't even know probably 90% of the games going to be released in it.



Dulfite said:
I still think Animal Crossing is going to be the hydrogen bomb that blows the charts up. Smash, Zelda, Metroid, etc are games traditionally popular with men, but Animal Crossing is massive for both genders and will move some serious hardware because of it, in my opinion, even more than Pokemon. 2020 going to be nuts and we don't even know probably 90% of the games going to be released in it.

Both my oldest daughter and wife (who isn't a traditional gamer) love Breath of the Wild, so I would say that has changed this generation.

I agree with Animal Crossing. The Switch version is almost certain to become the biggest of the franchise. It also has a wide age appeal. It's the first game franchise I played extensively with my kids. So there's already nostalgia there for them with the game, similar to me and 2D Mario (since I grew up with SMB 1, 2, 3, and World).

It's also probably the first true casual console game - and when I say that, I don't mean games for retarded people (as some people in this forum tend to use the term), but games that encourage short sessions of gameplay over long periods of time.



I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.

Jumpin said:

One strength of Switch that existed in the Wii and DS era are the titles with a longterm appeal. That is games that still sell or help sell the console even years after they released. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Breath of the Wild are continuing to draw audiences to the Switch. This is why I think next year, and perhaps even the year after, are going to be bigger years than this year (and at least bigger years than last), ESPECIALLY if Nintendo begins doing multi-game bundles: Switch + Breath of the Wild + Mario Kart 8 DX + New Super Mario Bros U/Mario Maker (The Gen X appeal Bundle) and a Switch + Odyssey + Splatoon 2 + Pokemon (The Millennial appeal Bundle) and perhaps reach out to third parties: Minecraft + Fortnite + Rocket League (Gen Z appeal bundle).

Switch has evergreens, games that keep selling for years.  That makes it like DS and Wii.  What makes Switch different is the type of evergreens it has.  Wii evergreens were things like Wii Sports and Wii Fit.  Switch evergreens are things like BotW and Smash Bros.  Switch evergreens are for core gamers.

I agree that Switch is going to keep selling because of its evergreens, but what is different is who Switch will be selling to.  The Wii and DS brought in a ton of new gamers.  Switch will be selling to core gamers though.  It is going to bring in PS4 and XB1 customers.  

Overall, I liked the Wii, but I like the Switch even more.  Since the main customers are core gamers, Switch ends up with a lot more games that I like.  And I kind of feel it is still only scratching the surface on the third party side.  Mostly we've gotten ports and indie games.  I think the third party library is going to improve a lot.  Third party companies are realizing that they can sell their core games on the Switch, and that makes it different from the Wii.  As the third party library improves that will bring in more customers on top of the Switch evergreens.



Jumpin said:
Dulfite said:
I still think Animal Crossing is going to be the hydrogen bomb that blows the charts up. Smash, Zelda, Metroid, etc are games traditionally popular with men, but Animal Crossing is massive for both genders and will move some serious hardware because of it, in my opinion, even more than Pokemon. 2020 going to be nuts and we don't even know probably 90% of the games going to be released in it.

Both my oldest daughter and wife (who isn't a traditional gamer) love Breath of the Wild, so I would say that has changed this generation.

I agree with Animal Crossing. The Switch version is almost certain to become the biggest of the franchise. It also has a wide age appeal. It's the first game franchise I played extensively with my kids. So there's already nostalgia there for them with the game, similar to me and 2D Mario (since I grew up with SMB 1, 2, 3, and World).

It's also probably the first true casual console game - and when I say that, I don't mean games for retarded people (as some people in this forum tend to use the term), but games that encourage short sessions of gameplay over long periods of time.

I think Switch will sell 22-25 million within 12 months of Animal Crossing release. Going to be nuts.



While it won't set records on launch like Smash and Pokemon, Animal Crossing is going to have massive legs, it's the quintessential evergreen title and move a ton of hardware over time. Folks who couldn't care less for Smash or Zelda or even Pokemon will buy a Switch for AC.