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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Nintendo quarterly sales figures update, (To 31st Dec 2020) Switch 79.87m

curl-6 said:

Has any system other than DS sold more than 11.57 million in one quarter before?

I don't think so, although I think Switch came close last holiday.

I actually think Switch can sell more next holiday, assuming there are price drops and/or revisions and a better lineup.



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PAOerfulone said:
Wyrdness said:

The phenomenon is still around it's just not aimed at you who was the target audience at the time and has taken a different approach with the times I don't think you understand what is meant by a bubble bursting, S/S released before any nation went into lock down (January) and sold 16m on release so how does the Pandemic factor in there or is that the go to excuse now?

Not putting words in your mouth I'm pointing out what you're implying especially with your "own merit" comment AC was hyped long before the Pandemic was even a thing the were celebrities posting about it on their twitter a year before any lockdown anyone who knew the series could see huge sales were coming especially with the Switch's momentum we have a Zelda game heading to 25m when no game in the series never broke 10m in its entire history we have a 3D Mario game touching 20m for the first time, we have games like Luigi's Mansion about to hit 10m. This isn't the pandemic this is just the games being good, marketing and platform momentum. ACNH isn't the only game you can get away from the world from either nor is it the only game of its kind.

If you honestly think that Pokemon is still as big of a deal now as it was back then, you're kidding yourself. It is not. The Game Boy was dying a death by late '94 throughout '95 and then Pokemon came out, lit the world on fire, and cemented Nintendo's permanent dominance in the handheld market. But then, it was THE talk of the town. THE game. THE franchise. Somecallmejohnny got his copy of Metal Gear Solid on the PS1 by in exchange for a Pokemon trading card! A PS1 game for a tiny piece of cardboard?! THAT'S how big it was back then. To say that the phenomenon is still around is just a heaping pile of Kangaskhan dung. It's just not true. The reason why it sold 16 million on release, and has now managed to reach 20 million has a lot to do with the 'Switch effect' which I noted earlier, and yes, the Pandemic boost. Because the press and word of mouth around Sword/Shield wasn't exactly good. Certainly not at the same standard as prior Pokemon games.

The Pandemic factor took effect in March, and it has had a notable positive effect on the Switch itself, which in turn, had a notable effect on its first party software. You think the Switch got to 28-30 million sales in 2020 by its own merit? And yes, I'm gonna keep saying that because there's truth to it.  It is undeniable that Covid was as big of a factor as anything else for sales exploding the way that they did, to the point where Nintendo STILL can't keep up with demand. The Switch is fresh off its best holiday season ever... With Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and Pikmin 3, as its only holiday titles... I mean, come on.

Animal Crossing, as great and as big as it is, is not capable of that on its own. In some regions, it's not even doing it on its own. In places like China and even the homeland, Japan, Ring Fit Adventure is having as much of an impact on hardware sales as Animal Crossing. They're constantly going head to head in the weekly Famitsu software sales charts. 

Yes, celebrities and famous people from Brie Larson, to T-Pain, to Elijah Wood, to even Danny Trejo, AOC, and President Biden, were/still are playing Animal Crossing. Wow, big shocker, celebrities play video games too! Eminem and Miley Cyrus bought a Wii U for Smash Bros, but that clearly didn't do jack-shit for the Wii U or Smash Bros. 

But all those celebrities I mentioned who are playing Animal Crossing, who were also posting it on Twitter, they were posting it AFTER the game came out! So, not only are you misquoting me, now, unless you have actual evidence to back up your claim that there were celebrities posting about it the year before any lockdown took place, you're also lying. No celebrities were posting about it on their twitter 'a year (2019) before any lockdown', they were posting about it AFTER the pandemic and lockdown took effect, the exact same time the game came out!

Yes, before the game released, and before any sign of a pandemic hitting, there were a lot of signs, based on the performance of other Nintendo games on Switch like you just stated, from Breath of the Wild, to Odyssey, to Luigi's Mansion 3, that Animal Crossing was going to do huge numbers and be the best selling game in the history of the franchise. I'm not arguing that. What I'm saying is that, without the pandemic, there is no way in hell it reaches 31 million in less than one year. Maybe in its entire lifetime, with the right quality, marketing, and platform momentum behind it, but not in 9 months!

Yeah, platform momentum was a factor. And that momentum and Switch sales skyrockted more than any other system when the pandemic took effect. Why do you think we've been calling it 'the Covid boost?" And when you get the a new console, in the middle of a pandemic, you need something to kill the time and provide a sense of escape from the shitty situation the world is in. There is no better game that fits that mold than Animal Crossing. Again, I never said it was the only game of its kind nor was it the only game you could get away from the world from, I said it was the PERFECT game in this situation. It had JUST come out, and it had the Nintendo PR and marketing machine fully behind it, while Switch sales were at the highest they had ever been up to that point, with its closest competitors, the PS4 and Xbox One, winding down. All eyes and ears were on Nintendo, and they were showcasing their new big S-tier title. If it were Breath of the Wild 2, or a new 3D Mario game, or even Metroid Prime 4, sales would have exploded and people would have flocked to those games too. But unlike those games, an open-world action adventure, a space-shooting, sci-fi explorer, and a 3D platformer, which have a beginning and an end, Animal Crossing, as a life simulator, just keeps going and going and going. It was EXACTLY the kind of game you would need to get you through a pandemic. And Nintendo went ALL IN on supporting it.

So not only do I say this again, I'm adding to it: It was the right game, on the right platform, in the right place, at the right time.

You are forgetting about Pokemon Go, which was just nuts the year it released and is still doing pretty well.  It qualifies as being just as big as the original Pokemon if not bigger.  Some of those mobile game users upgrade to the real game, i.e. Sword/Shield.  That is one reason why Sw/Sh is doing so well in spite of Pokemon fans saying it sucks.

For that matter Animal Crossing Pocket Camp is also helping New Horizons.  Animal Crossing obviously also had COVID helping it, but COVID alone does not explain this kind of phenomenon.  FF7 Remake didn't sell anything like this in spite of being released around the same time.



PAOerfulone said:
...

I'm guessing you were asleep when Pokemon Go released which was as big if not bigger than what happened in the 90s and went on to cause S/M to trigger a resurgence in the 3DS. Pokemon still is a big deal and just as big if not bigger the difference now is the approach changed in according to the era Pokemon doesn't need to be all over TV with the anime and ads or needs the cards everywhere on the streets because it's far easier and more efficient to reach their target audience through social media Pokemania has taken a different form. The word of mouth from whom? The people who aren't in the target audience that want BOTW with Pokemon? It's like saying the word of mouth from vegans isn't good about McDonalds it's irrelevant to Pokemon and you still haven't explained how the Pandemic factored into S/S' sales when it sold 18m of it's 20m sales before the pandemic took any hold.

The Pandemic is a factor just not as big as you're making it out to be as Doom Eternal, FFVIIR, TLOU2 and numerous other games released in that period and not one has come close to AC this flat out suggests that the sales AC achieved were on its own merit and were always going to be a thing the pandemic just acted as a catalyst to get their quicker the sales numbers themselves were always coming oh and btw those celebs you're saying only tweeted after the pandemic here's evidence of some celebrities long before the pandemic going back even before 2016.

https://twitter.com/dylansprouse/status/347196304058875905?s=20

https://twitter.com/colesprouse/status/369618737021714432?s=20

https://www.gonintendo.com/stories/308491-random-time-chrissy-teigen-wants-animal-crossing-on-switch

https://hellogiggles.com/celebrity/chrissy-teigen-animal-crossing-pocket-camp/

Also here is an example of the anticipation of ACNH before the pandemic.

https://heavy.com/games/2018/09/animal-crossing-switch-2019-twitter/

So no your assertion that it's mainly the pandemic and not its own merit is objectively incorrect it was always coming and maybe if you never followed the game you'd think the sales is from the pandemic the actual truth of the matter is the mobile app set things in motion after the prior two games built up a huge following. Covid boost can only be used for one short period of two months and doesn't explain sales over a whole year which is why it's cynical to be saying it was never going to happen when it clearly was 20m sales at least were going to happen which is the range on GTA on a single platform.

Last edited by Wyrdness - on 03 February 2021

SKMBlake said:
Kakadu18 said:

No game can sell 30mil+ first year and not slow down afterwards.

Have you ever heard of GTA V ? Cause it's currently at 135 million copies in 7 years, doesn't seem to slow down

You’re comparing comparing single games with one that’s been ported numerous times.



I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.

curl-6 said:

Has any system other than DS sold more than 11.57 million in one quarter before?

Nope, the PS2 MIGHT have, but Sony had much more normalized shipments. I think it still holds the summer quarter shipment record as a result.



I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.

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Jumpin said:
SKMBlake said:

Have you ever heard of GTA V ? Cause it's currently at 135 million copies in 7 years, doesn't seem to slow down

You’re comparing comparing single games with one that’s been ported numerous times.

I do, but why do I do that ? Cause the initial statement was "no game do that", not "no game exclusive to one specific platform do that" so I was like "well actually yes" but of course it implies releasing on multiple platforms over 2 generations (soon 3)



Jumpin said:
curl-6 said:

Has any system other than DS sold more than 11.57 million in one quarter before?

Nope, the PS2 MIGHT have, but Sony had much more normalized shipments. I think it still holds the summer quarter shipment record as a result.

PS2 biggest reported shipment quarter was 8.78m in Q2 2003 (ending Sept).

At the time though Sony's reported shipments were based on internal sales (so from Sony Japan to Sony USA etc) which I think is why it was a September quarter rather than December quarter (they physically ship them to Sony subsidiaries in other regions in Q2 so that they have stock ready to sell to retailers in Q3)

If the reporting method were the same it's possible that the previous year they sold ~10-11m to retail during Q3 (as both Q2 & Q3 were both over 8m), but only Sony knows for certain. Based on the other quarters around it I would put 11.5m at the high end of any estimate




Nautilus said:

This is actually sad, Reggie isn't working anymore at Nintendo :(



My bet with The_Liquid_Laser: I think the Switch won't surpass the PS2 as the best selling system of all time. If it does, I'll play a game of a list that The_Liquid_Laser will provide, I will have to play it for 50 hours or complete it, whatever comes first. 

Any day now and the Switch will bomb at launch!

In all seriousness, Switch is Nintendo consolidating their output to one platform instead of being split between two. The change was in absolute need.



I know we're kinda becoming normalized to it now, but the first party software sales on Switch would've been unthinkable just a few years ago.

Almost every series is shattering its previous sales records, including ones that were already enormous. It's on track to have more 10m+ sellers and more 20m+ sellers than any system in history, and that's just based on the games we know of whereas in reality there will be plenty of megaton sellers that haven't even been announced yet.

To call this thing a monster is a gross understatement.