Throughout their four decades as a console manufacturer, Nintendo have achieved multiple periods of immense success.

In the NES era their share of the console market was at an all time high and they dominated all competition, to the point where for much of the English speaking world at least, "Nintendo" was synonymous with video games.

In the Wii/DS era they led both the home console and handheld markets and sold a gargantuan 255 million systems in a single generation; a feat no other manufacturer has even come close to, and which may never be topped.

And finally, in the current Switch era, their profits and software sales are at their highest point in their history, and the Switch itself is on track to potentially become the highest selling console in history.

Given that there are multiple ways to define "success", which era do you consider to be their most successful, and why?

Probably the Switch since their profits from 2017-2024 is higher than their profits from 1983-2016.

Depends on whether success is defined via money or popularity. If it's popularity, it's hard to argue against the NES era. Most of the iconic IPs that they are still using to sell consoles today were born then. It had a PS2-like market share. Every kid on every block watched Mario cartoons, had Mario t-shirts, ate Nintendo-branded cereal and took their lunches to school inside Nintendo-branded lunch boxes etc. Nintendo was a pop-culture juggernaut that utterly dominated the world, far beyond gaming. So for me, that era is still unrivaled.

But I'm sure they're making more money now than they did back then, so from a stockholder's point of view, or even theirs, the Switch era might get nod.

Each option makes a good case

NES- 90%+ of the console market share and literally saved the gaming industry

Wii/DS- 255 million systems combined as well as over 1.8 billion in software sales combined

But I’ll have to go with the Switch era. The home console space was still young during the NES era where it was still “nerdy” to be a gamer and the NES didn’t sell as much as consoles do these days. The Wii/DS era, especially the Wii was a bit overly reliant on the casual market to where when sales fell, they really fell!

Whereas with the Switch, Nintendo found the perfect line between the casual market and the hardcore gaming community and its paid off. Nintendo has made more profit since the launch of the Switch in 2017 than they did from 1981-2016! Which is INSANE to think about! Nintendo is so massive they’re easily able to open theme parks and release billion dollar grossing movies. Nintendo is the biggest they’ve ever been. Especially with merchandising, which I imagine will only continue to grow. And I think that’s why Switch has been their most successful era.

I would say the Switch era, because of Nintendo's profit, but also because the company has been able to stay relevant and very popular among consumers in a time where the competition for public's attention in different kinds areas of entertainment (videogame, films, series, book, social media) has never been so intense

From my POV, Wii/DS era - they've managed to make more than successful home console, after lackluster sales of GC, and have best selling handheld ever.

NES for the win. This is because some things are hard to measure. Retailers were actively hostile to console gaming when the NES released in the US. A few years later people are more enthusiastic for console gaming than they'd ever been before. So many great IP were started on the NES too: Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Castlevania, Metal Gear, etc.... The NES created the foundation for all console gaming going forward.

Switch era. Profits are insane. Game sales are insane. The popularity is choking out Ms from the gaming space in general, and sony from Japan. They can continue to sell their console and no successor in sight after 7 years.

During the other eras they had to try really hard. But lost out one of the aspects from above.

If we are defining success by profit then obviously switch. For me though it's NES and super nes era they were the king of gaming with best hardware and all third party support those were the good old days for me with Nintendo. The games were way more ground breaking then the games we have on switch.

Like you said, different kinds of success will differ answers depending on the points they prioritize.

To me the Switch is the clear cut winner simply because the Wii in itself while a success was also short-lived in it's active effect and actually was detrimental for what would come with the WiiU/3DS.
The NES era however is I'd say the only real contender here, they had the Mindshare of a market they basically reborned themselves and a pop-culture revelancy.

Thing is, the medium was also still arguably in it's infancy so it couldn't capture the large public the VG space has knowadays. It's something Nintendo managed to capture it's essence during the Switch with an appealing product to all sorts of demographics that wouldn't alienate their core or casual audience for example. Then, you go into the stuff that's extras like the movies, theme parks and internet culture in general and Nintendo IP's remain strong in the minds of people, even from the younger upcoming generations.

The Switch is technically the equivalent of the NES success but in an era where the medium has matured and the competition widely more stiff than when they entered it first completely unchallenged