Gaming Forums > Nintendo Gaming
Official Sales Thread
Evan_B:
From what I understand, all this “fastest selling hardware” talk is just investor pandering. The industry has changed over the past forty years and the Switch 2 has yet to receive some sort of cultural zeitgeist moment, even as we move closer to its first year. Mind you, not every piece of hardware has that moment early on, but there’s usually a software release that captures the imagination and acts as an inflection point, even if it was Mario Kart 7 on 3DS. I just don’t feel that Mario Kart World has managed to drum up similar discourse or interest and I simply do not understand that game.
I noted that the Switch 2 has surpassed the lifetime sales of the Wii U, which is certainly sad, but Nintendo did have the 3DS as a consolation during that time. Still, I can’t imagine the very very very likely price hike this coming year will do much to keep this fast-selling momentum. I’d be shocked if any sort of consumer-friendly solution was made as a result of this, but a more aggressive digital software pack-in/bundle could mitigate this somewhat.
NWR_insanolord:
--- Quote from: Evan_B on February 03, 2026, 11:33:29 PM ---From what I understand, all this “fastest selling hardware” talk is just investor pandering. The industry has changed over the past forty years and the Switch 2 has yet to receive some sort of cultural zeitgeist moment, even as we move closer to its first year. Mind you, not every piece of hardware has that moment early on, but there’s usually a software release that captures the imagination and acts as an inflection point, even if it was Mario Kart 7 on 3DS. I just don’t feel that Mario Kart World has managed to drum up similar discourse or interest and I simply do not understand that game.
I noted that the Switch 2 has surpassed the lifetime sales of the Wii U, which is certainly sad, but Nintendo did have the 3DS as a consolation during that time. Still, I can’t imagine the very very very likely price hike this coming year will do much to keep this fast-selling momentum. I’d be shocked if any sort of consumer-friendly solution was made as a result of this, but a more aggressive digital software pack-in/bundle could mitigate this somewhat.
--- End quote ---
I don't know that I agree that there needs to be some kind of zeitgeist-grabbing game. Like, what would you say that was that game for PS5? There's been a lot of good games on that system, but I don't know that any one was like that. As you said, the industry has changed, and all three consoles are more iterative than revolutionary.
There's no guarantee this momentum keeps up, but it does hammer home yet again that the very-online gamer bubble isn't representative of real life. Social media and the YouTube algorithm really want to push the narrative that the Switch 2 is failing, but it's simply not true.
Evan_B:
I have no interest in buying a PS5, and felt the need to get a Switch 2 because I’m a shameless Nintendo fanboy the Switch was getting to a point where performance issues in the games I was interested in playing were becoming a norm more than an exception. But I’d argue a part of the Switch’s success is Breath of the Wild, which is a big cultural moment game, and maybe Mario Odyssey and Splatoon. I don’t see an equivalent on Switch in its first year, is all. I know that these new hardware iterations are incremental and it’s just further emphasizing this sort of bland and mirthless vibe I get from all of the Big Three’s hardware offerings.
Stratos:
I feel like Bananza should have been that zeitgeist game, but due to it being a more niche game compared to Mario, Zelda, or Pokemon, along with other factors like the "viral lightning" or other trigger made it miss it's chance.
NWR_insanolord:
I think that's definitely part of it. If you look at the games that are true Switch 2 games and not enhanced versions of Switch games, apart from Mario Kart it's a lot of smaller franchises or spin-offs. DK's kind of a second tier Nintendo property, and then you've got the niche Zelda spinoff in Hyrule Warriors and a sequel to an obscure late GameCube game in Kirby Air Riders.
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