Polygon.com / 01.06.25

Which Nintendo console had the biggest launch

Nintendo has predicted it will sell 15 million Switch 2s in its current financial year. Analysts think the number is conservative; Nintendo says the price of the Switch 2 is whats holding back that estimate. But what does that mean, really? Is it a reasonable target? If Nintendo hits it, does that guarantee the Switch 2 will be a massive hit? If a console sells out at launch, what does that tell us? Is there still a chance of a Wii U-style flop? Its impossible to know for sure, but a look at all of Nintendos past console launches can provide some clues. Ive dug deep into past Nintendo sales figures to determine which Nintendo consoles enjoyed the best launches. To get a more reliable picture than that initial, almost inevitable sellout, Ive defined the launch as the consoles first year (or rather, first four financial quarters) on the market. Note that Nintendo only started reporting quarterly sales for its systems in the mid-2000s, and the earliest data is annual at best and hard to c...
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