The Nintendo Switch has sold four million units in Japan as of last week according to Famitsu. Famitsu calculated this number by way of their sales tracker which has just been updated to reflect the number. This means that the Nintendo Switch has sold four million units in 56 weeks, which is close to the pace at which the Wii sold at, selling four million units in 54 weeks.
The comparison between the Wii and the Nintendo Switch sales are very interesting. While the Wii did sell incredibly well, it lacked the software lineup to be a truly great system. Too many games were gimmicky and didn’t play very well, like Red Steel. The Wii, like the Switch, launched with a Zelda game. The Wii had an abundance of software, but didn’t have as strong of a game lineup as the Nintendo Switch. If the Switch keeps up its current pace of high-quality content, odds are it will eventually surpass the Nintendo Wii in sales.
It’s also fascinating that when the Wii launched, a lot of people called it gimmicky. Some were upset that it was aimed at a more casual crowd. You don’t hear that same kind of rhetoric about the Nintendo Switch. With its portability factor and a multitude of different controller options, the Switch is more dynamic than any console that has ever been released. It will be interesting to see if the sales reflect that when it’s all said and done.