After last night’s The Game Awards 2017, it’s even more apparent that the Nintendo Switch is continuing to dominate. The console, which was released on March 3, has had a AAA title release at least once a month, with a Nintendo IP released in every month besides May and August (although Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle came out that month). Two Nintendo titles were nominated for Game of the Year, with the magical Super Mario Odyssey winning Best Family Game. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle won Best Strategy Game (developed by Ubisoft). Breath of the Wild took home the three most prominent awards: Best Action-Adventure Game, Best Game Direction, and the most important award, Game of the Year 2017.
Nintendo is dominating Japan in both hardware and software sales in Japan. It’s not even close. It outpaced the PlayStation 4’s first 26 weeks of initial sales. Splatoon 2 has already eclipsed one million units in Japan. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is outpacing its predecessors. Third-parties like Bethesda and Rockstar are publishing some of their older titles on the system, although to Rockstar’s credit L.A. Noire released on all consoles this generation simultaneously. Bethesda gave incredible ports of both Skyrim and DOOM, some of the company’s best games to date.
We’re not even taking 2018 into consideration here. Last night at The Game Awards, Reggie announced that Bayonetta 1 & 2 are coming to the Nintendo Switch on February 18. Bayonetta 3 is in development exclusively for Switch. Shin Megami Tensei V, the franchise that spawned the Persona franchise, is coming exclusively to the console as well and will be released in the west. It’s unknown if it will have a 2018 release, but there is a high likelihood.
Square Enix’s Project Octopath Traveler is coming in 2018 as an exclusive. Bethesda is even bringing Wolfenstein II to the Switch in early 2018, which was one of this year’s most critically-acclaimed games. The third-party support is there. There’s also a chance Metroid Prime 4 comes in 2018, and there are rumblings that Pokemon for the Nintendo Switch will, in fact, come out in 2018. This will probably depend on how the development cycle goes. Yoshi and Kirby Star Allies are also coming to the Switch in 2018 (confirmed), which are two huge IPs.
Tetsuya Takahashi, the creator of the Xenoblade series from Monolith Soft, wants to bring Xenoblade Chronicles X, which sold 900,000 copies worldwide on a dying Wii U, to the Nintendo Switch. In fact, it was one of the last big releases for the Nintendo Switch.
“Personally, since there are times that I happen to want to play Xenoblade Chronicles X, I get the feeling that it would be nice to play on Nintendo Switch. Of course, that it something I will think about while discussing user demands and future plans with Nintendo.“
Even Sony is getting a little squeamish. In an interview with Nikkei Asia, Kazuhiko Takeda, Sony’s head of corporate planning, has stated that they cannot ignore Nintendo’s hit hybrid console.
“At our gaming business, sales of the PlayStation 4 are strong heading into the holidays. But we can’t ignore the Nintendo Switch, which has also captured consumers’ attention. Our business model involves selling both the game console and the software for it, so we’re working to get more customers paying continuously for content, for example through paid subscription services.“
It’s even possible that the Switch is cutting into Sony’s sales, considering the abundance of software that’s available for the system so early in its lifecycle. And this is only the beginning.
The head of Mistwalker and the creator of the Final Fantasy series, Hironobu Sakaguchi, has stated that he would love to work on consoles again, specifically the Nintendo Switch, calling it a “very good piece of hardware”.
“However, I do want to develop games on console again at some point. We’re even working on Terra Battle 3 right now and maybe console will be the right fit for that. Just because we are developing heavily on mobile right now doesn’t mean we have completely left console behind. After all, the Nintendo Switch is a very good piece of hardware.”
The Nintendo Switch hasn’t even been out a year and it’s generating an unparalleled amount of hype. It was the best selling item on Black Friday and Cyber Monday despite not being discounted. After the colossal failure of the Wii U, this is quite an incredible turnaround. None of this even takes into account Nintendo’s immense success with the SNES Classic or NES Classic, which have been hits and almost impossible to find.
We still don’t know what 2018 truly holds, and that’s the scary thing. Nintendo likes to hold things close to the vest, and there are sure to be some huge surprises coming our way this upcoming year. Regardless, the Nintendo Switch is generating a level of hype and initial success that hasn’t been seen since the Wii. It’s dominating both from a critical standpoint and a sales standpoint.