I know this rant is probably limited in lifespan, but I’ve been doing them on this site since the middle of the 1990s, and haven’t really done them elsewhere in 15 years or more. So…….
Nintendo continuing support past the release of the next generation begins is all I can ask for.
The NES was supported fairly strongly until 1993, even though the SNES released in 1991. However, when the N64 launched in 1996, it seemed that Nintendo turned out the lights on the SNES. Bam! 1997, the SNES shelves were drying up significantly and the new releases could be counted on your hand: they included Harvest Moon (story of seasons) and Kirby’s Dreamland 3. Harvest Moon became a classic, but Kirby’s Dreamland 3 was so much of an afterthought that many fans didn’t know of its existence until its release on Wii - it was a particularly bad time to release it as well (with no marketing) because Kirby Superstar was such a beloved game in the franchise.
The Wii was a similar story, but third parties pushed its life out for a few more years, unfortunately Nintendo stopped all the shows (like Nintendo week) and shut down the different channel content before the end of the generation, and stopped supporting the VC. The Wii didn’t artificially die as harshly as the SNES, but in some ways it was more annoying because they started shutting down everything over a year before the launch of the Wii U even though the console was still kicking. Not a giant accomplishment, but the zombie Wii still outstripped the Wii U in revenue for about half the Wii U generation. I think Nintendo really dropped the ball here.
I’m a side tangent: some Nintendo fans try to write the Wii U’s failure off as people thinking it was an add-on to the Wii: this is BS based on the confusion of the reveal about a year and a half before launch, quickly corrected. The Wii U was marketed with Kiosks and a robust advertisement campaign. The truth is the console was very very slow - and this was demonstrated at the kiosks, and there was nothing people wanted to play - no killer app. Plus the controller looked cumbersome. I think a lot of fans just didn’t want to admit the console kinda sucked. But if people actually were confused, there would be a massive incident of Wii U games being bought and returned, this didn’t happen. People aren’t that stupid; to quote Eminem “even retards know.”
With that out of the way, HOLY SHIT, Mario Kart sold over 3 million more copies this quarter.y
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
67.35 million pcs.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
47.44 million pcs.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
35.88 million pcs.
The Legend of Zelda:
Breath of the Wild
32.62 million pcs.
Super Mario Odyssey
29.04 million pcs.
Apart from Wii Sports (which, while a killer app on the Wii, was a mandatory bundle) Mario Kart 8 DX and Animal Crossing New Horizon continue to push past the 37 million unit record of an independent retail priced game on a single Nintendo console (Mario Kart Wii).
Lots of major records set on the Switch. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom outsold all previous original Zelda releases combined, and amount to about 1/3rd of franchise total sales including ports and remasters (two games against dozens of releases).
This year, despite the Switch 2 announcement and imminent release, still has a lot to come on the Switch including Xenoblade Chronicles X Remaster, Metroid Prime 4, DKC Returns Remaster, and a (yet unannounced) Pokémon generation (they sell about 25-26 million on Switch). That’s on top of the third party offerings which include some big classic RPG releases of Dragon Quest, Suikoden, and Lunar remasters - all coincidentally of the first two games of each franchise (DQ3 remaster came out recently). And third party is still going full steam with games like Hollow Knight 2, Professor Layton, Civilization 7, Ninja Gaiden coming out soon.
I don’t remember loving the games on the previous Gen console during the launch year of the new console this much before - maybe the SNES (DKC3, Kirby Superstar, Super Mario RPG, and Terranigma if you imported). But unlike the SNES, the Switch will see support continue until at least the end of 2026... although, Switch 2 is backward compatible, and the way it seems they’re setting it up is that the games will feed into the next Gen ecosystem rather than needing to spend 3-4 minutes to load “Wii mode”.
Sad, this might be my last Nintendo fanboy rant… this is the only forum I do these on.
Nintendo continuing support past the release of the next generation begins is all I can ask for.
The NES was supported fairly strongly until 1993, even though the SNES released in 1991. However, when the N64 launched in 1996, it seemed that Nintendo turned out the lights on the SNES. Bam! 1997, the SNES shelves were drying up significantly and the new releases could be counted on your hand: they included Harvest Moon (story of seasons) and Kirby’s Dreamland 3. Harvest Moon became a classic, but Kirby’s Dreamland 3 was so much of an afterthought that many fans didn’t know of its existence until its release on Wii - it was a particularly bad time to release it as well (with no marketing) because Kirby Superstar was such a beloved game in the franchise.
The Wii was a similar story, but third parties pushed its life out for a few more years, unfortunately Nintendo stopped all the shows (like Nintendo week) and shut down the different channel content before the end of the generation, and stopped supporting the VC. The Wii didn’t artificially die as harshly as the SNES, but in some ways it was more annoying because they started shutting down everything over a year before the launch of the Wii U even though the console was still kicking. Not a giant accomplishment, but the zombie Wii still outstripped the Wii U in revenue for about half the Wii U generation. I think Nintendo really dropped the ball here.
I’m a side tangent: some Nintendo fans try to write the Wii U’s failure off as people thinking it was an add-on to the Wii: this is BS based on the confusion of the reveal about a year and a half before launch, quickly corrected. The Wii U was marketed with Kiosks and a robust advertisement campaign. The truth is the console was very very slow - and this was demonstrated at the kiosks, and there was nothing people wanted to play - no killer app. Plus the controller looked cumbersome. I think a lot of fans just didn’t want to admit the console kinda sucked. But if people actually were confused, there would be a massive incident of Wii U games being bought and returned, this didn’t happen. People aren’t that stupid; to quote Eminem “even retards know.”
With that out of the way, HOLY SHIT, Mario Kart sold over 3 million more copies this quarter.y
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
67.35 million pcs.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
47.44 million pcs.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
35.88 million pcs.
The Legend of Zelda:
Breath of the Wild
32.62 million pcs.
Super Mario Odyssey
29.04 million pcs.
Apart from Wii Sports (which, while a killer app on the Wii, was a mandatory bundle) Mario Kart 8 DX and Animal Crossing New Horizon continue to push past the 37 million unit record of an independent retail priced game on a single Nintendo console (Mario Kart Wii).
Lots of major records set on the Switch. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom outsold all previous original Zelda releases combined, and amount to about 1/3rd of franchise total sales including ports and remasters (two games against dozens of releases).
This year, despite the Switch 2 announcement and imminent release, still has a lot to come on the Switch including Xenoblade Chronicles X Remaster, Metroid Prime 4, DKC Returns Remaster, and a (yet unannounced) Pokémon generation (they sell about 25-26 million on Switch). That’s on top of the third party offerings which include some big classic RPG releases of Dragon Quest, Suikoden, and Lunar remasters - all coincidentally of the first two games of each franchise (DQ3 remaster came out recently). And third party is still going full steam with games like Hollow Knight 2, Professor Layton, Civilization 7, Ninja Gaiden coming out soon.
I don’t remember loving the games on the previous Gen console during the launch year of the new console this much before - maybe the SNES (DKC3, Kirby Superstar, Super Mario RPG, and Terranigma if you imported). But unlike the SNES, the Switch will see support continue until at least the end of 2026... although, Switch 2 is backward compatible, and the way it seems they’re setting it up is that the games will feed into the next Gen ecosystem rather than needing to spend 3-4 minutes to load “Wii mode”.
Sad, this might be my last Nintendo fanboy rant… this is the only forum I do these on.
