Despite early scepticism and a range of hardware related launch day issues, Nintendo’s new console is off to a roaring start.
According to a Tweet from New York Times reporter Nick Wingfield, who spoke with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, the Switch’s first two-day sales in Americas have surpassed any system in the company’s history. This claim is particularity impressive given the console launched in March and not the holiday shopping season, the traditional release window most video game consoles launch during.
https://twitter.com/nickwingfield/status/838871984293359616
However, the Japanese gaming giant has still not released sales number for the console, nor indicated the specific number of consoles it actually sold during this two-day period.
Nintendo’s previous record holder for two-day sales is the Wii, which sold over 600,000 units in its first two days on sale in the Americas. The Wii eventually went on to ship over 100 million units and is one of the best-selling consoles of all time.
https://twitter.com/nickwingfield/status/838872510871433216
Fils-Aime also told the Wingfield that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the best-selling launch title of any Nintendo console, not including Wii Sports, which was bundled with the Wii at launch. To put this in perspective, Breath of the Wild has sold more copies that Super Mario 64, the Nintendo 64’s very popular launch title and Mario’s first foray into 3D. It’s also worth noting that Breath of the Wild is available for the Wii U, Nintendo’s ill-fated previous console, as well as the Switch.
It’s unclear if the Switch can hold this momentum, but the system is certainly off to a positive start in terms of sales. It’s worth noting that we have no indication of how many consoles the Switch has sold worldwide. One reason why the Switch’s sales could be so positive is though it’s still early, it seems like the handheld-home console hybrid device is one of the first Nintendo-made systems to have enough units on store shelves at launch.
The Americas, also sometimes known as America, encompasses North America and South America.
Source: Twitter
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