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Nintendo's Switch just outsold the GameCube
The Switch's lifetime sales, as of this writing, have reached over 22 million units, which surpasses not only the Wii U's 13.6 million units, but the GameCube's 21.7 million units. For reference, the next most successful Nintendo console was the Nintendo 64 at 33 million units and the most successful (in non-handhelds) is the Wii at 101 million units.
Before crucial holiday season, Nintendo struggles as Sony shines
As 2017 came to a close, Nintendo was busy reveling in Switch sales that were exceeding expectations while Sony's PlayStation 4 was showing signs that its strong sales had peaked. Leading into the all important 2018 holiday season, the companies' comparative console war outlooks seem to have changed a bit.
Let's start with Nintendo, which recently announced worldwide shipments of 3.2 million Switch systems in the July through September quarter. The good news is, that's up slightly from the 2.93 million sold in the same period a year ago. The bad news is that slight increase doesn't put Nintendo on track to meet its long-standing projection for 20 million Switch units sold during the fiscal year (which ends in March 2019). Overall, Nintendo's quarterly profits and revenues both came in significantly below analyst estimates as well, though both were up from a year prior.
[...] Sony, meanwhile, is seeing surprising resilience for the PS4 during its fifth full year on the market. The console shipped 3.9 million units in the last quarter, down slightly from 4.2 million a year ago, but not down nearly as much as might be expected for a platform that launched in late 2013. Overall, the PlayStation division's quarterly profits were up 65 percent year over year, with sales up 22 percent; both figures exceeded analyst expectations.
See also: Nintendo chief says beefing up Switch sales is the main task in his strategy
Previously: Nintendo Sells at Least 10 Million Switch Consoles in 2017, 64 GB Game Cards Delayed to 2019
Related: Video Game Consoles are Doing Better than Ever
Hidden "VrMode" Found in Nintendo Switch Firmware
(Score: 2) by tekk on Thursday November 01 2018, @04:26AM
There's some rumors of a redesign announced next year to be released in 2020. People are usually leaning towards it being either a "Switch portable" which is along the lines you suggested (don't bundle a dock, reduce the size by an inch or two, have hard-integrated controls instead of detachable joycons,) or doing more of a "Switch pro" which would have no display at all, physically bigger, and have better specs in just about everything so that devs can actually make solid 1080p titles (every "big" title, Zelda, Mario, I think Bayonetta, etc makes use of dynamic resolution, so it *caps* at 1080p but it can drop down all the way to standard definition depending on performance.)
Personally, 2020's not a bad time to release it: 3 years since the launch of the console isn't going to hurt any feelings. If they go the Switch Pro route I might even consider buying one to go along with my launch Switch.