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The Nintendo Switch is already a record-breaker

The Nintendo Switch made its global debut last week and, aside from the critical acclaim thrown t...
Newstalk
Newstalk

15.18 7 Mar 2017


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The Nintendo Switch is already...

The Nintendo Switch is already a record-breaker

Newstalk
Newstalk

15.18 7 Mar 2017


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The Nintendo Switch made its global debut last week and, aside from the critical acclaim thrown the way of instant classic launch title Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it has got off to a strong start commercially to boot.

The Switch – the Mario maker's seventh home videogame console and first that can also go portable – has proved particularly popular in the Americas, where it became Nintendo's fastest-selling console of all-time, beating the imperious likes of the SNES and Wii in its first two days on sale.

Reggie Fils-Aimé, the head of Nintendo America, told The New York Times that sales last Friday and Saturday in the US, Canada, Mexico and Latin America hit an historic high for the Japanese company...

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Fils-Aimé also confirmed that the new Zelda offering is the fastest-selling standalone launch title Nintendo has ever had, beating the performance of Mario 64 over two decades ago.

Official sales data won't arrive until Nintendo reports its full-year financial results in late April, but eight-day figures for the Wii's 2006 launch in those territories show it having sold 600,000 units.

When you consider the Wii shifted over 100 million units overall, the future looks rosy for the Nintendo Switch, which obviously missed out on the benefits of arriving in the Christmas run-up.

According to gaming bible Famitsu, the Switch sold an estimated 330,637 units in its first three days on sale in Japan.

That would put it above the Wii U's estimated 308,570 units in its first two days, but below the original Wii's 371,936. Both of those arrived in December, however, getting a festive bump.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild enjoyed retail sales of an estimated 190,060 copies in Japan, downloads excluded.


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