According to Famitsu, the entire Top 30 of their weekly Japanese games chart was claimed by Nintendo Switch titles over the week of August 2 – 8. The last time this happened was November 1988, when the chart only covered Famicom games.
Topping this historic chart was the Switch version of Minecraft, which shifted just shy of 15,000 units while The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild still managed to sell 4,210 copies, despite being released over four years ago.
The largest collection of Japanese sales data on the Internet, Game Date Library, explained that this was an “unprecedented” event.
All Top 30 best selling retail games in Japan last week were Nintendo Switch titles, first time a Top 30 is from a single console since at least November 1988, when the Top 30 was Famicom only. https://t.co/NgQx0p1EoO
— Game Data Library (@GameDataLibrary) August 13, 2021
This follows the news earlier in August that the Nintendo Switch had sold over 89 million units worldwide, putting it just 12 million units behind the Nintendo Wii, which was the best selling Nintendo console of all time.
And there’s still the Nintendo Switch OLED to come in the next few months. Releasing October 8th, the console has a 7-inch display, which is slightly larger than the original Switch due to the reduced bezel. Also, it features a wide and adjustable stand that’s a huge improvement over the original’s flimsy kickstand, improved speakers, a dock that includes an ethernet port for faster and more stable online play, as well as 64GB of internal storage.
Generally, OLED means things will look sharper in handheld mode. Couple this with the wide adjustable stand and better audio from the internal speakers, and this is an upgrade focused on players that take their Switch out and about.
Nintendo of America’s JC Rodrigo, manager of product marketing, has advised players to “stick with the current one if you’re not digging the screen”, though.
In other news, it’s been revealed that the Nintendo Wii almost had a much worse name, with suggestions like “Nintendo Blue Thunder”, “Nintendo Game Carnival”, “Nintendo Juke Box”, and “Nintendo Everlasting Wave” all on a list of potential names, discovered via a “gigaleak.”
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