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http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/02/08/switch-has-triple-the-games-wii-u-did-at-this-point

BY SHABANA ARIF Since the release of the Switch in March last year, Nintendo has released some big hits when it comes to first party games. But as well as big name franchises like Mario and Zelda, the eShop is fit to bursting with indie titles and ports that are perfect for the home console/ handheld hybrid. In fact, as of December, the Switch had three times as many games as the Wii U did at the same point after its own release, and double that of the Wii.

Kotaku crunched the numbers based on data from Metacritic, and their analysis shows that both the Wii U and the Wii had a fairly lethargic release rate, whereas the Switch has a significantly more sprightly output by comparison.

"By day 279, the Switch had 191 games available, a number the Wii U didn’t match until it’s 857th day – as many games in nine months as as its predecessor had in two years and four months."

The Switch has even outdone the PS4 and Xbox One when game releases for the three platforms are compared for the same window after the consoles' launch.

As of the end of December, the Switch had officially outsold the Wii U, having sold 14.86 million consoles in 10 months compared to the Wii U's lifetime sales of 13.5 million. The Switch is also the fastest-selling console in US history and has an impressive attach rate when it comes to first party titles. According to Nintendo, 60% of US Switch owners own Super Mario Odyssey and 55% own The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Kotaku also took the quality of games into account, looking at Metacritic review scores, and their data revealed that the plethora of Switch titles released since launch are better games overall than those that were available on the Wii and Wii U within the same time-frame.

The conclusion? The Switch is a hugely successful console with a large library of great games that will continue to grow, especially if Nintendo means to hit their target of 20 million consoles sold in 2018.

Congrats to Nintendo! Now give me HD Twilight Princess for Switch, Nintendo

 

[RAIDEN1]

Just waiting to see how long it is before they bring out a Switch XL....I'd only buy their system again if they were to bring fresh entries of F-Zero, Starfox and Wave-Race on there..and drop in Pilot Wings too.

 

[Sailent]

Ports aside, how many games there are?

 

[spiderman0616]

I just don't see how this statistic is relevant, because the Switch seems to have just as much of a shovelware problem as Wii/Wii U did. Other systems have the same problem, but they also have TONS of great third party non-indie games and exclusives. The Switch most definitely does not.

 

[Codes 208]

For indies i enjoyed snake pass and shovel knight. But of course the main course were games like arms, mario odyssey, mk8d, splatoon 2, arms, pokken and botw.

I think the switch did very well for its first year. And this year im looking forward to yoshi, metroid prime 4, hyrule warriors dx and pokemon.

Just give us VC nintendo...(and a port of sm3dw and ssb4)

 

[Blackie]

Sounds about right considering I have already purchased more games on Switch in year 1 then any other system's lifetime. It is seriously becoming an addiction for me to purchase new games weekly! And to think that before this launched I was drifting out of gaming entirely 0.o

 

[Theognosis]

Sounds about right considering I have already purchased more games on Switch in year 1 then any other system's lifetime. It is seriously becoming an addiction for me to purchase new games weekly! And to think that before this launched I was drifting out of gaming entirely 0.o

Addiction, yes. Indie addiction, to be precise. Here's what I have on my SD card since December (not counting retail):

Celeste
Rocket League
Stardew Valley
Phantom Breaker Battle Grounds
Wulverblade
Steam World Dig 2
Slain
Enter the Gungeon
Golf Story
Furi
Floor Kids
Rive Ultimate Edition
Thumper
Overcooked
Sonic Mania
Retro City Rampage
Blossom Tales
NBA Playgrounds
Earth Wars
Neurovoider
Phantom Trigger
Mercenary Kings: Reloaded Edition
Axiom Verge
Kamiko
The Mummy Demastered
Aces of the Luftwaffe

 

[JimboJones]

I just don't see how this statistic is relevant, because the Switch seems to have just as much of a shovelware problem as Wii/Wii U did. Other systems have the same problem, but they also have TONS of great third party non-indie games and exclusives. The Switch most definitely does not.

Nah, the WiiU I its first year was getting a decentish stream in indie games but they where almost always 1 good title with a ton of garbage, Switch seems to be getting quite alot of quality titles announced every week. Sure they may be of the indie and smaller download style but there's alot of quality stuff there.

Usually we where getting empty promises and maybes with WiiU but Devs seems drawn to Switch.
Just have to wait and see with the big AAA guys, probably won't ever be as commited to Switch as the Xbox/PS.

 

[Shini42]

I bet indie games helps a lot with that statistic.

 

[JnFnRu]

I do love my switch but since I finished Super Mari Odyssey in early Jan it has been unused. Where is the next Nintendo Direct guys????

 

[Narroo]

But how many of those games are shovel-ware or boardline flash games?

To be fair, it's stilla great system, but raw numbers aren't that enlightening.

 

[God Enel]

Totally deserved. It's a great console even if I don't own one.

 

[Zog]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/02/08/switch-has-triple-the-games-wii-u-did-at-this-point



Congrats to Nintendo! Now give me HD Twilight Princess for Switch, Nintendo

The port begging for the Switch is off the scale.

You can play Twilight Princess on the Gamecube, Wii and the Wii U.

 

[visiblemode]

This narrative irritates me, so much.

I have a Switch and love it. The system is desperately in need of more games.

Am tired of the victory laps. I love indie games, but I’ve gotten more free indie games on PS+ than are even available on Switch. The available indie selection on PSN obliterates this offering. Yes, I know, it’s a young console, but that doesn’t change the fact that there are relatively few games to play.

I most recently 100%’d Odyssey and really, really, want to see some serious first party love from them, at this point.

This whole thing where people get dizzy and overwhelmed because there are “almost too many games” is, for me, not a thing, at all. At all.

 

[Zog]

Am tired of the victory laps.

Yeah I don't understand why some Switch owners feel the need to constantly justify their purchase.

 

[rickz0rz]

Yeah I don't understand why some Switch owners feel the need to constantly justify their purchase.

There's a bit of fanboyism in it, but it's also a bit of being the hype crew.

Plenty of people bought the Wii U, but not enough to make all the big software developers compelled to throw development money at it like they did other systems for the long haul. To try to not have that happen, people will hype up a machine as "not the same as it was the last time" to try to get more people to buy it, so that developers see more units sold and decide that it's worth it to develop for that system.

 

[kunonabi]

While it's certainly a great thing for the health of the system it doesnt mean much to me since there are fewer switch games out that I'd be interested in owning then there were on the Wii U in the same time frame.

 

[JD_Lars]

Needs some more exclusive titles for sure, but being an indie/port machine isn’t so bad at this point. Port the WiiU catalog if you can. Wonderful 101, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Captain Toad. Fix the awful motion controls on that Star Fox game and bring it over too.

 

[Moze]

The Switch first year library would be about the same as the Wii U first year without the Wii U ports though. Maybe slightly better. People act like Nintendo learned their lesson with the Switch, but they didn't. The Switch has the exact same problem as their previous consoles in regards to games, but it has the benefit of being a successor to a console nobody bought. It took Nintendo 3 months to release a full AAA Switch exclusive, and that game was Arms. There are currently no exclusives scheduled for this quarter as far as I can tell.

 

[Puffdaddy]

The Switch first year library would be about the same as the Wii U first year without the Wii U ports though. Maybe slightly better. People act like Nintendo learned their lesson with the Switch, but they didn't. The Switch has the exact same problem as their previous consoles in regards to games, but it has the benefit of being a successor to a console nobody bought. It took Nintendo 3 months to release a full AAA Switch exclusive, and that game was Arms. There are currently no exclusives scheduled for this quarter as far as I can tell.

Kirby Star Allies and says hello.
I would say Nintendo learned their lesson simply due to the fact that their games in the first 9 months greatly outpaced the games that were on the Ps4 and Xone. Nintendo was able to release one big title a month with the Switch that catered to all types of gamers. You like strategy games? Go get Mario + Rabbids. You like racing games? Go try Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. You like fighting games? Pokken Tournament and Arms says hello. Fast paced fighting games? Fire Emblem Warriors. Fun multiplayer shooter? Splatoon 2 is a blast. Want a nice Platformer? Try Mario. Need some Deep Open World RPGs? Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Zelda got you.
Seriously, name me a console that has exclusives (6) and ports(3) that launched in it's launch year that have this much variety?

Also, the Swich and the WiiU basically had the same library without the WiiU ports? Did you own a WiiU when it first released? The WiiU in its first year had mainly Wii Party U, Wii Fit U, and Wii Sports Club. The only notable games in the first year were Pikmin 3 (meh) and Super Mario 3D World. The Switch has six quality exclusives it has released in its 9 month span and those vastly outshine the first year lineup of the WiiU.

 

[Nightstick10]

The Nintendo Switch's 2017 is, without question, the best single year any console has ever had. No other system's single year even comes close.

 

[Geki-D]

Ports aside, how many games there are?

Ports aside? In that case I'm guessing not that many. Switch seems to be Nintendo's catch up machine in terms of third party. And even for first, there are quite a few ports.

 

[Danjin44]

As much as I enjoyed Mario Odyssesy and Breath of the Wild, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 really made Switch worth it for me.

Also

Spoiler

SMTV and Bayonetta 3

 

[DonJimbo]

The wii u was a real desaster good that nintendo learned from that desaster

 

[Zog]

The wii u was a real desaster good that nintendo learned from that desaster

Learned? Like with the Wii, Nintendo got lucky with the Switch.

What do you think they learned?

 

[Unknown?]

The Nintendo Switch's 2017 is, without question, the best single year any console has ever had. No other system's single year even comes close.

Totally disagree with that. PS4 had a better year in 2017 imo. While the Switch had higher highs PS4 had a lot more games overall that were highly regarded. Switch had a few very tall mountains but PS4 had a whole mountain range. If you had said best first year I may have agreed although I’d say Dreamcast still has it narrowly beat.

 

[Alebrije]

Not only has more but better ones.....just waiting for next Metroid....

 

[DigitalScrap]

Learned? Like with the Wii, Nintendo got lucky with the Switch.

What do you think they learned?

What makes you think they simply got lucky?

 

[Livia]

Learned? Like with the Wii, Nintendo got lucky with the Switch.

What do you think they learned?

They got lucky with the Wii yes, but not with the Switch. They really learned with the Wii U and basically made a Wii U 2 but upgraded, and with a sleaker look. They learned from their horrible marketing from the Wii U and I hope they can do a good online structure. I would say they learned alot

 

[Zog]

What makes you think they simply got lucky?

Because there is no evidence that they learned anything. Besides, Nintendo seems to be terrible at market research. They were caught by surprise by the Wii, the Wii U, 3DS and the NES Classic. They were surprised by the success of the Wii and the NES Classic and also surprised by the lack of interest in the Wii U and the 3DS before the price drop. It's like they just throw shit at the wall and hope it sticks.

If you think they learned something, what do you think they learned?

Edit: In fact, the DS was an experiment and they weren't going to drop the Game Boy line until they saw how it turned out, they had no idea it was be a success.

 

[kunonabi]

Totally disagree with that. PS4 had a better year in 2017 imo. While the Switch had higher highs PS4 had a lot more games overall that were highly regarded. Switch had a few very tall mountains but PS4 had a whole mountain range. If you had said best first year I may have agreed although I’d say Dreamcast still has it narrowly beat.

Yeah, plenty of consoles have had better years than the Switch has had. This fanatical devotion the Switch has garnered is really something else. It's probably even worse than the Vita defense force.

 

[gspat]

The switch reminds me of where the Wii was in it's first few years...

Asston of games, a few really good ones and a crap load of shovelware everyone bought and played once.

That lasted for what? Three GOOD years?

 

[geordiemp]

Ps4 and Xb1 made a low cost PC using AMD best parts at the time.

Switch made their version of the Nvidia Shield portable.

Nothing revolutionary, Sony and Nintendo just made less design decsion errors than MS.

Having Indie games on Switch, that reminds me I cant even be bothered to download half the free ones with PS+

I have not enough time with work and kids, only devote my time to AAA, and even then backlog is horrendous, but I guess indies are good for those who like 2D, retro and the like.

 

[RokkanStoned]

I'm hoping for more ports for the Switch, as there are games I'd love to have on it (especially RPGs). Due to its portable nature, it's much more acceptable for it to have a ton of ports, than a console like the PS4 or XB1. With my Switch and Vita that covers a huge amount of games that I can play everywhere.
There's nothing like sitting in your cabin in the wilderness with a cold beer or a glass of wine, playing games.

I also hope Nintendo is investing in more partnerships, trying to leverage their IPs and use them in new manners, as well as investing in diversifying their first party games (in terms of genres), as well as making sure it gets third party support and indie support.

 

[Theognosis]

Am tired of the victory laps. I love indie games, but I’ve gotten more free indie games on PS+ than are even available on Switch. The available indie selection on PSN obliterates this offering. Yes, I know, it’s a young console, but that doesn’t change the fact that there are relatively few games to play.

Why go to PSN when there are thousands of indies on Steam? The reason why I enjoy playing indies on the Switch is for the portability factor and that cannot be overstated. Truth is, I no longer enjoy playing games in front of the monitor (PC), lcd screen (laptop) or any of my TV's (I have 2 PS4s). Switch is the IDEAL platform for the indies as you can enjoy playing them literally anywhere. I have already bought more than 30 indie games on the Switch and will continue to buy more even if those games are available on Steam for a fraction of the price.

Why Indies then? Because these games rely on GAMEPLAY and tight control. I don't like movie games, aka walking simulators.

 

[Zog]

Why go to PSN when there are thousands of indies on Steam? The reason why I enjoy playing indies on the Switch is for the portability factor and that cannot be overstated. Truth is, I no longer enjoy playing games in front of the monitor (PC), lcd screen (laptop) or any of my TV's (I have 2 PS4s). Switch is the IDEAL platform for the indies as you can enjoy playing them literally anywhere. I have already bought more than 30 indie games on the Switch and will continue to buy more even if those games are available on Steam for a fraction of the price.

Why Indies then? Because these games rely on GAMEPLAY and tight control. I don't like movie games, aka walking simulators.

Why go to Steam if you want to play on a portable device? You can go to PSN and download games for your Vita. For that matter, if you are into tablets (and you obviously are) then I would imagine there are plenty of indie games on the App Store or the Google Play Store. Tablets existed before Nintendo made one.

What is it with people acting like portability was born with the Switch, are you really that out of touch with reality?

 

[Moze]

Kirby Star Allies and says hello.
I would say Nintendo learned their lesson simply due to the fact that their games in the first 9 months greatly outpaced the games that were on the Ps4 and Xone. Nintendo was able to release one big title a month with the Switch that catered to all types of gamers. You like strategy games? Go get Mario + Rabbids. You like racing games? Go try Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. You like fighting games? Pokken Tournament and Arms says hello. Fast paced fighting games? Fire Emblem Warriors. Fun multiplayer shooter? Splatoon 2 is a blast. Want a nice Platformer? Try Mario. Need some Deep Open World RPGs? Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Zelda got you.
Seriously, name me a console that has exclusives (6) and ports(3) that launched in it's launch year that have this much variety?

Also, the Swich and the WiiU basically had the same library without the WiiU ports? Did you own a WiiU when it first released? The WiiU in its first year had mainly Wii Party U, Wii Fit U, and Wii Sports Club. The only notable games in the first year were Pikmin 3 (meh) and Super Mario 3D World. The Switch has six quality exclusives it has released in its 9 month span and those vastly outshine the first year lineup of the WiiU.

Forgot about Kirby. There are just so many of those games at this point.

I disagree the Switch outpaced the PS4 last year too. I think the PS4 had the better year of the two as far as exclusives go. Nintendo had the better first party of the two for sure, but not the better exclusives.

I owned a Wii U from launch day and did experience the massive drought. The Switch never had that drought because it was in the position to have ports of games from a system nobody bought. If you take away ports, the Switch literally had a 3+ month drought from release day. Literally no launch games and a 3 month period with no exclusive games outside of Bomberman and some eshop titles.

You are downplaying the Wii U throughout your whole comment. You talk about how the Switch has an amazing library of exclusives yet the Wii U just had Mario. Pikmin 3 was mediocre to you and Wonderful 101, Mario Bros U + Luigi DLC, Lego City Undercover, Zombi U, Wind Waker HD, and Nintendo Land never existed. Of course, the only games that exist to you are the shitty shovel-ware tier games, Mario and a Pikmin game that you call mediocre.

You have to look at things objectively here. The Switch did absolutely have a better first year than the Wii U, but it wasn't much better if we are talking about exclusive games. The Switch had the benefit of being a system that came straight after a system that nobody bought. The Wii U never had that benefit. Is the Switch better even without the Wii U ports? Sure, but it is not miles ahead as some people suggest.

 

[Theognosis]

Why go to Steam if you want to play on a portable device? You can go to PSN and download games for your Vita. For that matter, if you are into tablets (and you obviously are) then I would imagine there are plenty of indie games on the App Store or the Google Play Store. Tablets existed before Nintendo made one.

What is it with people acting like portability was born with the Switch, are you really that out of touch with reality?

The reality is that neither the VITA and my iPad has Mario Kart 8, Zelda, Splatoon 2, etc on top of the indie games. Neither also has a cool HD rumble. And please stop mentioning the iPad. I don't like pushing glass with my fingers. Finally, you can't switch to playing on the TV--which adds tremendous value to every game I buy on the Switch.