In recent financial reports published by Nintendo, it was announced that the Nintendo Switch, initially released in 2017, has sold over 33.34 million consoles in Japan. Not only does this mark it as the best-selling console in Japan’s history, but also as the best-selling home console ever in Japan, surpassing the record held by Sony’s PlayStation 2 for two decades.
The PlayStation 2 held the title with 21.98 million consoles sold as a home console, a number that was only surpassed by the handheld devices Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo DS. Although the Nintendo Switch is a hybrid console, playable both at home on the TV and on the go, it is still considered a home console. The strong sales of the device demonstrate the Japanese market’s eagerness for something like the Nintendo Switch, which not only dominates console sales but also software sales, with the top-selling games on the charts being almost exclusively Nintendo Switch games every year.
Below is the list of the top 10 best-selling video game devices in the history of Japan:
1) Nintendo Switch: 33,340,000
2) Nintendo DS: 32,990,000
3) Game Boy: 32,470,000
4) Nintendo 3DS: 25,260,000
5) PlayStation 2: 21,980,000
6) Playstation Portable: 19,690,000
7) Famicom: 19,350,000
8) PlayStation: 18,855,000
9) Super Famicom: 17,170,000
10) Game Boy Advance: 16,960,000