The Nintendo Switch has officially outsold its handheld ancestor, the Nintendo 3DS. The 3DS was released back in 2011, and its production has been recently discontinued by the gaming company as of writing.
Back in December, an infographic allowed Nintendo fans to visualize the gaming giant’s console sales since the era of the SNES. The DS and Wii are by far the bestselling consoles from Nintendo, as the DS sold 154 million units while the Wii sold over 100 million units. The Switch has been selling remarkably well, as it sold more than every other console combined in the UK last year.
Now, there are speculations circulating about a Nintendo Switch Pro edition. However, Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s President, recently shut down those rumors in an interview held last month, but a new datamine hints that the Japanese gaming giant has something bigger up its sleeve. A line of code implies that a Nintendo Switch Pro will be coming soon with an OLED screen, cooling system, longer battery life, and 4K graphics.
As published on Nintendo Life, the Nintendo Switch has officially overshadowed the Nintendo 3Ds in terms of sales numbers as of December 26, 2020. The Switch has sold more than 76 million units while the 3DS has only sold over 75 million units.
In further comparison, the Nintendo Switch has achieved the milestone in less than four years what the 3DS has earned in its entire lifetime, which is almost a whole decade. Nintendo Life also reported that the Wikipedia site for a list of the bestselling video game consoles has yet to be updated with this newly updated detail at the time of this writing.
Provided how close the Switch was to outselling the 3DS last September, it was basically unavoidable that the Switch would ultimately beat the sales numbers of the 3DS. Back in September, it has sold nearly 68 million units, so it didn’t have all that much catching up to do.
The Nintendo Switch has been selling impressively well, and, as mentioned above, it took the 3DS nearly an entire decade to reach its sales numbers of 75.9 million units. The Nintendo Switch is highly likely to sell even more this year.
Animal Crossing New Horizons and the holiday season also possibly driven the sales numbers of the Nintendo Switch, as Animal Crossing New Horizons launched just at the start of the lockdowns imposed due to the global pandemic.
Everyone was stuck inside their homes and there was no better way to spend time than playing Animal Crossing. The Nintendo Switch Pro still feels possible at this point, and it would only help Nintendo sell even more Switch consoles.
Furthermore, with titles such as The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2 and Metroid Prime 4 already confirmed, the Nintendo Switch’s sales numbers will only get higher than ever.
