It’s hard to believe that theNintendo Switchhas been out for almost five years. Time really has flown, and the years have been very kind to the Switch. After an initial stumble at launch, with few games to play, fans were hesitant to jump on board with the Switch. While the core concept was innovative and brilliant, after thedisappointment of the Wii U, fans were still skeptical.
The Legend ofZelda: Breath of the Wild, soon joined bySuper Mario: Odyssey, and eventuallySuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, all showcased the excellence of the console and everything that it was capable of. Although most consoles have a life cycle of around five years, despite theNintendoSwitch is certainly nowhere near next-gen capabilities, the Switch is far from finished.
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To put it simply, Nintendo has had a very good financial year. In November, the company released their earnings for the last six months, andevery first-party Switch releasebetween March 2021, and September 2021 showed extremely strong results.
Titles likeNew Pokemon Snapsold 2.19 million units,Zelda: Skyward Sword HDsold 3.60 million, and evenMario Golf: Super Rush, which was considered to be a bit of a downgrade from previous entries in the series, sold 1.94 million units. Nintendo also saw a great deal of profit from their back catalogue, withAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsselling another 2.22 million units, andMario Kart 8 Deluxeselling another 3.34 million units, bringing the total number of copies sold to a whopping 38.74 million units.
On top of these already-staggering statistics, Nintendo also releasedMetroid Dreadlast year, along with its brand new OLED Switch model. While the numbers aren’t exact, aThe Verge interview with Doug Bowserconfirmed thatMetroid Dreadsold more than 854,000 units in the US alone, which is the biggest launch for anyMetroidgame in series history.
Again, while the numbers aren’t set in stone just yet, theSwitch OLEDhas presumably sold quite a bit, with many gamers still finding it difficult to snag the console for retail price. There’s no denying that Nintendo has had a pretty incredible year when it comes to sales.
On top of this, the quality of the experiences offered last year were pretty great. The aforementionedMetroid Dreadblew fans' incredibly high expectations out of the water, somehow delivering on over12 years of speculation and hype.Dreadgave both newcomers and long-time fans a genuinely excellentMetroidtitle that moves the franchise into the future, while still retaining all of the charm that made the original 2DMetroidsso beloved in the first place.
The Switch also saw the return of Mario last year, with the remasteredSuper Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Furygoing above and beyondto bring a whole new expansion to the original game.Super Mario 3D Worldwas not just using the Switch and its new audience as a chance to cash in, but providing a great new experience for all players along with the remaster.
Mario Party SuperstarsandPokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlbrought some old Nintendo classics to the Switch, giving them a new lick of paint and some gameplay tweaks. A newWarioWarereleased last year, bringing the beloved microgame franchise to the Switch and introducing a co-op mechanic that is right at home on the system.Monster Hunter Risealso came out last year, giving fans of the series a portable entry thattook the best parts ofMonster Hunter World, and refined them to the work on the handheld.
While 2021 may have been a great financial year for the company, players also got a pretty great deal last year. Fan-favorite franchises made a return, and some brand new games became cemented at the top of the Switch’s library, and that’s not even to mention the excellent range ofindie games that graced the eShoplast year.
Nintendo Switch: More To Come In 2022
After five years, and with a year as lucrative as 2021 for the company, it would only make sense that Nintendo would want to bring an end to the Switch, and introduce its next console. However, at the moment, that doesn’t seem to be the case at all.
Nintendo’s 2022 calendar is already pretty stacked, with January seeing the release of the intriguingnew step in thePokemonfranchise,Pokemon Legends: Arceus, and a whole host of new games heading to the console throughout the year. TheAdvance Warsremakes are releasing sometime in Spring, as is the first fully 3DKirbygame,Kirby and the Forgotten Land.
Along with those, the Switch is also receiving various versions of hotly anticipated upcoming third-party titles, likeDying Light 2,LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, andMarvel’s Midnight Suns. While some versions will use the cloud, and are sure to be a bit of a technical downgrade, past ports likeDoomandThe Witcher 3show just what the console is still capable of.
Of course, there’s also some huge first-party releases that are set to come out at some stage this year, like the long-awaitedZelda: Breath of the Wildsequel,Splatoon 3,Bayonetta 3, andMario + Rabbids: Spark of Hope. Maybe 2022 will finally bethe year thatMetroid Prime 4is released. Regardless, this year is set to be just as incredible as last year in terms of Switch releases, if not more so, and the need for a new Nintendo console just isn’t there for many current fans.
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Nintendo Isn’t Slowing Down Its Online Service
If there’s any evidence that shows that Nintendo isn’t finished with the Switch just yet, it’s the Switch Online service. While it’s been criticized over the years for its price in relation to the quality of the service,Switch Online is still used by many Switch owners, even if they don’t play online games all that much.
Though it’s certainly not perfect, this new expansion pack does infer that Nintendo is willing to add to the existing service, which does imply that the Switch is far from done. Fan speculation is running rampant right now on what N64 games could be added to the service, and whether or not other Nintendo consoles could have their library ported to the Switch. All of this hype surroundingthe idea of a virtual console, along with Nintendo’s future slate of games, all seem to suggest that the Nintendo Switch is far from a dying console.
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