Nintendo Switch Just Beat An Incredible NES Milestone

Today was a big day for Nintendo, as the company announced its latest quarterly results. That report gave us updates on game sales as we barrel toward the next generation, but it also showed us the state of Switch sales around the world. As it turns out, the Switch is doing pretty well for itself as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X loom.

During the first half of its fiscal year (PDF), Nintendo netted itself 12.53 million Nintendo Switch sales (a figure that comprises both the Switch and the Switch Lite). That officially puts lifetime Switch sales at 68.30 million units, which means that the Switch has now sold more units than the Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom.

That's no small task, because with lifetime sales of 61.91 million units, the NES is historically one of Nintendo's most popular home consoles. In fact, now that the Switch has surpassed the NES in total lifetime sales, it's in second place among Nintendo's home consoles, behind only the Wii.

Surpassing the Wii will certainly be difficult, as it's Nintendo's most popular home console by a country mile, with 101.63 million units sold over the course of its life. If we're not counting handhelds, which historically have sold very well for Nintendo, then the Wii is the only Nintendo home console to join the 100 million club – adding handhelds into the mix means that the Wii is joined by the Nintendo DS (154.02 million units sold lifetime) and the Game Boy/Game Boy Color (118.69 million units sold lifetime).

It will certainly be interesting to see if the Switch can go the distance to become Nintendo's best-selling home console of all time. There's a long road ahead before it can claim that crown, and with new consoles about to drop from both Sony and Microsoft, the Switch's current momentum could slow dramatically. We'll see how it all plays out, but at some point in the future, we may finally see the Wii unseated as Nintendo's most successful home console.