Can The Nintendo Switch Be As Successful As The Original Wii?

nintendo switch screen

The original Nintendo Wii was a juggernaut becoming the company’s most successful home console. Is it possible the Nintendo Switch can reach the same level of success?

During an interview with Nikkei (translation by ), Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima said he expects the Nintendo Switch to sell as well as the original Wii console.

To put this into perspective, the original Wii console sold over 101 million consoles worldwide. This is more than the near 14 million units the Wii U sold which is Nintendo’s most recent home console.

Kimishima said the reason for his forecast is that the Nintendo Switch offers a unique way for people to play their games. If you get a chance to play 1-2-Switch, you may get an idea of the new ways that you can experience video games.

Not to mention the Switch allows people to play games both at home and on-the-go. Transitioning between the two modes is seamless as you can literally just pick it and up play.

The Switch could be successful as Nintendo has gone all-out to market the system. The first-look trailer is the company’s most watched trailer on YouTube as it has over 26 million views right now.

Another big plus are the two big first party video games. Both Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild have over 11 million views on YouTube each. That’s as many views as some Hollywood movies.

The company is also releasing a commercial during the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is watched by over 100 million people in the USA so that’s a huge audience. They will be able to reach the casual audience who may not have heard about the console yet.

Selling as many units as the Wii could be hard to reach, but it’s not impossible. Due to the marketing of the Switch, it’s safe to assume the console should sell more units than the poor old Wii U though.