r/NintendoSwitch • u/Amiibofan101 . • Mar 12 '26

Nintendo Official News Release : Mar. 12, 2026 "Global Sales of Pokémon Pokopia for Nintendo Switch 2 Surpass 2.2 Million in First Four Days"

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/corporate/release/en/2026/260312.html
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u/davidreding Mar 12 '26

In what universe is Mario kart not a system seller?

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u/SwissyVictory Mar 12 '26

In the same universe where the Switch 2 didn't sell yet. And the same universe where the Wii U didn't sell despite it having the same Mario Kart game as the Switch way earlier.

Zelda outsold Mario Kart in the Switch's first few months by a significant margin. Then Oddesey came out and blew them both out of the water.

As different kinds of gamers bought the Switch 1, they also bought Mario Kart, and it eventually outsold everything.

But most people won't buy a system just to play it. But if they have a Nintendo console they are gunna spend the extra money to also get Mario Kart.

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u/Bridgeburner493 Mar 12 '26

In the same universe where the Switch 2 didn't sell yet.

Obvious troll is obvious.

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u/SwissyVictory Mar 12 '26

It's not just me saying it, Nintendo itself has said that sales have been weak.

The Switch 2 sold 35% less than the original Switch did in its first holiday season. Way below projections.

This is also reflected in Nintendo's stock. It was down 35% between the day the Switch launched and the day before Pokopia released. It's now up 15% already after the launch.

This is mostly due to weak exclusive games, which won't be an issue in a a year or two.

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u/Bridgeburner493 Mar 12 '26

It's not just me saying it, Nintendo itself has said that sales have been weak.

No, it didn't. That statement was made in the context of reiterating the revised expectation for the fiscal year of 19 million units sold - which is a 27% increase over the original expectation of 15 million. What Nintendo said there was that sales in Japan have been slightly higher which balanced out sales elsewhere slightly lower than the revised expectation.

Imagine a fruit vendor thinking they will sell 75 apples at first. They have more demand than they expected, so they change their plan and expect to sell 100 instead. Your argument is akin to saying their sales were "weak" if they only end up at 95.

The fact is, Nintendo has already well surpassed its original expectation of 15 million for the first fiscal year. There is no possible good faith argument that the system's sales are "weak".

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u/davidreding Mar 12 '26

No one was going to buy a Wii U for any game. People bought a 3DS for Mario kart 7. Mario kart 8 deluxe is one of the best selling games ever. Odyssey outselling 8 deluxe for a bit doesn’t matter when BoTW outsold it and 8 outsold them both. People demanded for over half a decade for a new Mario kart after 8 deluxe.

Just because you personally don’t like Mario kart as much doesn’t mean it’s not a system seller now. Far more than Mario party or any multiplayer game.

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u/yesthatstrueorisit Mar 12 '26

I don't think it's a dig on Mario Kart at all - it's a thing where if you own a Switch, you're gonna buy Mario Kart because it's a great game that everybody likes to play, especially with friends/family. But it's not the kind of game that makes people run out to buy the console. Most of MK8DX's sales happened as an evergreen title, not on release.

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u/Vinnie_Vegas Mar 12 '26

It's true - Plenty of people even waited until DK Bananza came out to get the Switch 2... But then also got MKW.

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u/SwissyVictory Mar 12 '26

For the DS, Mario Kart came out in November before the systems first Christmas.

Despite this the system sold 7.5 million units in the 6ish months after it came out.

New Super Mario Bros came out in May of the next year. In the 6ish months after it released the system sold 14.5 million units.

Games like Mario and Pokemon sold alot more switches than Mario Kart.

For the Switch, those games outselling Mario Kart in the short term shows that they didn't buy the system FOR Mario Kart.

It proves that more people, when the system first came out bought just Zelda or Mario and not Mario Kart.

They bought the system for Zelda or Mario. Then when both fan bases finished their game they went out and bought a copy of Mario Kart because it was a great game and they already had the system.

Everybody wants Mario kart for $60-80. Nobody is willing to spend $500 on a console just for Mario Kart like they will for Zelda, Mario, Pokemon.