The Nintendo Switch is now the longest running Nintendo home console ever after overtaking the Nintendo Entertainment System’s record without being replaced.
As reported by VGC, the Nintendo Switch has now lasted 2,688 days (seven years, four months, one week, and six days) without being replaced by a next generation console, a touch more than the NES’s 2,686 days. The Super Nintendo Entertainment system then arrived to overtake it, but with Nintendo’s Switch successor still a while away, the current console will seemingly hold a solid new record.
This is further evidenced by the myriad titles coming to Nintendo Switch in the next year, including The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Super Mario Party Jamboree, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, Professor Layton and the New World of Steam, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, and more.
Nintendo could announce some of these as dual Switch and, for lack of an official name, Switch 2 titles, of course, just as it did with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the current console and Wii U, but it has already indicated the next generation hardware won’t arrive until April 2025 at the earliest.
Company president Shuntaro Furukawa has otherwise indicated confidence in the Switch’s longevity, saying in a February 2024 shareholder meeting that Nintendo wants hardware sales to “maintain momentum” despite it being in its seventh year.
The Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017 and has sold an incredible 141.32 million units, as of March 31, 2024. It’s still unclear exactly when the Switch 2 will launch, but Nintendo has said an announcement is coming by March 31, 2025. It’s also taken a stance against scalpers, an issue which plagued the launches of both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, by pledging to create enough consoles to meet consumer demand.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
