If you had to ask yourself what the most popular gaming platform in Japan was, undoubtedly most people would say Nintendo, no surprises here. Despite that unsurprising answer, it may still be surprising to learn just how much Nintendo beats out the competition in Japan. In fact, Nintendo has topped out the charts for 19 consecutive years, as reported in the 2023 Famitsu sales report.
How did Nintendo sales look in 2023?
This past year was an incredible year for Nintendo fans. It was so good, in fact, that the entire top ten software sales for 2023 were all Nintendo Switch games.
The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom: 1,929,603
Super Mario Bros. Wonder: 1,549,401
Pikmin 4: 1,119,027
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: 907,432
Momotaro Dentetsu World: 795,681
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: 617,223
Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe: 514,581
Dragon Quest Monsters 3: The Dark Prince: 510,477
Splatoon 3: 503,312
Super Mario RPG: 447,687
It wasn’t just the software department that Nintendo held the crown in though. They also took the gold medal in console sales as well, beating out the PlayStation 5 by just under 1.5 million units.
Nintendo Switch: 4,062,609
PS5: 2,587,468
Xbox Series X/S: 141,712
PS4: 73,292
When was the last time the top ten wasn’t Nintendo majority?
The most recent year where non-Nintendo software held the most positions in the top ten was all the way back in 2004, during the PlayStation 2 era. Every year since has been Nintendo’s favor, meaning if they continue this trend into 2024, it will have been an entire two decades of Nintendo supremacy. In terms of hardware, only during one year in the last 19 has a non-Nintendo console been the best-seller of the year, and that was the PSP in 2010. Every other year, Nintendo consoles topped the charts, namely the DS, 3DS, and Nintendo Switch.
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Written by Abbie Maxwell
Lifelong Nintendo fangirl, Abbie holds a special place in her heart for video games. She has always strived to provide tips and tricks to make the experiences of those who share her passions that much better.
