When it comes to longevity, nobody in the video game industry can touch Nintendo. The company's first console of any kind was released in the 1970s, and its first proper console release was the NES in the '80s.
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PostsThe likes of PlayStation and Xbox didn't enter the console game until the '90s and 2000s, respectively. Sega was already around then, but it didn't have the staying power of Nintendo and left the console game many years ago. So, Nintendo has released more consoles than its competitors. Some have been hugely successful, but others have not. Here is a ranking of them all based on how many units they sold.
All of the numbers come from Nintendo itself and are accurate as of December 31, 2024. Only the systems on which the company has released data have been included.
11 Wii U
13.56 Million Units Sold
The Wii U wasn't the most innovative console that Nintendo has ever made. After all, it was similar to the Wii in many ways. However, it did include the additional GamePad and HD graphics. Plus, the online multiplayer was better.
So, it did some things differently from the Wii, but it wasn't original enough for Nintendo fans, as it only sold 13.56 million units. It probably didn't help that it didn't have the strongest line-up of games, particularly at launch.
10 Nintendo GameCube
21.74 Million Units Sold
The GameCube had an excellent game library, some of which are still exclusive to the system today. As a result, some look back on the system very fondly. Yet, its sales weren't great.
A big reason for this was likely because it was released only a year after the PS2 and at a similar time to the original Xbox. Therefore, there was plenty of competition. And that competition allowed you to play DVDs and CDs, turning those consoles into multimedia systems. The GameCube could only play games, so it had a bit of a disadvantage.
9 Nintendo 64
32.93 Million Units Sold
When the Nintendo 64 was released, it competed with the original PlayStation and the Sega Saturn. It did far better than the latter but didn't get close to the former. PlayStation was the clear winner when it came to sales.
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PostsAs such, the N64 wasn't a huge success, but it wasn't really a huge failure, either. It did okay, considering the competition. Plus, it certainly captured the imagination of fans, as many have fond memories of this system.
8 Super Nintendo Entertainment System
49.1 Million Units Sold
The sales expectations of video game consoles back in the early '90s weren't as high as they are now. As such, if the Switch only sold 49.1 million units, that would be a concern for Nintendo. For the SNES, though, this was a big success, particularly because it was released after the Sega Genesis, meaning it was playing catch-up.
It certainly managed to catch up, due in part to its impressive game catalog. Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: Link To The Past, Chrono Trigger, and Final Fantasy 6 were all released on the console and, more importantly, were never ported to the Genesis.
7 Nintendo Entertainment System
61.91 Million Units Sold
Nintendo's first true gaming console—after the Color TV Game—was the NES. Therefore, its sales numbers were very important. Nintendo may have never made another system if it had been a commercial failure. Thankfully, that didn't happen. Instead, it sold 61.91 million units, which was incredibly impressive at the time.
Home consoles were still a relatively new concept back when this system was released. The others that came before it, such as the Atari 2600 and the Sega Master System, weren't as influential as the NES. Part of this influence came from Nintendo's use of third-party developers for NES games, which wasn't common practice in the '80s.
6 Nintendo 3DS
75.94 Million Units Sold
The Nintendo 3DS wasn't quite as successful as the original Nintendo DS, but it still did very well, selling 75.94 million units. It wasn't a huge departure from the original DS and even offered backward compatibility for its games.
That said, the 3DS did include a 3D feature, hence the name. It allowed you to see certain things in three dimensions without the use of 3D glasses. You could argue that not enough games made proper use of this feature, but it was cool nonetheless.
5 Game Boy Advance
81.51 Million Units Sold
The Game Boy Advance was the final Game Boy Nintendo created. An impressive 81.51 million of them were sold. So, the console did better than the 3DS but didn't quite hit the heights of some of Nintendo's other handheld systems.
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PostsThe console was much more powerful than previous Game Boys and had a slightly different design, as it was shaped more like a controller. This controller-like design became the norm for handheld systems, and while that can't be solely attributed to the Game Boy Advance, it certainly helped popularize this design.
4 Wii
101.63 Million Units Sold
The Nintendo Wii was a huge hit when it was released and sold far better than Nintendo's other home systems that came before it. As such, it managed to sell 101.63 million units. Part of this was down to its originality.
The Wii heavily emphasized motion controls, making gaming a more active activity. Then, when Wii Fit was released, the console essentially became a games console and an exercise machine in one, which helped it appeal to a larger audience. The fact that Microsoft and Sony would go on to create their own motion control features with the Kinect and PlayStation Move, respectively, shows how impactful the Wii was.
3 Game Boy
118.69 Million Units Sold
Nintendo has bundled the Game Boy and Game Boy Color's sales figures into one, so they collectively sold 118.69 million units. The original Game Boy was a huge deal when it launched.
While it wasn't the first handheld console ever, it did help popularize these types of systems. This is because it was one of the best handheld consoles ever, and included a litany of excellent games that the other handheld systems didn't have at the time.
2 Nintendo Switch
150.86 Million Units Sold
After the Wii U's underwhelming sales, you'd have been justified in thinking that Nintendo was no longer capable of making home consoles that competed with the likes of Xbox and PlayStation. If you thought that, though, you'd be very wrong, as the Switch sold 150.86 million units, making it one of the best-selling consoles ever.
Long before the Switch was released, Nintendo had made its name in both the home console and handheld console markets. With this system, they combined those two elements. The result is a brilliant home console that can also serve as a fantastic handheld system if you desire. That flexibility, plus games like Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, is key to the console's success.
