Nintendo Switch Sale Numbers Surpass PlayStation Vita in Japan

The Nintendo Switch has done the unthinkable: it has surpassed the PlayStation Vita's lifetime sales in Japan.

That's right Nintendo's new hybrid console raced passed not only six million units sold in Japan this week, but left PlayStation's own portable system in the dust in the process.

The data comes courtesy of Media Create, who released its latest report on the Japanese video game market earlier this week. According to it, the Nintendo Switch sold another 281,222 units in Japan, which brought its lifetime sales to over six million.

As you may know, the lifetime sales of the PlayStation Vita in Japan were just 5,955,448 units. The forgotten handheld has been available in Japan since since December 17, 2011. To put that into perspective, the Nintendo Switch has been available in Japan since March 3, 2017, so almost six years less time.

While the Switch is certainly off to a fast and strong start in Japan, where console gaming has declined in recent years thanks to a surge in mobile gaming, passing the PlayStation Vita isn't exactly worthy of the biggest celebration.

It's estimated the Sony handheld has sold in total roughly 16 million units, a number the Nintendo Switch passed earlier this year. That said, while the PlayStation Vita failed to take off for Sony, it didn't post horrible numbers in Japan. More than a third of its sales came from Japan in fact. So the Nintendo Switch passing the system so quickly and in an environment less friendly to console gaming compared to when the PlayStation Vita launched, is somewhat impressive.

By the end of its lifespan, the Nintendo Switch will likely double if not lap multiple times over the PlayStation Vita's sales in Japan. And in terms of lifetime sales, it won't even be close.

While I'm personally a big fan of the Nintendo Switch, I never really got into my PlayStation Vita, mostly because it's software offering beyond a few titles was never that compelling. Also because it became quickly apparent Sony was pushing it to the back-burner.

Somewhere in an alternate universe perhaps the Nintendo Switch would still be trailing the PlayStation Vita's sales, but that's probably the same universe where the Wii U is popular.

Thanks, Nintendo Everything.