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Just a weird, completely unscientific personal metric I've used to note that the economy seems like it's shrinking - last year was the first year I've seen sinc

Just a weird, completely unscientific personal metric I've used to note that the economy seems like it's shrinking - last year was the first year I've seen since the release of the original switch where switch/switch 2 was not constantly sold out (usually poached by resellers early in the AM) every time I visit target. There's a full shelf of them since late last summer. Unless nintendo actually produced enough units for the first time in recent company history, I suspect it indicates something.

ta9000 9mo ago
It doesn’t help that the Switch 2 library is woefully inadequate.
- PlatoIsADisease 9mo ago
  This didn't affect Wii, WiiU, Switch or Switch 2. Either people are waking up that Nintendo is selling nostalgia or the economy is not doing well. I hope the former, there is something that feels sick to think Nintendo force fed corporate mascots to me when I was under the age of 1. To this day, I religiously buy Zelda games, even though I haven't enjoyed them since N64. FOMO mind control.
  - philistine 9mo ago
    What are you talking about? The WiiU sold like crap! It was a disaster! And a big reason it was a disaster was because the Wii itself was not selling anymore. It was over and out, people were fed up with it. Nintendo is a very very very bad economic indicator, they're on their own planet, and they're far from selling nostalgia. They're selling well known characters in new environments. They completely redesigned Donkey Kong, that's not what a company coasting on nostalgia would do!
    - PlatoIsADisease 9mo ago
      > They're selling well known characters in new environments. They completely redesigned Donkey Kong, that's not what a company coasting on nostalgia would do! Wat But seriously... Wat? Do you realize what you said?
gruez 9mo ago
>last year was the first year I've seen since the release of the original switch where switch/switch 2 was not constantly sold out (usually poached by resellers early in the AM) every time I visit target. There's a full shelf of them since late last summer. Don't you expect demand to taper off as more people get their hands on it? It also doesn't help that the switch 2 is basically "the switch, but better".
- kjkjadksj 9mo ago
  Do you remember switch 1 or wii demand?
- JohnMakin 9mo ago
  This never happened with the switch. I am not kidding. 2023 I was trying to buy one for my sister, and it took me months of waiting for target to open and beating the resellers to it, because I didn't want to overspend online (plus online stock frequently sold out). It was released in 2017! Nintendo is notorious for under producing their consoles vs demand in recent years - the worst example was the mini NES or whatever they called it, they could not keep it on shelves for that one either.
  - devin 9mo ago
    If we're bringing anecdata to the party: I bought OLED shortly after it came out and did not have any trouble.
  - coke12 9mo ago
    Anecdotally I have bought 2 switches over its lifetime and never saw any of this ever. Just clicked “buy” on Amazon.
  - sarchertech 9mo ago
    I bought 2 switches without any issues. 1 around the time you did. Months of waiting for target to open sounds insane and is so far from my experience that I think this is actually a case of you were holding it wrong.
palmotea 9mo ago
> last year was the first year I've seen since the release of the original switch where switch/switch 2 was not constantly sold out (usually poached by resellers early in the AM) every time I visit target. There's a full shelf of them since late last summer. Unless nintendo actually produced enough units for the first time in recent company history, I suspect it indicates something. Well, I remember the same thing happening with the Wii for a long time, and then eventually it was easily available. But now I can't find a Wii at a Target anywhere, so the economy must be booming?
deron12 9mo ago
Unscientific indeed: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-17/nintendo-switch-2-production-plan-25-million-units-by-march-2026 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-17/nintendo-... [0] They produced a record number...your observation should be the expected result (they are aiming to produce 25% more than are expected to sell). [0] https://archive.is/RInO7 https://archive.is/RInO7
- legitster 9mo ago
  Yeah, Switch 2 sales are actually outpacing Switch 1 sales.
snovymgodym 9mo ago
Gaming technology is kind of stagnant, and there aren't the sort of technical leaps between generations anymore. Games today look and feel like games from 2014 with slightly better graphics (and more aggressive monetization). The Switch has been out since 2017 and has probably reached market saturation at this point. Keep in mind that consoles are pretty durable and lots of people buy used. The Switch 2 isn't selling well yet since it has the PS3 disease (no games). Anyways, the economy is probably bad but I don't think Nintendo Switch sales are much of an indicator for that.
- mschild 9mo ago
  The Switch 2 is selling incredibly well. https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/11/04/nintendo-switch-2-is-selling-twice-as-fast-as-original-switch-shattering-expectations-despite-trump-tariffs/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/11/04/nintendo...
  - tomwojcik 9mo ago
    Outside Japan, sales are worse than expected. https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-acknowledges-switch-2-sales-have-been-slightly-weaker-than-expected-outside-japan https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-acknowledges-switch-2-... > Sales figures collated by The Game Business last month showed that U.S. Switch 2 sales over the holiday period were down around 35% versus the Switch 1's first holiday sales performance back in 2017. In the UK, a similar comparison saw Switch 2 lagging Switch 1 by 16%. Even in Nintendo's homeland of Japan, Switch 2 holiday sales couldn't match Switch 1, and were down by 5.5% over the year's final nine weeks. > In France, 2025's final tally of Switch 2 sales was down by "over 30%" versus the amount Switch 1 notched up back in 2017
    - mschild 9mo ago
      Switch 2 is the fastest selling console of all time right now. [0] They sold more than 17 million units in less than a year. The Wii U only sold 13 million over its entire lifetime. The Switch 1 took 2 years to reach 20 million, and the Switch 2 will very likely reach that number in less than half the time. Nintendo may have expected even higher sales numbers but saying that > The Switch 2 isn't selling well is simply not true. [0] https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintendo-switch-2-sales-remain-well-ahead-of-switch-1-despite-a-softer-first-christmas-in-some-markets/ https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintendo-switch-2-s...
Larrikin 9mo ago
Nintendo indicated when the Switch 2 was launching that they were going to do their best to ensure a large supply and make sure actual players were prioritized. They did not want resellers to be profitable and did not want to create a situation like the PlayStation. It still sold out and was a little difficult to get on release, but consoles came out at a pretty quick pace and resellers basically could not unload their stock for a profit. It became a bit of a joke about the resellers not being able to unload their stock because stores were getting replenishment stocks so often and Nintendo was constantly sending out emails to players saying they had been selected to buy directly from Nintendo. I had my personal Switch 2 from the store within about a month of casual checking around and got one for a Christmas gift directly from Nintendo the next week.
oldpersonintx 9mo ago
[dead]

ta9000 9mo ago

It doesn’t help that the Switch 2 library is woefully inadequate.

PlatoIsADisease 9mo ago
This didn't affect Wii, WiiU, Switch or Switch 2. Either people are waking up that Nintendo is selling nostalgia or the economy is not doing well. I hope the former, there is something that feels sick to think Nintendo force fed corporate mascots to me when I was under the age of 1. To this day, I religiously buy Zelda games, even though I haven't enjoyed them since N64. FOMO mind control.
- philistine 9mo ago
  What are you talking about? The WiiU sold like crap! It was a disaster! And a big reason it was a disaster was because the Wii itself was not selling anymore. It was over and out, people were fed up with it. Nintendo is a very very very bad economic indicator, they're on their own planet, and they're far from selling nostalgia. They're selling well known characters in new environments. They completely redesigned Donkey Kong, that's not what a company coasting on nostalgia would do!
  - PlatoIsADisease 9mo ago
    > They're selling well known characters in new environments. They completely redesigned Donkey Kong, that's not what a company coasting on nostalgia would do! Wat But seriously... Wat? Do you realize what you said?

gruez 9mo ago

>last year was the first year I've seen since the release of the original switch where switch/switch 2 was not constantly sold out (usually poached by resellers early in the AM) every time I visit target. There's a full shelf of them since late last summer. Don't you expect demand to taper off as more people get their hands on it? It also doesn't help that the switch 2 is basically "the switch, but better".

kjkjadksj 9mo ago
Do you remember switch 1 or wii demand?
JohnMakin 9mo ago
This never happened with the switch. I am not kidding. 2023 I was trying to buy one for my sister, and it took me months of waiting for target to open and beating the resellers to it, because I didn't want to overspend online (plus online stock frequently sold out). It was released in 2017! Nintendo is notorious for under producing their consoles vs demand in recent years - the worst example was the mini NES or whatever they called it, they could not keep it on shelves for that one either.
- devin 9mo ago
  If we're bringing anecdata to the party: I bought OLED shortly after it came out and did not have any trouble.
- coke12 9mo ago
  Anecdotally I have bought 2 switches over its lifetime and never saw any of this ever. Just clicked “buy” on Amazon.
- sarchertech 9mo ago
  I bought 2 switches without any issues. 1 around the time you did. Months of waiting for target to open sounds insane and is so far from my experience that I think this is actually a case of you were holding it wrong.

palmotea 9mo ago

> last year was the first year I've seen since the release of the original switch where switch/switch 2 was not constantly sold out (usually poached by resellers early in the AM) every time I visit target. There's a full shelf of them since late last summer. Unless nintendo actually produced enough units for the first time in recent company history, I suspect it indicates something. Well, I remember the same thing happening with the Wii for a long time, and then eventually it was easily available. But now I can't find a Wii at a Target anywhere, so the economy must be booming?

deron12 9mo ago

Unscientific indeed: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-17/nintendo-switch-2-production-plan-25-million-units-by-march-2026 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-17/nintendo-... [0] They produced a record number...your observation should be the expected result (they are aiming to produce 25% more than are expected to sell). [0] https://archive.is/RInO7 https://archive.is/RInO7

legitster 9mo ago
Yeah, Switch 2 sales are actually outpacing Switch 1 sales.

snovymgodym 9mo ago

Gaming technology is kind of stagnant, and there aren't the sort of technical leaps between generations anymore. Games today look and feel like games from 2014 with slightly better graphics (and more aggressive monetization). The Switch has been out since 2017 and has probably reached market saturation at this point. Keep in mind that consoles are pretty durable and lots of people buy used. The Switch 2 isn't selling well yet since it has the PS3 disease (no games). Anyways, the economy is probably bad but I don't think Nintendo Switch sales are much of an indicator for that.

mschild 9mo ago
The Switch 2 is selling incredibly well. https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/11/04/nintendo-switch-2-is-selling-twice-as-fast-as-original-switch-shattering-expectations-despite-trump-tariffs/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/11/04/nintendo...
- tomwojcik 9mo ago
  Outside Japan, sales are worse than expected. https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-acknowledges-switch-2-sales-have-been-slightly-weaker-than-expected-outside-japan https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-acknowledges-switch-2-... > Sales figures collated by The Game Business last month showed that U.S. Switch 2 sales over the holiday period were down around 35% versus the Switch 1's first holiday sales performance back in 2017. In the UK, a similar comparison saw Switch 2 lagging Switch 1 by 16%. Even in Nintendo's homeland of Japan, Switch 2 holiday sales couldn't match Switch 1, and were down by 5.5% over the year's final nine weeks. > In France, 2025's final tally of Switch 2 sales was down by "over 30%" versus the amount Switch 1 notched up back in 2017
  - mschild 9mo ago
    Switch 2 is the fastest selling console of all time right now. [0] They sold more than 17 million units in less than a year. The Wii U only sold 13 million over its entire lifetime. The Switch 1 took 2 years to reach 20 million, and the Switch 2 will very likely reach that number in less than half the time. Nintendo may have expected even higher sales numbers but saying that > The Switch 2 isn't selling well is simply not true. [0] https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintendo-switch-2-sales-remain-well-ahead-of-switch-1-despite-a-softer-first-christmas-in-some-markets/ https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintendo-switch-2-s...

Larrikin 9mo ago

Nintendo indicated when the Switch 2 was launching that they were going to do their best to ensure a large supply and make sure actual players were prioritized. They did not want resellers to be profitable and did not want to create a situation like the PlayStation. It still sold out and was a little difficult to get on release, but consoles came out at a pretty quick pace and resellers basically could not unload their stock for a profit. It became a bit of a joke about the resellers not being able to unload their stock because stores were getting replenishment stocks so often and Nintendo was constantly sending out emails to players saying they had been selected to buy directly from Nintendo. I had my personal Switch 2 from the store within about a month of casual checking around and got one for a Christmas gift directly from Nintendo the next week.

oldpersonintx 9mo ago

[dead]