Switch surpasses PS3 and Xbox 360, plus OLED impressions

Hey, hope you're doing good. Here's issue #244 of Switch Weekly.

Nintendo shared updated earnings and sales data earlier this week, with the Switch now sitting at 89 million units sold — this puts it past the lifetime sales of both the PS3 and Xbox 360, and it's quickly catching up with Wii. Impressive stuff. The Wii U days are but a distant memory... 

However, despite the solid sales milestone, things have finally slowed down when compared year over year. This is no surprise as the entertainment industry as a whole saw a huge uptick in the early months of the pandemic — and things are now coming back down to earth. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that Animal Crossing landed on Switch just as most of the world entered some form of lockdown — that combo of a hot new anticipated release, and folks spending more time at home was a perfect, if not somewhat bittersweet combo for Nintendo. As a result of the slowdown this quarter, Nintendo's share price took a nearly ten percent hit — that's the biggest fall in over two years. 

Anyway, a few lucky members of the press had some hands on time with the upcoming OLED model — as such I've linked up a few previews below. 

There's nearly 25 games coming to Switch next week, and the full list is below. 

Oh, and just because I feel like telling you: I had my second vaccine today. Yay for science! You can't help but feel a fleeting moment of optimism when getting it — however, the reality of our collective experience is far from being truly normal. Onwards!

That's all from me,
Chris ✌️

🎮 Currently Playing — The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, Kirby's Dream Course

Monday, August 9

• Magnus Failure — Atmospheric, mysterious adventure with a rough sketch like aesthetic. (EU release date)

Tuesday, August 10

• Black Book — Card-based RPG / adventure - take on mythological creatures.
• Button City — Low-poly 90s-esque narrative adventure about animals, friendship, and arcades.
• Super Hiking League DX — Vertical mountain platformer with a competetive element.

Wednesday, August 11

• Crimson Spires — Eerie romance otome-narrative game with a supernatural mystery.
• Poker Champion: Texas Hold'em — Enter tournaments, get a good hand.

Thursday, August 12

• Fhtagn! - Tales of the Creeping Madness — Lovecraftian text-based adventure that takes on "mystic doomsday cults". Has a unique look.
• Fire Tonight — Narrative puzzle game set in the days pre-internet.
• Foreclosed — Interactive graphic novel action-adventure set in a cyberpunk world.
• Love Esquire — A rom-com dating sim. M for Mature.
• One Deck Dungeon — Roguelike dungeon crawler.
• Tetragon — 2D puzzler set in a square-shaped world where gravity can shift.
• The Plane Effect — A dystopian 'time-and-mind bending' adventure.

Friday, August 13

• .cat Milk — Basic platformer.
• Barry the Bunny — Challenging 2D platformer.
• Cardaclysm: Shards of the Four — Procedurally generated fantasy card game / RPG.
• Fort Triumph — Challenging fantasy turn-based tactics game where permanent death is a thing.
• 📦 PAW Patrol The Movie: Adventure City Calls — Kids kanine 3D action-adventure.
• Scrap Garden — A 3D family-friendly puzzle platformer.
• 🎮 Shadowverse: Champion's Battle — Card battles based on the anime.
• Sudoku Classic — The 1-9 grid puzzler. Has touch support.
• Whiskey Mafia: Frank's Story — 1920s crime-story pixel-adventure.
• WitchSpring3 [Re:Fine] The Story of Eirudy — Remaster of RPG WitchSpring 3.