Playing it safe with more of the same?

In a year defined by uncertainty, one of the bestselling consumer products of 2025 was perhaps the safest thing that console-maker Nintendo has ever created.

- Teo Kai Xiang

The Nintendo Switch 2, which was released on June 26 in Singapore, sold more than 3.5 million units worldwide in its first four days of release. By September, it had sold over 10 million units, making it the fastest-selling console of all time.

And yet, most reviewers agree that the Nintendo Switch 2 represents less of a leap into the future than a few steady steps forward (and one step back when it comes to battery life).

This conservative design choice perhaps captures best what consumers are looking for in a year of global uncertainty.

"The Nintendo Switch 2 feels like a victim of Nintendo's own history, having set decades-long expectations that new hardware will always be, if not always revolutionary, at least deeply strange," went American video-gaming website GameSpot's review.

"The Switch 2, by comparison, is an iterative step - a more powerful successor to its wildly popular predecessor."