The Nintendo Switch video game console bested its rivals, Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4, to be the top selling console in August, according to new sales estimates from the NPD Group.
The market research firm does not release specific sales figures, so it remains unknown just how much of a lead the Switch has over the competition. But Nintendo’s hybrid gaming system—it’s part-handheld, part-home console, hence the name—has topped the charts in four of the last six months since its launch in March 2017, NPD Group says. The two months it missed the mark, the PlayStation 4 won out.
Sony’s console remains the best-selling console for the year.
That’s good news ahead of this year’s winter holiday season, but there remains weakness in the category. Overall gaming hardware sales dropped 6% to $168 million from the same month a year ago, NPD estimates, owing to flagging sales in previous-generation devices including Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3. And total video game sales were down 2% to $568 million in the same period.
What’s more, Xbox One sales are beginning to flag ahead of the planned launch of Microsoft’s $500 Xbox One X on Nov. 7.
But that’s not affecting Nintendo. Its NES Classic and SNES Classic have been surprising hits for the company, a lesson in the power of nostalgia and appealing to Millennials with money to spend.