Switch
Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life

It seems an almost impossible notion to consider, but with the Nintendo Switch celebrating its eighth birthday today, it's now merely two years away from being a decade old. A decade. That's simply absurd.

It would be oh-so easy to remark on how the console is an ageing relic at this point that's in dire need of an upgrade, but heck, we know said upgrade is coming later this year in the form of the Nintendo Switch 2. So instead, we'd like to briefly focus on how utterly incredible Nintendo's humble hybrid system really is.

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The numbers speak for themselves. The Switch has, at the time of writing, sold over 150 million units since its release on 3rd March 2017. That makes it Nintendo's best-selling home console of all time and the third best-selling platform full stop, sitting just behind the Nintendo DS and Sony's PlayStation 2; a console so mysterious, it gained a further 5 million sales over a decade after is discontinuation. Bizarre.

We're not here to be bitter, however. Though we're confident the Switch will eventually surpass the Nintendo DS – even after its successor launches – that PS2 figure is a little bit out of reach for our liking. But that's okay. Nintendo won't be fussed about the Switch becoming the best-selling console of all time, regardless of such an achievement might look on CVs. It's all about the money, baby.

Casting aside the sales figures for a moment, however, the Switch is home to one of the most incredible libraries of first and third-party games (and, admittedly, a heap of absolute trash). Yes, we can talk about the likes of Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and Metroid Dread until the cows come home, but we've also seen a number of remarkable revivals in the form of Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club, New Pokémon Snap, and... F-Zero 99? Look, it's the best we're going to get for the time being, just take it.

Looking at third-party, you've got what arguably might be the best entry in Capcom's flagship franchise with Monster Hunter Rise, nearly the entire slate of mainline Final Fantasy games, three Persona titles, one of the best compilations of all time with Atari 50, seemingly impossible ports of titles like The Witcher III, DOOM Eternal, and Civilization VII, and so, so many more.

It really is impossible to comprehend just how extensive the Switch library really is. It completely mitigates the obvious lack of power the console has undoubtedly struggled with over the years, with the hybrid nature of the device actually making it many gamers' go-to machine. And the best part? It'll all (well, mostly all) be playable on the Switch 2 via backwards compatibility when the successor launches later this year.

In just a few months time, the Switch will have doubled the lifespan of Nintendo's beloved, misunderstood Wii U. To say that the console successfully turned the Big N's fortunes around would be a gross understatement, and with the company's aggressive focus on expanding its reach with movies and theme parks, we'd say that Nintendo's best years is still ahead of it.

We can't wait to see what the next eight years bring.

After eight years, how would you rate your time with the Nintendo Switch? (925 votes)

  1. 10 - Outstanding56%
  2. 9 - Excellent27%
  3. 8 - Great12%
  4. 7 - Good3%
  5. 6 - Not Bad  0.9%
  6. 5 - Average  0.1%
  7. 4 - Poor  0.2%
  8. 3 - Bad  0%
  9. 2 - Terrible  0%
  10. 1 - Abysmal  0.3%

Do you have any special memories of the Switch from the last eight years? How do you think the Switch 2 will fare by comparison? Let us know your thoughts with a comment.