While gamers lament the lack of a PS5 or Xbox Series X on the market, there is one console that is slowly but steadily breaking sales records: according to NPD, the Switch has held the #1 spot as the "best-selling console" every month for over two years and is Nintendo's It is also the best-selling console.

And now the mighty handheld hybrid has reached two more milestones: it has surpassed both the PS3 and Xbox 360 in lifetime sales. What's more: It has also surpassed Nintendo's hugely popular Wii video game console. This information is provided by Nintendo Japan, which regularly updates the lifetime hardware and software sales for each console.

Currently, 89.04 million Nintendo DS units and 632.4 million software units have been sold. Compare and contrast with the Nintendo 3DS with 75.94 million hardware units and 386.94 million software units and the Wii U with 13.56 million hardware units and 130.39 million software units.

The Switch's sales numbers are particularly impressive because the console has moved so many units in a relatively short period of time. Compare and contrast: the Switch came out in 2017 and sold 89 million units; the PS3 sold 87.4 million units over its entire functional life (2005-2016); the Xbox 360 (2005-2016) sold 84 million units. We don't know exactly when Nintendo plans to replace the Switch or simply upgrade it like the PS4 Pro or Xbox One X, but it is clear that it has done well in the four years since its launch.

However, Nintendo may be its biggest competitor when it comes to meeting sales goals: the Wii was a huge success, appealing to non-gamers with its high crossover appeal, but it has sold 116.63 million hardware units and 921.85 million software titles in the seven years since its launch; the Switch is a hardware very likely to exceed its goals, but the software goals seem a bit more ambitious.

Indeed, software may be part of the reason why Switch sales have slowed considerably over the past year: in March 2020, people bought the system in droves to play "Animal Crossing: New Horizons. There were certainly some good games, though, such as "Mario Golf: Super Rush" and "The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD. [On the other hand, once the new Sony and Microsoft consoles become more popular, gamers may want something more powerful than the aging Switch. As always, what you should buy depends on what games you want to play.