The Nintendo Switch is the fastest selling console ever in the U.S.

It could become the best-selling console of all time.
 By 
Kellen Beck
 on 
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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The Nintendo Switch just hit a huge sales milestone, becoming the fastest selling home console of all time in the United States.

Nintendo announced Thursday morning that the Switch has surpassed every other home console in U.S. history with more than 4.8 million units sold in 10 months. In early December, Nintendo reported that the Switch had reached 10 million sales worldwide, and Nintendo projects that number to hit 14 million by March of this year.

Along with being the fastest selling home console in the U.S., the Switch beat out the PlayStation 2's impressive sales numbers in Japan. PS2 currently has the world record for console sales, reaching an impressive 155 million units sold over its lifetime.

With these kinds of early numbers, it wouldn't come as a surprise to see the Nintendo Switch make it to the top 10 selling consoles of all time in the next few years.

Its success can be attributed to its versatility as both a home and mobile console, with the ability to be played on a TV and as a handheld, as well as its strong lineup of games in its first year.

With the success of the Switch, Nintendo is putting itself back to the top of the console competition

The Switch launched in March with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a game that earned dozens upon dozens of game of the year awards for 2017, and we noted was the most unforgettable game of 2017.

A handful of other successful first-party games like Splatoon 2, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Arms trickled in throughout the spring and summer along with an unprecedented number of third party games and indie games, many of which are exclusive to the Switch.

The Switch continued its stellar year in the fall with re-releases of the wildly popular Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Doom, both of which coming to a mobile platform for the first time. Super Mario Odyssey also arrived in the fall to high acclaim, becoming the fastest selling Super Mario game in the U.S. and the fastest selling 3D Mario game in Japan.

Nintendo has yet to announce much in its 2018 Switch lineup outside of a game tentatively titled Yoshi and re-releases of Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2, but the company has teased a couple high-profile games on the way, including Metroid Prime 4, Bayonetta 3, and a new Pokémon game. As long as Nintendo manages to keep up its output, the Switch could easily become one of the most successful consoles of all time.

Nintendo's previous console, the Wii U, was a bit of a commercial flop, only moving 13.5 million units between 2012 and 2017 due to a mix of poor marketing and a lack of consistent, quality game releases. With the success of the Switch, Nintendo is putting itself back to the top of the console competition.

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Kellen Beck

Kellen is a science reporter at Mashable, covering space, environmentalism, sustainability, and future tech. Previously, Kellen has covered entertainment, gaming, esports, and consumer tech at Mashable. Follow him on Twitter @Kellenbeck

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