Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the Wii U and competed with Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One; it also competes with the ninth-generation consoles, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

The Switch is a tablet that can either be docked for home console use or used as a portable device, making it a hybrid console. Its wireless Joy-Con controllers function as two halves of a standard controller and alternatively as individual controllers, featuring buttons, directional analog sticks for user input, motion sensing, and tactile feedback. A pair can attach to the sides of the console for handheld play, attach to a grip accessory to provide the form of a separated gamepad, or be used unattached. The system software supports online gaming through internet connectivity, as well as local wireless ad hoc connectivity with other consoles. Switch games and software are available on physical flash-based ROM cartridges and digital distribution via Nintendo eShop; the system has no region lockout. Two hardware revisions were released: the handheld-only Switch Lite, released on September 20, 2019; and a higher-end version featuring an OLED screen, released on October 8, 2021.

The Switch was unveiled on October 20, 2016; the concept came about following Nintendo's financial losses from poor Wii U sales and market competition from mobile games. Nintendo's then-president Satoru Iwata pushed the company towards mobile gaming and novel hardware. The Switch's design was aimed at a wide demographic of players through multiple modes of use. Nintendo preemptively sought the support of many third-party developers and publishers, as well as independent studios, to help build the game library alongside its first-party games. Standard electronic components, such as a chipset based on Nvidia's Tegra line, were chosen to make game development easier for programmers and more compatible with existing game engines.

The Switch received positive reviews, with praise for its intuitive design and software library, but criticism for hardware and controller problems. It became a major commercial success; with over 155 million units shipped worldwide as of December 2025, it is the second-best-selling console, behind the PlayStation 2, and the best-selling Nintendo console. A successor, the Nintendo Switch 2, which is backward compatible with most Switch games, was released on June 5, 2025.