Nintendo has been one of the biggest names in the gaming industry throughout the nearly three decades since the Nintendo Entertainment System first took the world by storm in the mid-1980's. The Japanese developer has some of the most iconic franchises in gaming with series like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda being perennial best-sellers for the company. Nintendo continued its dominance over the gaming industry in 2021 with many of its most popular games sitting atop Amazon's best sellers list as the year draws to a close.
2021 saw plenty of big-name releases for Nintendo as well as the continuing success of its games released in 2020. Many of Nintendo's biggest franchises saw new entries this year with the release of games like Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, and Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl among many others. With many of gaming's biggest developers transitioning more and more to digital releases, Nintendo took up the mantle and controlled the Amazon best sellers list for 2021 with nearly every spot in the Top 20 occupied by the Japanese company.
As of Wednesday, December 29, Nintendo titles maintain a stranglehold over the Amazon best sellers list for video games with 19 of the marketplace's Top 20 games being Nintendo products (excluding peripherals and gift cards/digital codes). The previously mentioned Super Mario 3D World grabbed the top spot for this year's best-selling games on Amazon with Just Dance 2022 on Switch and Animal Crossing: New Horizons finishing 2nd and 3rd. Notably, the only non-Nintendo game to finish in the Top 20 comes in right at the end of the list with NBA 2K21 on PS4 placing 20th.
Alongside Nintendo's most popular titles from 2020 and 2021, plenty of the Switch's older staple titles continue to dominate the best-sellers list as some of the most popular games on the nearly five-year-old console. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild all sit within the Top 10 best-selling games despite each title being released within the first two years of the console's lifespan.
Beyond the company's massive success on the best-sellers list, 2021 also marked a significant year for Nintendo as the gaming juggernaut celebrated the 35th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda and 25th anniversary of Pokemon. The Legend of Zelda released Skyward Sword HD in July and has revealed plenty of information about the upcoming Breath of the Wild 2 while Pokemon recently debuted its Diamond and Pearl remakes with Pokemon Legends: Arceus coming early next year. 2021 has been a banner year for Nintendo and the developer will look to continue its success into 2022.
Source: DualShockers