The Marxist case for the Nintendo Switch

How Nintendo succeeded by escaping the dialectic of capitalism

The Nintendo Switch.
(Image credit: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images)

Only a year ago, Nintendo was in the midst of a severe corporate crisis. Its flagship console, the Wii U, had been comprehensively wrecked by its competitors, Sony's Playstation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One. Hemorrhaging money, the company was considering moving out of the hardware market altogether, and focusing on developing games for consoles and mobile devices.

But now, the tide has turned. As Navneet Alang writes, its new console, the Nintendo Switch, has been a breakout success. It has sold over 10 million units worldwide just in the last 10 months — becoming the fastest-selling console in U.S. history, and already beating the Wii U's total sales in Japan.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.