There is no question that theNintendo Switchhas been a massive success for the beloved company. Since the console’s release in March of 2017, there has been an estimate of 79.87 million units sold worldwide. The system was a nice bounce-back for Nintendo after the utter failure of theWii U.
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TheSwitchhas topped a lot of what theWii Uwas able to offer, but what about the system before? TheWiiwas also widely successful and made an innovative splash in a growing industry. With 101.63 consoles sold worldwide during its lifetime, the Wii is the perfect comparison for the Switch. They are both excellent because they each have features that could top the other.
Updated Aug 06, 2025, by Chris Birsner:It has nearly been 16 years since the Nintendo Wii was released to the world and over five years since the Nintendo Switch was first in the hands of consumers. The Nintendo Switch has continued to improve with the addition of more retro games to its online services as well as releasing new versions of the Switch that include an OLED screen in handheld mode.
Meanwhile, the Wii continues to fade as a console that doesn’t get nearly as much as love anymore for obvious reasons. That said, there are still plenty of reasons why theNintendo Switch vs Wiidebate remains so interesting as there can be good arguments on both sides.
17Switch: Has A Dark Theme
The Nintendo Switch has been criticized for years for having a theme problem. On the previous handheld console, Nintendo 3DS users were able to add custom themes that they picked up on the Nintendo eShop. This was a fun way to customize the main menu and add some personality to an individual’s device.
The Nintendo Switch has two themes: White and Black. White is the default mode, while the Black is the Switch equivalent of a dark theme. While it is egregious that these are the only options, the Wii’s main menu did not have that level of customization. Those who don’t like staring screens with a bright stagnant color were forced to see the Wii’s white channel selector at all times.
16Wii: Longer-Lasting Controllers
The Nintendo Switch has had one major problem since it arrived 3 and a half years ago. Its main controllers, the Joy-Cons, suffer from a glitch in which a Joy-Con eventually starts to register an input even when the player isn’t touching anything.
This is one of the main reasons the Wii Remote is a better controller. Putting that aside, though, the Wii Remote is still a better controller because of its size and comfortability. Replacing the batteries andneeding attachable accessoriesare not fun, but the remotes had a longer lifespan than the Joy-Cons.
15Switch: The Choice Between Handheld & Television
Nintendo will always have some sort of gimmick attached to their products. These can be very hit or miss for the company, which has a history of both success and failure. The Nintendo Switch may be their best gimmick to date.
Being able to play the Switch on-the-go, thenputting it in a dockto play it on TV gives players so much flexibility in how they play games. In addition, attaching and detaching the Joy-Cons to the Switch is satisfying, especially with the iconic clicking noise Nintendo has embraced in Switch marketing.
14Wii: A Lot More Toys To Play With
While it may have been frustrating to deal with all the different Wii accessories, that doesn’t mean there weren’t some that were fun to use. A great example of this is the Wii Wheel that came withMario Kart Wii. This was the franchise’s first dip into motion controls, so releasing a wheel actually made the transition a lot smoother and more comfortable.
The Wii Zapper was a little more of a hassle to set up, but playing first-person shooters with it became a lot more immersive. Thus far, there just haven’t been any major Switch accessories that have reached this level of intrigue.
13Switch: A Slight Upgrade For Online
Nintendo has had an unfortunate time offering online services that can remain stable for long periods of time. Ever since online gameplay was offered by the company in the mid-2000s, they have faced criticism for laggy gameplay and times when connections would just randomly drop.
That said, Nintendo Switch Online still functions better than Nintendo Wi-Fi on the Wii did. Yes, there is a price tag on it, but being able to play multiplayer, as well as having cloud saves and a library ofold school games, is a sweetened-enough deal to take.
12Wii: A Fun Way To Message Friends
When thinking about Wii vs Switch, it’s important to think about how players can communicate with one another through the devices. Sure, the devices aren’t meant for communications, but its sometimes fun to have devices that provide new ways to have conversation, like the Nintendo DS' Picto-Chat for instance.
Related:Nintendo Switch Games To Play if You Like Wii Sports
Unfortunately, the Nintendo Switch does not have a message board feature. They do allow players to voice-chat, but only through their mobile phone app. The Wii, on the other hand, had its own mail system where those who shared codes could exchange messages whenever they wanted to.
11Switch: Game Activity Is Better Documented
When playing on the Wii back in the day, the console would send the player a little message that documents the games that were played on that particular day and how many hours were put in. While this was a nice thing that the console kept track of, there was no overall place to look how long someone has played a game over an extended time period.
When looking at the Switch vs Wii, all players need to do is click on their profile in the top-left, and they will immediately see a full list of games they have played and how many hours that they played them. Of course, it can take up to a week for the exact hours to load when playing a game for the first time, but It’s nice to see activity better documented.
10Wii: An Emphasis On Miis
Avatars are important for people, and the Wii introduced a fun feature to personalize many of its games: the Mii. These virtual humans could be created in the Wii’s Mii channel. Players were able to create a completely customized look that they could use in variousNintendo and third-party games.
The Wii U continued embracing the Mii, but the Switch has put the feature on the backburner. Sure, players can still go to the Switch settings and create a Mii, but the fact they aren’t as prominent in new games anymore is a real bummer.
9Switch: More Moments To Capture
One prominent feature of the Nintendo Switch is its Capture Button. In almost all games on the console, players are able to take screenshots of moments in their game with a simple click of a button.
If players hold down the button, they can capture a 30-second clip of the gameplay that happened prior to the button being held. This is far more innovative than the Wii, who had only a few games where capture was available and no set button to smoothly capture a moment.
8Wii: The Brilliance Of Wii Sports
Those who bought a Wiiat the launchwere given a treat in a package: an excellent game free-of-charge.Wii Sportsis meant to be an introduction to the Wii’s motion controls, putting players in the shoes of their Miis as they played a variety of sports.
From bowling and baseball to tennis and boxing, each sport had a unique technique to show what the Wii could offer. The Switch has an introductory game in1-2-Switch, but the game didn’t come with the console. Instead, it cost $60 to get and felt more like a prototype rather than a full-blown game.
