When a new console launches, the majority of the conversation is defined by its specs. “Does it hit 60 frame-rates per second?” “How much RAM does it have?” “What’s its resolution?” But, as we’ve seen since the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, the hardware is only as good as the worlds it invites you to inhabit.
The Nintendo Switch 2 launched with Mario Kart World, selling 17.37 million units worldwide, per Nintendo’s latest fiscal report. It was the best-selling console of 2025 in the U.S., both in unit sales and dollar sales, selling a total of 4.4 million units, and selling faster than the original Nintendo Switch over the same period.
As we move into 2026, a surprising game has become the definitive system seller of the year: Pokémon Pokopia. If you’ve been watching your friends play in the Withered Wastelands like that SpongeBob meme, there is a perfect entry point. Nintendo has released a dedicated console bundle deal in the UK, specifically for Pokémon Pokopia.
In this deal, you get a Nintendo Switch 2 Console, a Pokémon Pokopia (Download Code), plus all the lovely goodies you’d expect – a set of Joy-Con 2 and 2 straps, a Nintendo Switch 2 dock, a Joy-Con 2, a Nintendo Switch 2 AC adapter and an Ultra High Speed HDMI™ Cable x1. All that for £454.98!
Plus, if you buy between now and February 1, 2027, you can claim an exclusive Ditto Rug for your in-game house via the Mystery Gift function once you connect to the internet. What more could you want?
You’ve seen the clips on social media, no doubt. Personality-packed builds, intricate garden layouts for Bulbasaur, even working subway systems! Pokémon Pokopia has taken over the internet, where the FOMO (fear of missing out) is palpable. It’s no wonder, then, that people are buying a Nintendo Switch 2 purely for Pokémon Pokopia, and as my own inner circle proves, they are absolutely right to do so.
Anecdotally, I have two stories to share. The first is my friend who has never played a Pokémon game in her life. In fact, she’s never owned a Nintendo console. An Xbox and Soulslike fangirl, through and through, last week, she bit the bullet and bought a Nintendo Switch 2, solely for Pokémon Pokopia.
Another friend of mine has shared a single Nintendo Switch 2 with their husband since launch day. They took turns with the big releases, swapping the controller for Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza. But when Pokémon Pokopia dropped, it was over. The desire to manage your own cosy Pokémon world is so strong that they caved and bought a second console just so they could build side-by-side without fighting over it.
Pokémon has always been Nintendo’s go-to for selling consoles. Who could forget the Game Boy’s Pokémon Red & Blue, which famously saved the aging hardware late in its lifecycle. The DS had Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, pushing the dual-screen idea into the mainstream. Even the Switch 1 saw Pokémon Sword & Shield and Pokémon Scarlet & Violet break sales records, despite the console entering the twilight of its years.
It reminds me a lot of another life-sim that took off – Animal Crossing: New Horizons. In March 2020, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was a lot of people’s lifeline during the COVID-19 pandemic, myself included. So many people bought a Nintendo Switch purely for Animal Crossing, selling the console out for months. Unfortunately, the slow pace wasn’t for everyone, and now those consoles sit gathering dust. While we aren’t in a global lockdown again (yet), there’s a real sense of burnout, and the world isn’t exactly slowing down any time soon. For me, personally, Pokémon Pokopia took a bit of getting into, but now I’m fully sold. There’s more story than Animal Crossing: New Horizons, for better or worse. Either way, it’s giving me the same therapeutic escape that New Horizons did six years ago.
Plus, you’ll need a Nintendo Switch 2 to play Pokémon Winds and Waves anyway, so why not jump in now and see what all the fuss is about?
feedzy_import_tag feedzy_import_tag
About the Author
