Nintendo closes out the end of an era in 2025 with the introduction
of the Nintendo Switch 2 and gradual sunsetting of the original Nintendo
Switch. This shift in focus to the new console won’t be overnight, of
course, and rarely is whenever console publishers transition to a fresh
generation. The first Switch generation was an especially prosperous one
for Nintendo, with over 150 million units shipped worldwide
and counting, making it Nintendo’s best-selling home console of
all-time and second only to the PlayStation 2 as the best-selling home
console overall.
With a player base that large, Nintendo has to be tactful how it
eventually phases out its support for the Switch and maintains continued
interest in its overarching brand. That makes us nostalgic too for how
previous major home consoles eventually made their respective final
bows, wrapping up fondly remembered eras. Here’s a look back on how each
major console from the past several decades ended their fan-favorite
runs.
Nintendo Entertainment System
The NES not only revived the video game industry in North America after its cataclysmic crash in 1983, but completely dominated it into the early ‘90s. By 1990 the NES—along with its Japanese counterpart, the Famicom—was the best-selling console ever at that time with more American households
having the console than PCs. As such, Nintendo’s support for the NES
continued long after the launch of the Super Nintendo, with Japan going
as far as to continue manufacturing Famicoms for its domestic market until September 2003.
Many of the last games released in the twilight years for the NES
were ports of Super Nintendo titles with a significantly less intensive
technical presentation. These include NES ports of Mario’s Time Machine, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters, and Wario’s Woods,
all released in 1994 and the last of which being the final game
released for the console in North America. Over 30 years later, the NES’
tenure remains one of the longest-running and most triumphant
generations for any console.
Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
Also known as the Mega Drive outside of the U.S., the Sega Genesis was the console that gave Sega a prominent foothold
in the North American market. In trying to gain a technical edge
against its competitors, Sega began producing console peripherals for
the Genesis, most notably the Sega CD in 1991 and Sega 32X in 1994, each
with their own game libraries. Though Sega continued to produce games
for the base Genesis, it saw the 32X as a stopgap effort until the Sega
Saturn could be launched in 1994 in Japan and ‘95 in the U.S.
Unfortunately for Sega, savvy gamers already knew that the Saturn was
coming. So when combined with the high price point for the 32X
peripheral, they discreetly avoided it. This meant the library of 32X
games released in the Genesis’ final months, which included early 3D
Sega games like Virtua Fighter and Star Wars Trilogy Arcade, went largely ignored. The final 32X game was 1996’s The Amazing Spider-Man: Web of Fire while 1997’s NHL 98 closed out the Genesis on a whimper.
Super Nintendo
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System
reaffirmed Nintendo’s place atop the worldwide video game industry,
even as it faced stiff competition from Sega and Sony. Even as the
Nintendo 64’s 1996 launch loomed, Nintendo continued to support the SNES
in its final years. Indeed, some of the most beloved SNES games were
originally released in 1996 and 1997, giving the console the fond
farewell that cemented its vaunted place in gaming history.
Among the memorable games released in the final stretch for the SNES were Super Mario RPG, Donkey Country 3, Harvest Moon, and The Lost Vikings 2. The last licensed game ever released for the SNES was a 1998 port of Frogger,
almost as an afterthought for the console. As far as endings go, the
Super Nintendo, like the SNES before it, had a great conclusion to its
best-selling run.
Sega Saturn
Between the original success of the Genesis and loving reappraisal of the Dreamcast,
the Sega Saturn remains something of the overlooked middle child. This
is in no small part because of how badly Sega handled the console’s
rollout for the North American market, from a surprise announcement that
caught developers outside of Japan off-guard, an uncompetitive price
point in comparison to the original PlayStation, and Sega of America
deciding not to localize hundreds of games created by Japanese
developers. With that in mind, the Saturn generation lasted four years,
as Sega rushed to replace it with its successor, the Dreamcast.
This fast-tracked decision effectively hobbled the Saturn in its final year when news about the Dreamcast’s development
leaked while Sega was still nominally supporting the Saturn in public.
Console and game sales in North America cratered with only seven Saturn
games released in the territory for the entirety of 1998, the last being
a localization of Magic Knight Rayearth. Given the Saturn’s
greater success in Japan than overseas markets, Sega continued to
support the Saturn after the Dreamcast’s November 1998 launch, primarily
through third-party titles and boxed sets, with the last game released
for the console in Japan being 2000’s Final Fight Revenge by Capcom.
PlayStation
The PlayStation, later rebranded as the PSX and then PS1, marked
Sony’s triumphant entry into the home console industry in 1994. Buoyed
by its games published on compact discs, as opposed to expensive
cartridges, and strong third-party developer support, PS1 became the
bestselling console of its generation and the bestselling overall for
its time. The PS1 continued to sell well into the subsequent generation,
even well into the lifespan of its 2001 successor, the PlayStation 2.
Given the sheer number of its player base and continued flourishing
third-party support, the PS1 saw multiplatform sports and licensed
titles published for it through 2006, though the last North American
title was published for it in 2004. The last major title for the console
was arguably 2002’s Final Fantasy Origins, which was just a
compiled remaster of the first two mainline games in the series. Sony
officially ended support for the PS1 in 2006, the same year it launched
the PlayStation 3.
Nintendo 64
Though the Nintendo 64
launched strongly and revolutionized the gaming industry in shifting to
3D games, it also saw Nintendo lose its global top spot in the console
wars. Surpassed commercially by PlayStation, Nintendo spent the final
years of the N64 focusing on development of the GameCube while extending
the life and power of the N64 through its crimson Expansion Pak
peripheral. This upgrade in technical performance led to some of the
most impressive N64 or console games in its final years on the market.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Perfect Dark, and Banjo-Tooie
were all released in 2000, each taking advantage of the Expansion Pak
boost in their own way. By 2001 Nintendo completely reprioritized its
strategy to support the launch of the Game Boy Advance and GameCube, but
still put out bonafide bangers like Mario Party 3 and Conker’s Bad Fur Day. By 2002 Nintendo officially pulled the plug on the N64, releasing a handful of sports titles to close out the generation.
Dreamcast
Sega’s final home console came out the gate swinging with a launch window that included Power Stone, Sonic Adventure, Soulcalibur, The House of the Dead 2, and NFL Blitz 2000.
However, the Dreamcast faced continued stiff competition from the
original PlayStation along with news about development on the upcoming
PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and something Microsoft was calling
Xbox. With the incoming generation of home consoles reputedly more
powerful than the Dreamcast, support for Sega continued to waver, with a
remodeled, cheaper PS1 outselling the Dreamcast during the 2000 holiday season as a final nail in Sega’s console coffin.
Sega ceased releasing new Dreamcast games in North America by February 2002, closing out its support for the market with NHL 2K2
almost as an afterthought. Like the Saturn, the Dreamcast saw longer
support in its native Japan, with March 2004’s puzzle party game Puyo Puyo Fever
closing out the generation for good. By December 2001, Sega began
developing games for its former competitors, signaling a significant
shift to focus on software development rather than hardware, releasing
both Sonic Advance for the Game Boy Advance and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle for the GameCube that month.
Xbox
Though Microsoft’s first foray into the home console industry was off
to a shaky start with a hilariously oversized controller and weak
launch library, it eventually outsold the GameCube. That said, the
console also stands as the shortest generation to date from Microsoft,
with the company rushing out its successor, the Xbox 360, almost exactly
four years after the original Xbox’s November 2001 launch. That means
games initially intended for the Xbox were reconfigured as 360 titles,
sometimes late in development, to bolster the next console’s launch
library.
2004 saw the strongest first-party games released for the original Xbox, including Halo 2, Fable, and Ninja Gaiden Black
before Microsoft shifted its priorities. The majority of games released
for the original Xbox after 2005 were multiplatform sports titles, with
only three games released for the console in the entirety of 2007 and
only Madden NFL 09 released for it in 2008. The original Xbox
was, comparatively, a flash in the pan, with Microsoft quickly looking
ahead to the future.
GameCube
The GameCube era was a dark one
for Nintendo as the company slid behind Sony and Microsoft in the home
console industry in terms of units shipped. This decline, coupled with
difficulties in developing games for hardware, meant the console saw
dwindling third-party support. As Nintendo readied to launch the motion
sensor-oriented Wii in the 2006 holiday season, it repurposed games
originally planned for the GameCube for its successor instead.
One highlight in the GameCube’s closing window was Resident Evil 4,
released at the beginning of 2005 as a GameCube-exclusive before Capcom
decided to port it to the PlayStation 2 by the year’s end. A handful of
movie tie-in games, like Ratatouille and TMNT, along
with the usual multiplatform sports games, filled the gap. As the Wii
quickly gained momentum following its breathtakingly successful launch,
Nintendo quietly pulled the plug on the GameCube by 2007. However, one
major highlight was The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, a
fan favorite developed as GameCube’s swan song in 2006… before being
delayed so it could simultaneously release as a launch title on the Wii.
PlayStation 2
Still the best-selling home console of all time, the PlayStation 2
significantly outsold its immediate competition and helped push Sega out
of the hardware console industry for good. This success was also in
small part due to the console featuring a built-in DVD drive and being
priced competitively compared to other DVD players on the market at the
time. Like its predecessor, the PS2 had an especially long lifespan, one
that endured through the eventual launch of the PlayStation 4.
Leading up to the PS3 launch in late 2006, the PS2 saw the release of some of its most acclaimed games, including its port of Resident Evil 4, Shadow of the Colossus, Gran Turismo 4, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Guitar Hero, Ōkami, Devil May Cry 3, and Final Fantasy XII. The last game ever released for the PS2 was Pro Evolution Soccer 2014, released in 2013. Sony ended post-release support for the PS2 in Japan in 2018, closing out its most successful era to date.
Wii
After losing industry dominance in its previous two generations, Nintendo catapulted itself back on top with the Wii,
which replaced the GameCube as its main home console in late 2006. With
its intuitive motion controls and a robust library of games, many of
the most acclaimed being console exclusives, the Wii became Nintendo’s
bestselling console at the time. By 2013, one year after the launch of
the Wii U, Nintendo began ceasing production on new Wii consoles and
cutting back online services, with the last major services discontinued
in 2019.
The Wii’s last real banner year was 2011, which saw the release of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword,
the latter of which being the last major console exclusive. That said,
Nintendo was really focused on launching its last handheld console, the
Nintendo 3DS, that year and preparing for the Wii U. Amusingly, the Wii
kept receiving third-party support and new installments of Just Dance from Ubisoft until 2019.
Xbox 360
The most successful Xbox console to date is Microsoft’s sophomore effort, the Xbox 360,
which launched a full year ahead of its generational counterparts in
2005. Though outsold by the Wii, the 360 closed the gap between
Microsoft and Sony—even as it was also ultimately outsold by the PS3.
What the 360 revolutionized was a digital marketplace for games,
allowing players to purchase and download titles straight to their
consoles, a feature that became an industry standard.
In the years and months leading up to the launch of the Xbox One, the
360 saw its firmware updated to match Microsoft’s other user interfaces
while the console began incorporating its own motion sensor gameplay.
Branded the Kinect, the peripheral was launched in 2010 to lukewarm
response for many of its titles. Though Microsoft continued to support
the 360’s online capabilities until 2024, the last two major games for
the console were 2012’s Halo 4 and 2013’s Gears of War: Judgment.
PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 stumbled at its 2006 launch with its significantly
higher price point than the competition and complex hardware
architecture, making development for the console particularly difficult.
Though price cuts and cheaper models of the PS3 improved its standing,
it never got close to catching up with Nintendo’s highly successful Wii.
As a result, Sony ended its support for the PS3 faster than it had the
PS2 or PS1, shifting its focus to the PlayStation 4.
Despite Sony quickly reprioritizing itself for the PS4’s 2013 launch,
the PS3 saw some of its most iconic titles released in its final years.
The Last of Us, Journey, and multiplatform titles like Mass Effect 3 and Grand Theft Auto V
closed out the PS3 era. By 2017 Sony ceased hardware production on the
PS3 and, while planning to close the PlayStation Store for the platform
in 2021, fan outcry led Sony to reverse this decision, leaving online
support running.
