It’s been a quiet week in Switch world (give or take an Indie World showcase), sandwiched between the twin pillars of Nintendo’s fall \u2014 Nintendo Switch Sports Resort<\/em> and the remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time<\/em>. Time to reflect; time to work on the timing of my table tennis backhand.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n <\/p>\n This is the time of year when Nintendo’s global marketing departments start limbering up and doing stretches for a big mass-market retail push. Nintendo UK launched a wholesome and emotive campaign this week, seemingly trying to one-up Nintendo Australia’s legendary sad Zelda dad campaign for Tears of the Kingdom<\/em> back in 2023. It doesn’t quite work, but something about it caught my eye.<\/p>\n Titled “Back to Me,” the ad features a despondent young student calling home; it seems like he’s just been dumped. His dad invites him back for a family meal, and obviously he plays Ocarina <\/em>on the train. I assumed a family session of Switch Sports Resort <\/em>would feature next\u2026 but no. Instead, he and his sister make a Mii of his dad in Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream<\/em>. He returns to uni, thoroughly cheered up, where he plays more Tomodachi Life<\/em> with his sister over GameChat.<\/p>\n Tomodachi Life<\/em> came out in April for the original Switch. It doesn’t even have a Switch 2 Edition (yet). If Nintendo UK wanted to throw the spotlight on a game with casual appeal, GameChat support, and family avatars for their storyline, Resort<\/em> was sitting right there. What gives?<\/p>\n The answer arrived in my inbox this morning, with an astonishing factoid in the September rankings update from games market analysis firm Newzoo. Newzoo reckons Tomodachi Life<\/em> is the third-biggest new release of 2026, from January to September, in terms of revenue generated across six major Western markets (the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy, and Spain).<\/p>\n In these markets, Tomodachi Life<\/em> has made more money than Resident Evil Requiem<\/em>, Pok\u00e9mon Pokopia<\/em>, Crimson Desert<\/em>, and Forza Horizon 6<\/em>. In fact, one month earlier, it was top of the charts, and only got pushed down to third by September’s new FC and NBA sports titles. Back in August, Nintendo already reported that Tomodachi Life<\/em> sold an amazing 8 million copies by the end of June.<\/p>\n It makes sense: Tomodachi Life<\/em> is probably the biggest release this year for the Switch, the second-best-selling console of all time, which still enjoys a massively bigger audience than the Switch 2. It’s also a socially viral game whose sales have surely been powered by countless hilarious clips online. Oh\u2026 and it’s widely enjoyed by women and girls, which may explain the underreporting of its success.<\/p>\n Nintendo UK’s ad uses the popularity of Tomodachi Life<\/em> to ram home a vital marketing bullet point: You can play your Switch games on Switch 2 as well. But it also hits a broader message that Nintendo has had great success with over the last 20 years: Hit video games don’t always look the way you expect them to.<\/p>\n The winner of the year’s top indie game award (the IGF Seumas McNally Grand Prize), Titanium Court<\/em> is an unclassifiable blend of overlapping genres, including puzzle game and kingdom management. It does its best to confound you at every step. It’s also riotously funny and fully self-aware.<\/p>\n![\"Tomodachi](\"https:\/\/static0.polygonimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/tomodachi-life-friends.png?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2\")
\n <\/picture>Image: Nintendo EPD\/Nintendo<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n eShop game of the week: Titanium Court
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