The Nex Playground, a motion-controlled gaming console similar to the Xbox Kinect, quietly spent the week surpassing the PS5 and Xbox Series X to become the second best-selling hardware in the US.
According to Circana senior director Mat Piscatella, the best-selling gaming console in the United States for the week ending November 22 was Nintendo Switch 2 The Mario Kart World bundle isn't that big of a surprise considering the system was released recently and was a huge success. But what followed Switch 2 is extremely surprising because it doesn't start with an X or a P. Nex Playgrounda console that I must admit I’m hearing about for the first time today. In third place is the PS5 Slim Digital, and that's where Piscatella's report ends. “So that’s great,” he said.
Top selling hardware models in the US for the week ending November 22, 2025, by units sold: 1) NS2 Mario Kart World Bundle 2) NEX Playground Interactive Gaming System 3) PS5 Slim Digital 1TB So that's great. Source: Circana Retail Tracking Service
— @matpiscatella.bsky.social (@matpiscatella.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-12-04T00:25:17.360Z
Playground Nex actually came out back in 2023, which makes me even more surprised when I only discovered it now. However, to be fair, it's clearly aimed at children and families, and I'm a grown man with no kids.
Anyway, Nex CEO David Lee called it the unofficial “spiritual successor” to the Microsoft Kinect.using a wide-angle camera and AI engine to track your movements and eliminate the need for a traditional game controller. The console was initially priced at $199, but was increased to $249 in May 2025. Nex Playground includes five motion-controlled games; Fruit Ninja, Starri and Whac-a-Mole, Go Keeper and Party Fowl; and you can access a whole catalog of games through the console's Play Pass subscription, which costs $49 for three months or $89 for a year.
Apparently, these features and the price were attractive enough to accidentally propel the lowly Nex Playground to second place among the best-selling consoles, at least for a week. The looming holidays probably played a role, but it's still a very impressive feat.
Since it took first place, let's take a look at best switch 2 games available right now.
