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Forums - Sales Discussion - An attempt to justify partly why the U.K. is perceived to be one of the weaker markets for Nintendo.

Nogamez said:
All the tescos around my way sell nintendo. Also the reason nintendo doesn't sell well in uk is cos it's seen as kiddy. Simple as that.

Oh, that's cool to know. Maybe it differs from region to region? I must live in a Nintendo hating region, lol.



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peachbuggy said:
vivster said:
Maybe it's Nintendo who hates the UK?

You could have a point. Only during Wii days have i seen Nintendo even make an effort here. I feel they could do so much more to at least have a better physical presence in stores. I don't think they even have their own reps. Pretty sure they use a 3rd party.

 

The Nintendo UK Store is just a third party company called Game Hut.

Mnementh said:
I already looked at the numbers, seemingly UK doesn't hate so much Nintendo, as they love MS: http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=8406634

Well, this is partly it. I didn't think the U.K. particularly hated Nintendo, although i'd be the first to admit the U.K. isn't 1 of its strongest markets. Sony and Microsoft are both strong here and both enjoy a much more dominant store presence.



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In my opinion the N64 was not just the best console of the 5th gen but, to this day the best console ever created!

bonzobanana said:
UK loves Nintendo products if its a sub £200 portable system but not so much home consoles. I have a huge Tesco store and did see 2 Switch games on a bottom shelf hidden away. One Game store I looked in recently does have a better Switch section now, close to the front of the shop (good sign) but no demo Switch console. It's why I think going beyond Nintendo enthusiasts may be difficult in the UK because it has little presence to remind people it exists. In fairness a lot of retailers made losses with the wii u and it left a sour taste I'm sure but I think if the Switch does have momentum and online sales are strong then the high street presence will improve.

As previously stated though UK is a strong market for Microsoft.

I think even if the UK slows down much faster than the rest of the world with regard sales I think it will pick up nicely again when the Switch goes sub £200 in a year or so. It's almost like a barrier in parent's minds that they won't spend £200+ on a handheld console for their kids.

I think the new 2DS will do brilliantly well in the UK at Christmas with likely 3ds/2ds models outselling the Switch if Switch remains at the £280 price point. Last year 3DS had 7% of the market in the UK for hardware with many parents often replacing damaged units with new in addition to new owners. The new 2DS pricing will be great for them. Despite our love of the ps4 the outgoing premium portable format Vita has a tiny market share of 0.4%.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1332976

Haven't really ventured into many GAME stores recently,so yeah this might be a good sign. It's a start at least and yeah i think your point on pricing is pretty valid too.



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In my opinion the N64 was not just the best console of the 5th gen but, to this day the best console ever created!

Kudistos Megistos said:

OP is ignoring the cultural factor here. Regardless of store presence, I doubt that Nintendo could ever be very popular in Britain.

 

Nintendo has carved a niche as the family-friendly console maker and most of itsbig franchises have a cute and cartoonish feel to them. If you look at the games that sell in Britain, they're all either very realistic simulation games like FIFA or Gran Turismo, or they're games with a gritty and "mature" aesthetic. Games with a cuter or more whimsical style just don't sell here (one of the things that makes Persona 5's sales in Britain so shocking is that this is an incredibly hard territory for animé-style game).


This based on purely anecdotal evidence, but I always get the impression that British children are expected to "grow out" of cartoons and other child-friendly things at a younger age when compared to American kids, and that the stigma of liking things aimed at children is stronger here too. I remember back in primary school, it was pretty much universally agreed by 8-year-olds that Nintendo was "for kids" and that this was definitely a bad thing. This was a while ago, but I don't get the impression that much has changed since then, and I see the same attitudes from my younger cousins.


We all know that Nintendo de-cutified a lot of its Japanese boxart in the 90s and early 00s in order to appeal to the American audience:

I think they need to do the same thing to an even greater degree if they want to be successful in Britain. Maybe they'd be one of the bigger manufacturers here if Link looked like this:


I was aware of this but in the case of Nintendo consoles being seen as "kiddy", i could only really give anecdotal evidence. I also assumed this was a problem in the U.S. too,is it not? I just see the lack of retail space as more alarming/worrying. If 3rd parties don't sell their SW here, then the 3rd party support will dry up and that will affect HW sales badly.



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ANIMAL CROSSING NEW LEAF FRIEND CODE:- 5129 1175 1029. MESSAGE ME.
ANDY MURRAY:- GRAND SLAM WINNER!

In my opinion the N64 was not just the best console of the 5th gen but, to this day the best console ever created!

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Steven666v2 said:
peachbuggy said:

You could have a point. Only during Wii days have i seen Nintendo even make an effort here. I feel they could do so much more to at least have a better physical presence in stores. I don't think they even have their own reps. Pretty sure they use a 3rd party.

 

The Nintendo UK Store is just a third party company called Game Hut.

Totally not surprised. Game hut needs to gettheir fingers out!



DON'T WIN ME CHIBI BUDDY DON'T WIN ME.

ANIMAL CROSSING NEW LEAF FRIEND CODE:- 5129 1175 1029. MESSAGE ME.
ANDY MURRAY:- GRAND SLAM WINNER!

In my opinion the N64 was not just the best console of the 5th gen but, to this day the best console ever created!

Well, it's not a secret that British taste in games is not the most sophisticated. The UK is dominated by first person shooters, Fifa's and whatever is currently the most "manliest" blockbuster.



They simply need a new version of Just Dance.



Kristof81 said:
Well, it's not a secret that British taste in games is not the most sophisticated. The UK is dominated by first person shooters, Fifa's and whatever is currently the most "manliest" blockbuster.

Isn't it like that in a lot of places? The US is dominated by FPS and sports games too.



VGPolyglot said:
Kristof81 said:
Well, it's not a secret that British taste in games is not the most sophisticated. The UK is dominated by first person shooters, Fifa's and whatever is currently the most "manliest" blockbuster.

Isn't it like that in a lot of places? The US is dominated by FPS and sports games too.

Actually yes the U.K. market is very similar to the U.S. Only, slightly less love for Nintendo.



DON'T WIN ME CHIBI BUDDY DON'T WIN ME.

ANIMAL CROSSING NEW LEAF FRIEND CODE:- 5129 1175 1029. MESSAGE ME.
ANDY MURRAY:- GRAND SLAM WINNER!

In my opinion the N64 was not just the best console of the 5th gen but, to this day the best console ever created!