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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Switch Is Succeeding Without Blue Ocean Casuals, Nintendo Should Not Forget This.

We've seen demographic break downs of the Switch that say as much from Nintendo directly, but we see it even more and more with up to date software trends on the system ... 

Look at the top 10 software for October:

Nintendo Switch

  1. Super Mario Odyssey
  2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  3. Mario Kart 8
  4. Fire Emblem: Warriors
  5. Pokken Tournament DX
  6. Splatoon 2
  7. Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
  8. FIFA 18
  9. NBA 2K18
  10. Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2
Interesting take there is not only are things like 1,2 Switch no where close to long tail sellers, they've completely fallen off the top 10. ARMS which was Nintendo's other "motion gaming" experiment for the Switch, which is marketed like a Wii game has also collapsed out of the top 10. The new Just Dance 2018 also failed to make the Switch top 10. 
But you do see things like FIFA, NBA2K, and Fire Emblem Warriors present. Nintendo should be very careful how they proceed IMO the system is doing well because there's a good amount of content for the traditional gaming audience and the device is marketed at that crowd. If they veer too far away from this and try to rely on casuals they are going to get themselves into trouble. 
4/10 top games being 3rd party (Mario/Rabbids is published by Ubi Soft) is not a bad mix for a Nintendo system either. 


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I believe this all has to do with social changes and generational pruning along with someone at Nintendo having the intellect to realize and capitalize on it.



ARMS is not a blue ocean game and it didn't fail at all.



Now THAT is a top ten. Surprised to see Pokken above Splatoon, and Fire Emblem above Pokken! Also glad to see western support at least has life on Nintendo hardware.

They're doing really well and being smart. At the very least, should the ship veer off course, we have this pocket of 8 months where they nailed it to always go back to.



"You should be banned. Youre clearly flaming the president and even his brother who you know nothing about. Dont be such a partisan hack"

It seems to me you're a confusing the concept of "blue ocean" with casual gaming. A blue ocean is an unclaimed market, so casual gaming cannot be considered a blue ocean anymore.

On the contrary, the market of portable gaming experiences for dedicated players isn't effectively controlled by anyone but Nintendo. So it could be argued that they're still thriving in their own blue ocean

Last edited by freebs2 - on 17 November 2017

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Goodnightmoon said:
ARMS is not a blue ocean game and it didn't fail at all.

When played enough yes, it's not, but on the surface level and the way it was marketed was definitely in the vein of the Wii-era. 

These games really don't work that well on the Switch, Nintendo should accept this is a new era. With the added aspect of portability and a high end portable of that, they've finally found a formula that co-exists with the Playstation/XBox brands without having to resort to banking on unreliable non/fringe gamers. 



freebs2 said:
It seems to me you're a confusing the concept of "blue ocean" with casual gaming. A blue ocean is an unclaimed market, so casual gaming cannot be considered a blue ocean anymore.

On the contrary, the market of portable gaming experiences for dedicated players isn't effectively controlled by anyone but Nintendo. So it could be argued that they're still thriving in their own blue ocean.

When I say "blue ocean casuals" I mean the Wii/Brain Training/Nintendogs audience. 

Clearly Nintendo is having success without them and software trends on the Switch are also shaping out differently, Nintendo should let this play out and not pre-judge the emerging audience that is stepping forward here. It's clearly an older male market that is at the core of the Switch's success with conventional gaming IP being the driving appeal. 



Soundwave said:
freebs2 said:
It seems to me you're a confusing the concept of "blue ocean" with casual gaming. A blue ocean is an unclaimed market, so casual gaming cannot be considered a blue ocean anymore.

On the contrary, the market of portable gaming experiences for dedicated players isn't effectively controlled by anyone but Nintendo. So it could be argued that they're still thriving in their own blue ocean.

When I say "blue ocean casuals" I mean the Wii/Brain Training/Nintendogs audience. 

Clearly Nintendo is having success without them and software trends on the Switch are also shaping out differently, Nintendo should let this play out and not pre-judge the emerging audience that is stepping forward here. It's clearly an older male market that is at the core of the Switch's success with conventional gaming IP being the driving appeal. 

About your concerns I wouldn't expect many Wii-like experiences since the Switch is not about motion control but they'll probably release some games for expanded audinces in the future and it wouldn't be a bad idea.

Right now the Switch is an hi-end expensive machine so it's a good idea to target core gamers. Once it becomes more accessible it will have a good potential for larger audiences, expecially thanks to its native multiplayer capabilities. Note that launch aligned the 3DS was already 169$ at this point in its life, think of the potential of Switch once it reach 199$. Of course that doesn't mean Nintendo should forget its core audience after a certain point, right now they could cater both since they don't have to pour thier resources supporting 2 different platforms.



freebs2 said:
Soundwave said:

When I say "blue ocean casuals" I mean the Wii/Brain Training/Nintendogs audience. 

Clearly Nintendo is having success without them and software trends on the Switch are also shaping out differently, Nintendo should let this play out and not pre-judge the emerging audience that is stepping forward here. It's clearly an older male market that is at the core of the Switch's success with conventional gaming IP being the driving appeal. 

About your concerns I wouldn't expect many Wii-like experiences since the Switch is not about motion control but they'll probably release some games for expanded audinces in the future and it wouldn't be a bad idea.

Right now the Switch is an hi-end expensive machine so it's a good idea to target core gamers. Once it becomes more accessible it will have a good potential for larger audiences, expecially thanks to its native multiplayer capabilities. Note that launch aligned the 3DS was already 169$ at this point in its life, think of the potential of Switch once it reach 199$. Of course that doesn't mean Nintendo should forget its core audience after a certain point, right now they could cater both since they don't have to pour thier resources supporting 2 different platforms.

Core gamers is (by far) the largest gaming market unless you are making smartphone games. Nintendo needs to not forget that. 

It will be fine to have a cheaper Switch SKU for kids later, but if Nintendo starts to move away from what they're doing now and emphasizing kids and/or casuals ... they are going to get themselves into trouble. There's a reason this is working. 

Even for kids ... Nintendo should understand kids WANT what older kids want. 

As for casuals ... leave 'em. Nintendo already has a portal to getting to them and that's iOS/Android apps. 



According to whom because I'm pretty sure the are a good amount of blue ocean consumers buying the platform as well, core gamers have never been the largest group at any point the largest is and always has been the casual group (gamers with on and off gaming habits), casuals are the main bulk of buyers they buy COD, FIFA, Mario and so on etc...

Don't mistake casual gamers for people who have a taste geared towards mobile gaming as that's a different group all together.