Many of you have been wondering about the NES Classic:
Why is it under supplied?
Why Nintendo hasn't shipped more?
Why Nintendo doesn't seem to care to ship more?
The reason is relatively simple. They don't want you to invest in one. Now sure, that sounds stupid. Why would they not want your money?
The thing is they do, but they want a much larger sum in the form of the Switch.
Then what was the point in selling it in the first place. You have to acknowledge that this retro-console was never really for you, the "hard"core gamer, no matter how much you traditionally complain about it. This was intended for a more casual audience. A much more casual audience. Its certainly not aimed at those in the mobile market. It is aimed at those who barely play video games and want to get to a simpler time of nostalgia. Its to mainly grab the attention of the gamer who might have kids, a family, who might not have the time to play video games at all. It is also for those who wanted to were maybe born at post 2000 who wanted to get the feeling of these games. It could be very well for hipsters too I dunno.
At this point you might be asking. Why.? Why even go through such an advertisng campaign that they did?
Bait.
They wanted to get attention. Attention for the Switch. Now this may not make that much sense in a smaller scale. But think about it in a bigger one. Nintendo has been, as of late, garnered much more attention from the public eye. Not because of the Wii U. Not because of the 3DS. It is due to the mobile market that they have entered. The used the NES Mini as tool to garner a bit more profit for the company and increase brand awareness. When they saw the huge demand, they honestly did not know what to do.
Picture contains link. Maybe I'll just use a picture of link next time so only some people get it.
Yes, yes, the great amiibo scandal is a thing. Here's why it doesn't apply: They never intended to sell a huge amount. They don't even want to sell a huge amount. For the amiibo, the constant resupply and then mass demand may been artificial scarcity, but they still wanted to sell amiibo. That is why the company continues to make amiibo. Perhaps just not the amiibo you want at the moment. There are over 50 different amiibo. There is only one NES Classic (please don't be edgy and mention the famicon classic).
Now why won't they sell more is clearly going to be in some of your heads. The Switch is the company's focus. It has been their focus since launch. They want to avoid conversations about the NES Classic or bringing it up because that ecosystem is a closed ecosystem... you know what I mean. Not in the sense that a console is a closed ecosystem with fixed hardware, but in the sense that the software is fixed. Sure you can probably put some roms into the NES classic. That is nowhere near the point either. Nintendo wants to ensure that the Switch ecosystem is nurtured because they will be selling that console for years and will be selling developing software for that system.
Nintendo does not really want you to be filled with nostalgia, Nintendo wants to you to be filled with lust.
If you were a company, which one would you prefer: someone buying your $300 product that will have continous returns because you can sell more content OR someone buying our $60 product with no real way to continue to profit.
(Remember as a company, not your own personal desires that make no sense in the business world. Ex: "If I were Nintendo, I would give my content away for free because I want that content for free!!!").
Now some of you will say "I would have bought both!"
and hey yeah that's great for you.
There are many who exlusively would be satisfied with the Classic, much like the amiibo people who owned neither Wii U or 3DS (I never understood these people). Moreso, those caught up in the nostalgia that I previously mentioned would surely be satisified. Here is where the Bait and Switch comes into play. They don't want that risk remotely. Do you think Nintendo would even consider selling the Classic if the Wii U hardware and software sales were not suffering and they had tons of games in the pipline?
And so there is your bait and Switch. Now to be clear, they will not completely abandon the Classic. They will sell it sporadically, but that's about it.
This may or may not be a wise idea, but I feel like this was clearly what Nintendo had intended and something that many should have grasped when they announced it.
I'm just glad I finally got around to making this thread. I've been wanting to since the day they announced it.
