Nintendo: Switch Buyers Are Primarily Men In Their 20s/30s

[Soundwave]

MisterManGuy said:

Soundwave said:

Yeah well, you know you can go try and beg for the girl who's turned you down the last four times for a date and won't answer your texts. Or you can hang out with the totally cool girl who's waiting for you to call her. 

Casuals had their chance the last 7 years to come to bat for Nintendo and they have bailed on Nintendo and left them in dirt again and again and again. They did not show up for Wii Music, they did not show up for Nintendogs + Cats (and that forced Nintendo to take their first loss in company history), they did not show up for Nintendo Land. Or Wii Fit Plus. Or Wii Party U. Or Wii Sports Club. Or NSMBU. Or Mario Run even ($10 is too much I guess). Seeing a pattern here? From the start of this decade (2010) these people have bailed on Nintendo. They're not really showing up for Switch either. They liked the free Pokemon Go, whoopity doo, Nintendo is not a company that makes free games, as they've said themselves. 

Ever since they got their taste of free games on phones they've sent a clear message the last 7 or 8 years. At what point do you take the hint and move on?

Gamers need to stop being jealous of smartphones. Smartphones are a monumental change in human civilization (really), much like the PC and the internet before it. It is what it is, a dinky little game system was never going to compete with that. Hey great, good for Apple and Google, they bet the farm on that idea and won big. The traditional game manufacturers need to take care of their own. 

Nintendo can try out different genres sure, but they should *not* forget who is driving this industry and what is driving Switch success. If they marketed this primarily to casuals and made 1,2 Switch the lead game and had a bunch of commercials with women at parties, the system would have sales in the shitter right now. 

It's because they marketed to older men, made a system that doesn't look like a toy, and delivered a killer app that appeals to said audience that they're having success. So why go and now try to change that. If they get away from this they are going to get themselves into trouble. 

Casuals didn't show up to those games because the Wii U was a badly marketed, unattractive mess. And in the case of Mario Run, even fans of the game admit that it isn't worth the $10 asking price (if it was $4 or $5, it would've done much better). And it's funny how you say Nintendo doesn't make free games, yet they released several free games for the 3DS, and just released a free Fire Emblem game on mobile devices, which brought in way more revenue than Mario Run. Yeah, Nintendo doesn't do free games all right.

Once again, you're taking the wrong perspective with this. Nintendo knows the Switch won't replace people's smartphones. But they do know that it can be a great companion piece to one. The Switch is still marketed to casual gamers. I mean, look at the recent promotional material, and the extended cut for the Super Bowl ad. It wasn't just hip dudes playing Zelda, it was also people playing 1-2 Switch, families playing Mario Kart, and a grandpa playing ARMS with his grandson. It's pretty clear Nintendo wants as broad of an audience as possible with the Switch. 

You're right that they should also serve hardcore fans as well, but they shouldn't rely exclusively on them. Nintendo can make the Switch appealing to casual gamers, and they've done a good job at doing so. 

Part of the reason the Wii U was "badly marketed" is because it tried to be all things for all people. 

If you're going to make a casual system, then make a casual system.

If you're going to make a core centric system then make that. Don't do the shit where you're trying to be both, that's where you get yourself killed. 

There is no room in the middle of road, unless you want to get run over, pick a side to walk on. Nintendo finally did that with the Switch. 

Yes the extended trailer has 1,2 Switch in it, but the actual commercial shown on the Superbowl has *zero* 1,2 Switch in it. And there's a good reason for that.

No grandpas or kids either. Just a college aged kid playing Zelda only. That's their Superbowl commercial, and that was a *smart* move.  

Other experiemental stuff can have it's place, but it's place is in the back seat, not in the driver's seat, successful companies know what works for them.

If you try to make a product for everyone there's a good chance you're actually going to end up with something that makes no one happy. You need to have focus and *priority* in what you're making. There's nothing wrong with making the most rabid buyers of $50-$60 software in the modern market a priority. They should be. 

And kids at least will come along fine, kids want what older kids want, they don't want what "mommy approves" for them, Nintendo has never understood this, maybe now they are getting it. Sony markets almost 0 to kids. But yet they've sold more home consoles to kids than Nintendo has over the last 20 years. Ever wonder why that is?