| Nem said: Well... the switch did end up selling more than people predicted, but the recurring 3rd party problems won't be going away. Also curious to see what will happen and how long the hype effect will last. It seems the core Nintendo fans were still willing to forgive Nintendo for the Wii U, wich is surprising to me. I'd like to see a study to know wich segment they managed to recapture or if this is a movement of their portable market. |
I really don't think it's the Nintendo fans that are devouring stock before it hits shelves. Most of that demographic probably pre-ordered.
One could make an argument that the e-Bay/Amazon flippers are monopolizing stock, but secondary market prices are directly dictated by what the end buyer is willing to pay. Currently, that's trending at $72 over MSRP. Who is buying?
Naturally, there is a bit of buzz over the Switch, and seeing empty shelves where there should be product will psychologically trigger the perception of scarcity, which in turn triggers consumer desire to buy, but again, who buys a product at $72 over MSRP on e-Bay because they see empty shelves at retail outlets?
I don't think it's parents buying consoles for their kids; the reality is most kids these days are playing games on their parents' old smartphones, so unless you have some Millenial parent who grew up loving Nintendo and wants to pass that on to their kids, I'm thinking most of the Switch stock is going to adult gamers.
Where the Switch varies from the Wii is that a single player/account can own and use multiple consoles like a handheld. I haven't personally plugged mine into a display yet and use it exclusively as a handheld. I'm not convinced I'm alone in that boat, so there are people treating it like a handheld.
While this generally only effects consumers who dual platform game on portable and console, which I believe is not a majority demographic, the Switch does the clever job of consolidating both markets into a single device/platform for Nintendo fans, and that right there may well be the X factor that's selling so many units. The assumption is that the Switch will be receiving both 3DS and Wii U franchises.
