The Switch and Nintendo hardware

[zorg1000]

The_Liquid_Laser said:

zorg1000 said:

Both are extremely important, most people wont buy a console for a single game, for most people a console needs a steady flow of games that interest them.

You are oversimplying things, there is alot more than just Zelda that is causing Switch to be more desirable than Wii U.

1. The overall hardware concept. The ability to seamlessly switch between console and handheld mode and play anywhere is very appealing. The same cannot be said for the Wii U gamepad which had like a 15ft range and really added little to the experience.

2. Marketing/branding/advertising. Switch is marketed to multiple demographics and advertised all over the place and the branding makes it clear its a brand new device. Wii  U was marketed almost exclusively to kids/families and advertised almost exclusively on childrens television networks and continuing with the Wii brand (which was in heavy decline at this point) either turned people away or made them think it was an expensive add-on.

3. Software output. You're right that individual system sellers are important but a system also needs a steady flow of quality titles ranging from small, medium and big. Switch has had a medium-large sized exclusive basically every month along with a handful of smaller indie titles on a weekly basis. Wii U would generally go a few months between notable releases.

4. Price. You might be thinking they both cost $299, how is that an advantage for Switch? Well if a console has appealing hardware, a strong software lineup and well executed marketing/advertising than $299 is a great price, however if all those things are poor than $299 is expensive.

I agree with all of your points except we have a subtly different view on your #3.  It is the amount of quality titles that matter more than the pacing.  For example if a person bought a Wii U three years after release then pacing wouldn't matter at all, because there would be a 3 year backlog of games to choose from.  The main reason why a person wouldn't buy a Wii U at after 3 or more years is if they didn't really like the collection of games to begin with.  (Most people clearly did not like the collection of Wii U games.)  

Right now the Switch is on track to outsell the Wii U's entire lifetime in just 1 fiscal year.  What is the difference?  Most of the major games on the Switch are similar to Wii U games.  The only game that would make a difference is Zelda. 

I agree with all of your points though and I would say that #1 is the factor that will have the biggest long term effect.  Switch is going to sell to both the handheld and home markets.  But I don't think that is why Switch is selling so fast right out of the gate.  Zelda is accelerating sales.  Next year the Zelda effect will be gone, and Switch sales will slow down somewhat until Pokemon comes out.

Pacing is definitely a big factor, I agree that Zelda is a major system seller but if Switch had a 6-8 month post launch drought like Wii U had than sales would not have remained so high during the summer/fall.

As for Wii U library after 3 years, the damage was done by that point, the console had 3 years of negative press and it was pretty clear that it had no long term future. But even with all the issues Wii U had, about ~14 million people bought one to play about a half dozen major Nintendo games so they were in fact system sellers.

 

You ask what is the difference between Switch and Wii U, well like i said its a combination of superior hardware, marketing/advertising, software output, and percieved value.

Its not just Zelda, Splatoon 2 has sold nearly twice as much as Zelda in Japan. Globally Mario Kart is only a few 100k behind Zelda despite releasing about 2 months later and Odyssey will overtake it in the long run.