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nemo37 on 19 November 2017
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Madword said:
nemo37 said:
I don't know if I am jumping the gun a bit, but I have a feeling that after $200 PS4 (which is performing extraordinarily well) and the $190 Xbox One (I assume both well also get permanent price cuts; at $250 and $230 respectively), Nintendo is going to have a lot of problems with Switch momentum. A lot of parents and grand parents that are buying their children and grand children gifts are going to go to the stores and see the $300 Switch with most of its key software (of which there is a smaller amount at the moment in comparison to the other systems) at full price (when all is said and done the full purchase will probably cost $360) and compare it to these other systems where you can get a game and the system for $210 and $220 respectively for XONE and PS4 and later (after Black Friday) $250 and $270. IMO, the pricing will be the downfall of the Nintendo Switch, largely because now the system will lose much of its momentum over it and Nintendo will be too slow and too stubborn (they want their hardware to sell at a profit, and they are most likely not going to take a loss on overall profits like they did with 3DS initially after the price cut) to adjust the pricing in the correct time frame (before consumers lose interest) to regain momentum. I honestly feel like this is the start of the end for the Switch.

Nintendo's problem (if you can call it that - its not really a problem) is that November is all about Black Friday and thats generally all about price. Sure Switch will sell great as its a wanted item, but I think XBOX and PS will beat it in November because of Black Friday. Because BF is about price and its the Switches first year and cannot really get a massive discount. PS4 and Xbox are 4 years old, have had revisions, and can be discounted. So Switch not winning November isn't the end of the world, its probably expected... it may also impact it winning in December if good deals continue on the other two platforms.

Perhaps I am catastrophizing (which is what I usually do), but I feel like the other systems being significantly cheaper will divert a lot of holiday shoppers away from the Switch to the point where it will lose momentum. Truth is that I have always been skeptical about the Switch's price from the beginning largely because anything above $200 has historically not worked well for handheld products (the Vita and 3DS's troubles at $250 is evidence of this). I understand that Switch is also a home console, but now we have these more powerful home consoles (with much bigger libraries with less expensive software) that are sold at a significantly lower price as of this holiday, and the Switch, while an incredibly powerful and flexible handheld, is nevertheless priced $100 above the typical sweet spot for a handheld console. I just cannot see how it can maintain momentum like this.