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curl-6 said:
You continue to miss the point; PS2 was merely an example that a "larger userbase" is meaningless when that userbase has moved on. The 3DS's days of relevance are long gone. Almost every game released on it since the Switch came out has underperformed or outright bombed. Let's compare some sales of games that released side-by-side on both 3DS and Switch: Captain Toad Switch: 400k 3DS: 80k Fire Emblem Warriors Switch: 480k 3DS: 140k The conclusion is obvious; Samus Returns would have sold far better on Switch, and it's failure is entirely Nintendo's fault for releasing it on an obsolete platform that gamers were moving on from instead of the far superior new platform they were flocking to and hungry for games for. |
Why are we concluding that it was a failure? If you just mean it could have sold more, then yes it could have sold more on the Switch. But, there is also value in showing support for a console even after its successor is released. This is something Sony has been consistently praised for. There's also lower development costs in HD, and the fact that the developer was familiar with 3DS hardware, and not Switch hardware. I believe that the game runs on Castlevania's engine. Development on the Switch may have represented a commitment they were uncomfortable with, or would require much more assistance from Nintendo's staff.
Also, I think Prime 4 is a bit more exciting as the first Metroid on the Switch. I think Samus Returns would somewhat water down the hype.
I think the game did what it was supposed to do. It's a cheap game that didn't really take a lot of resources to develop, wasn't risky to develop, that will make 3DS owners happy. It's really not a surprise that Nintendo's post Switch 3DS offerings have pretty much been remakes that run on existing engines. (FE Warriors, Echoes, Mario and Luigi, Luigi's Mansion, Mario Party, etc.) They know what they're doing, and I think 500K or so is enough to make a profit.
