What's causing Nintendo's software sales on the Switch to be so good?

[The_Liquid_Laser]

Bofferbrauer2 said:

The_Liquid_Laser said:

If a person pays careful attention, then they will find that there are actually a lot of potential gamers out there that are only being marginally catered to.  The two markets for console gaming are the home market and the handheld market.  But within those two markets there are a variety of customers.  There are always some people on the high end who think, "this is nice, but I really wish it were even better.  I'd definitely pay more if this were better."  There are also people on the low end who think, "That looks really nice, but it's out of my price range.  If the price drops enough then I'll definitely buy, but it's just too pricey right now."

What the Switch is doing right now is that it is appealing to both the low end of the home market and the high end of the handheld market.  On top of that it is extra appealing to people who are in both markets.  So let me describe these three groups.

1) Low end home - These people are buying Switch for Nintendo first party games.  The PS4 or XB1 can basically be found for the same price (or possibly cheaper).  But there are people who will buy a Nintendo home system for first party games and these people are included.

2) High end handheld - These people are extremely happy.  The choices last gen were the Vita or 3DS.  Switch hardware is so incredibly better than the 3DS.  For example, 3DS games output in 240p while Switch handheld outputs in 720p.  It's like handhelds skipped a generation.  Because of this Switch can also bring new types of games to handheld gaming like Zelda: Breath of the Wild.  Vita users are also very happy (like Ganoncrotch said a few posts ago).  It's a more powerful system, but it also has a much better game selection than the Vita had.  Happy customers are also more likely to buy more games.  A person who plays Switch only in handheld mode is going to buy more Switch games this generation than they did 3DS or Vita games last generation.

3) People in both home and handheld market - These people are probably the happiest of all, because they get two systems for the price of one.  There are people who bought 3DS and Wii U.  For these people buying a Switch means they basically bought a Wii U and got a 3DS for free.  Same goes for everyone who owns both a PS4 and a Vita.  The "two systems in one" means they are getting a really huge value.

So, these are all the people that the Switch is currently attracting, but there are more it isn't getting yet: high end home, mid-range home, mid-range handheld, low end handheld.  When the Switch Lite comes out, then Switch will get the mid-range handheld crowd.  This is an even bigger chunk of the handheld market than they are getting now.  I don't know if Switch will ever become cheap enough to get low end handheld.  It needs to drop to $100 or less, and I don't know yet if Nintendo will let Switch get that low in price.  Switch will never, ever get the high end home market.  It just isn't designed for that.  However, in a couple of years Switch will have a huge library of games and PS5 and Scarlett will have $500+ price tags.  I think at that point most of the mid range home market will buy a Switch.

So, basically Switch is getting the Wii U market, and the high end 3DS and Vita market.  And the people in the high end 3DS and Vita market are extremely happy with the system.  They are getting a very powerful handheld system with a great library of games.  As a handheld the Switch is a huge step up from the offerings of last generation, and that is why people are happy to buy more software than before.

I'll add to this that they cater for something different. Sony, Microsoft, and the different publishers can make great games, but the scope, in terms of genres, is pretty narrow. You'll find shooters, Action-Adventures, Action-RPG and racing simulations. It's pretty rare that they make games that don't fall into any of these genres.

Nintendo however doesn't follow that rule of thumb and makes many games in genres that the big publishers have since deemed "unprofitable" and is making a killing since outside of themselves, only indies really make such games anymore - and those often sell better on Switch than on the other two combined, reinforcing it's status of giving a different experience. The difference to the past is that back then, Nintendo has been considered kiddie for bringing such games. Now, it's more in the lines of nostalgic of the past, and the increasingly exploitative nature of AAA publishers will certainly only reinforce the yearning for the games (of the past) that don't try to nickel and dime you at every turn

If I understand you, it sounds like you are saying that the Switch is a Blue Ocean product.  I.e. "it's games are so different that it becomes a major selling point in itself".  I am not sure I agree with this.  It is clear that the Wii was a Blue Ocean product, because it's best selling games were things like Wii Sports and Wii Fit, and those games really were like nothing on the PS3 or XBox360 at the time.  I don't think the same can be said for the Switch.  Here are the best selling games on the Switch.

1) Mario Kart (Racing)
2) Mario Odyssey (3D platformer)
3) Smash Bros (Fighting)
4) Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Open World)
5) Pokemon (RPG)
6) Splatoon (Online shooter)
7) Mario Party (Party game)

There are a couple genres there, that are not too popular on the the PS4 and XB1: 3D platformer and party game.  On the other hand: racing, fighting, open world, rpg and online shooter are all the types of games that are popular on PS4 and XB1.  And I do agree that Nintendo has more of a perception of being a family console, but Sony and Microsoft are trying to appeal to all age groups too.  Games like Spider-Man and Forza are designed to appeal to broad age categories.

What I'm saying is that it is true that Switch is more different from the PS4 and XB1 than those latter two are from each other.  But it's really not that big of a difference anymore.  The Wii era, that was an extremely different era where Nintendo really did make games that were extremely different from the mainstream on the other consoles.  Switch software is just not that different anymore.  Zelda: BotW didn't sell because there are no other open world games out there.  It sold because it is arguably the best open world game out there.  Nintendo is relying more on quality this time instead of pure differentiation.

The difference this time is in the versatility of the hardware.  Switch appeals to people who like both home console gaming and handheld gaming.  It isn't really different types of games.  It is genres that are mostly considered orthodox, but they are sent out to more people, because they can be sold to both home gamers and handheld gamers.  It's really one system that can sell to two markets.  Switch is selling well, because it is selling to two markets.