Covid 19/Shelter in Place | 20 |
Nintendo Game Drought | 0 |
Quality of Game | 20 |
Quality of Franchise | 10 |
Time since last Release | 5 |
Install Base of Switch | 5 |
Handheld Console Merger | 10 |
Other (please specify) | 30 - See below. |
What I like to call 'The Switch Effect' where almost all of Nintendo's major franchises (3D Mario, Mario Kart, Mario Party, Mario Tennis, Luigi's Mansion, Zelda, Splatoon, Xenoblade, Smash Bros.) have had their latest installment on the Switch that has gone on to become the best selling game in their respective franchise or close to it. (Pokemon, Kirby, Fire Emblem). That's because the Switch is the "cool" thing in town now. It has achieved that air or level of coolness and broad appeal that systems like the NES, PS1, PS2, PS4, the entire Game Boy line, and DS before it have managed to achieve. It has managed to appeal and cater towards all three of the major audiences that a system should appeal to in order to succeed at the highest level:
1. The casual, mainstream gaming market. (Your average Joe/Jane on the street who doesn't go out of their way to play video games often. They don't know much outside of Call of Duty, sports games, Grand Theft Auto, Mario, and Pokemon.)
2. The dedicated, focused gaming market. (Us.)
3. That company's loyal following (The fanboys/fangirls.)
Most systems will appeal to 1 or 2 of these audiences.* Or they DO appeal to all 3 audiences, but they're all split between two or more systems competing head to head.**
Usually in those instances, you have modest successes (3DS*, N64*, PSP*, PS3/360**, SNES/GEN**) or utter failures (Wii U, GCN, Vita, XOne, Saturn, Dreamcast)
When you have a system that can appeal to all 3 audiences AND get the vast majority of their marketshare (NES, Game Boy line, PS1, PS2, PS4, DS.) Then you have a system that is capable of incredible, record-breaking levels of sales for both hardware AND software. And that's what we have for the Switch. That's why all of those franchises I mentioned have done exploded in sales and popularity and that is what's happening with Animal Crossing right now.
Hardware Comparison Threads:
Current Thread
Is Hardware Getting TOO Powerful?
Older Threads:
PlayStation/Xbox/Switch: 2022 Edition
PlayStation/Xbox/Switch Hardware Battle: 2021 Edition!
PlayStation 4/Xbox One/Nintendo Switch: 2019 vs. 2020
PlayStation 4/Xbox One/Nintendo Switch: 2018 vs. 2019
PlayStation 4/Xbox One/Nintendo Switch: 2017 vs. 2018
PlayStation 4: 2015 vs. 2016 vs. 2017