I see the Wii very differently, it wasn’t Nintendo abandoning traditional gamers, but rather a return to form after abandoning their traditional appeal during the N64. At least on their home consoles. The return to prominence of Super Mario on the Wii is a big indicator of that, since the Super Mario brand was BY FAR traditional Nintendo’s biggest brand.
There isn’t much of difference as to why Wii Sports and Breath of the Wild/Animal Crossing sold well. These were big killer app experiences that people have seen as compelling.
The Switch is a continuation of the Wii’s revolution as its basically a hybridization or a Wii style console and an ultra-advanced handheld - which is the key reason for the added popularity of mostly everything: the greater convenience makes Nintendo-style games more compelling on Switch. And so you’re getting a combination of games that sold well on Wii and DS.
Animal Crossing saw a fairly huge bump because of its incorporated sandbox elements, and it’s basically taken what appealed about the older versions of the game and come as close to perfecting the experience for a market audience that has ever been done.
Had Splatoon been around for the Wii, no doubt it would have been a major hit.
The real explosion title is Breath of the Wild, and that’s no secret, it is the first really exciting Zelda release since Ocarina of Time. While Ocarina of Time was great, it still felt short of original expectations. Breath of the Wild is also a return to form for that franchise as it fulfilled what many were expecting Zelda to do when Nintendo moved into the 3D space: explore a vast and open world, and stare down upon it from the top of Death Mountain.
In short, to me the Switch feels A LOT more like the continuation of the Wii in the same way the SNES was the continuation of the SNES. The Wii/DS fanbase is the driving factor for Switch’s fanbase in the way the NES fanbase was the driving factor for the SNES. Except Nintendo is treating Switch a lot better than they did the SNES, so it has more potential.
Games are selling better because: A) the games are really compelling because of their quality. B) Hybridization makes a very convenient console that people are more likely to want to play games on. C) Nintendo is building on their Wii/DS base, and the Wii/DS crowd, which included LOTS of children and teenagers are now in their twenties and thirties. And those of us from that fanbase who are a little older have families now with new children old enough to play games, and we’re using the Switch as a family console.
Last edited by Jumpin - on 13 August 2020I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
