Nintendo quarterly sales figures update, (To 31st Dec 2020) Switch 79.87m

[The_Liquid_Laser]

PAOerfulone said:

Wyrdness said:

The phenomenon is still around it's just not aimed at you who was the target audience at the time and has taken a different approach with the times I don't think you understand what is meant by a bubble bursting, S/S released before any nation went into lock down (January) and sold 16m on release so how does the Pandemic factor in there or is that the go to excuse now?

Not putting words in your mouth I'm pointing out what you're implying especially with your "own merit" comment AC was hyped long before the Pandemic was even a thing the were celebrities posting about it on their twitter a year before any lockdown anyone who knew the series could see huge sales were coming especially with the Switch's momentum we have a Zelda game heading to 25m when no game in the series never broke 10m in its entire history we have a 3D Mario game touching 20m for the first time, we have games like Luigi's Mansion about to hit 10m. This isn't the pandemic this is just the games being good, marketing and platform momentum. ACNH isn't the only game you can get away from the world from either nor is it the only game of its kind.

If you honestly think that Pokemon is still as big of a deal now as it was back then, you're kidding yourself. It is not. The Game Boy was dying a death by late '94 throughout '95 and then Pokemon came out, lit the world on fire, and cemented Nintendo's permanent dominance in the handheld market. But then, it was THE talk of the town. THE game. THE franchise. Somecallmejohnny got his copy of Metal Gear Solid on the PS1 by in exchange for a Pokemon trading card! A PS1 game for a tiny piece of cardboard?! THAT'S how big it was back then. To say that the phenomenon is still around is just a heaping pile of Kangaskhan dung. It's just not true. The reason why it sold 16 million on release, and has now managed to reach 20 million has a lot to do with the 'Switch effect' which I noted earlier, and yes, the Pandemic boost. Because the press and word of mouth around Sword/Shield wasn't exactly good. Certainly not at the same standard as prior Pokemon games.

The Pandemic factor took effect in March, and it has had a notable positive effect on the Switch itself, which in turn, had a notable effect on its first party software. You think the Switch got to 28-30 million sales in 2020 by its own merit? And yes, I'm gonna keep saying that because there's truth to it.  It is undeniable that Covid was as big of a factor as anything else for sales exploding the way that they did, to the point where Nintendo STILL can't keep up with demand. The Switch is fresh off its best holiday season ever... With Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and Pikmin 3, as its only holiday titles... I mean, come on.

Animal Crossing, as great and as big as it is, is not capable of that on its own. In some regions, it's not even doing it on its own. In places like China and even the homeland, Japan, Ring Fit Adventure is having as much of an impact on hardware sales as Animal Crossing. They're constantly going head to head in the weekly Famitsu software sales charts. 

Yes, celebrities and famous people from Brie Larson, to T-Pain, to Elijah Wood, to even Danny Trejo, AOC, and President Biden, were/still are playing Animal Crossing. Wow, big shocker, celebrities play video games too! Eminem and Miley Cyrus bought a Wii U for Smash Bros, but that clearly didn't do jack-shit for the Wii U or Smash Bros. 

But all those celebrities I mentioned who are playing Animal Crossing, who were also posting it on Twitter, they were posting it AFTER the game came out! So, not only are you misquoting me, now, unless you have actual evidence to back up your claim that there were celebrities posting about it the year before any lockdown took place, you're also lying. No celebrities were posting about it on their twitter 'a year (2019) before any lockdown', they were posting about it AFTER the pandemic and lockdown took effect, the exact same time the game came out!

Yes, before the game released, and before any sign of a pandemic hitting, there were a lot of signs, based on the performance of other Nintendo games on Switch like you just stated, from Breath of the Wild, to Odyssey, to Luigi's Mansion 3, that Animal Crossing was going to do huge numbers and be the best selling game in the history of the franchise. I'm not arguing that. What I'm saying is that, without the pandemic, there is no way in hell it reaches 31 million in less than one year. Maybe in its entire lifetime, with the right quality, marketing, and platform momentum behind it, but not in 9 months!

Yeah, platform momentum was a factor. And that momentum and Switch sales skyrockted more than any other system when the pandemic took effect. Why do you think we've been calling it 'the Covid boost?" And when you get the a new console, in the middle of a pandemic, you need something to kill the time and provide a sense of escape from the shitty situation the world is in. There is no better game that fits that mold than Animal Crossing. Again, I never said it was the only game of its kind nor was it the only game you could get away from the world from, I said it was the PERFECT game in this situation. It had JUST come out, and it had the Nintendo PR and marketing machine fully behind it, while Switch sales were at the highest they had ever been up to that point, with its closest competitors, the PS4 and Xbox One, winding down. All eyes and ears were on Nintendo, and they were showcasing their new big S-tier title. If it were Breath of the Wild 2, or a new 3D Mario game, or even Metroid Prime 4, sales would have exploded and people would have flocked to those games too. But unlike those games, an open-world action adventure, a space-shooting, sci-fi explorer, and a 3D platformer, which have a beginning and an end, Animal Crossing, as a life simulator, just keeps going and going and going. It was EXACTLY the kind of game you would need to get you through a pandemic. And Nintendo went ALL IN on supporting it.

So not only do I say this again, I'm adding to it: It was the right game, on the right platform, in the right place, at the right time.

You are forgetting about Pokemon Go, which was just nuts the year it released and is still doing pretty well.  It qualifies as being just as big as the original Pokemon if not bigger.  Some of those mobile game users upgrade to the real game, i.e. Sword/Shield.  That is one reason why Sw/Sh is doing so well in spite of Pokemon fans saying it sucks.

For that matter Animal Crossing Pocket Camp is also helping New Horizons.  Animal Crossing obviously also had COVID helping it, but COVID alone does not explain this kind of phenomenon.  FF7 Remake didn't sell anything like this in spite of being released around the same time.