RolStoppable said:
Switch doesn't support the argument either, because its codename was announced in March 2015 and it was easy enough to figure that a 2016 launch was targeted due to the sales levels of the 3DS and Wii U. Furthermore, in April 2016 Nintendo confirmed that the launch was going to happen in March 2017. |
Switch reveal is how 90%+ of people found out about the product, believe it or not most consumers don't live on video game message boards or read Nintendo's financial year end statements. Nintendo announced "NX" in 2015, sure, but gave no idea of what the system was or any detail beyond the name "NX" which is like ok ... you're going to pre-order a system because you like the letters "N" and "X"? It was done more to appease stockholders at the time because Nintendo's stock was tanking on the Wii U's failures and they had to say we are working on the next system.
For "Joe Average Consumer" the Switch was announced in late October and released the first week of March. So basically yes, a little over 4 months of actual marketing time. I doubt even 3% of Switch owners know if was initially announced under the codename "NX". October 2016 is the first time they saw anything about the system and could make a judgement on whether they wanted it or not. PS5 announced in June 2020 and launched in November 2020. Switch OLED announced in July 2021 and launched October 2021.
Times have changed, you have a thing called social media these days which spreads information and news rapidly to people and since Apple made product unveils a mainstream news event more than a decade ago, news outlets pick up on a big product unveil instantly these days.
Even 5 months I think is a longer than needed time span. iPhones get like a week of lead time, you don't need months and months and certainly not years of lead time to build "hype". People can look at a product on Youtube or their social media feed and decide very quickly if its something they want or not.
Last edited by Soundwave - on 22 September 2022
