Which system will sell more in 2026: Switch 2 or PS5?

[Mnementh]

Otter said:

I think Poketopia has taken most people by surprise, even Nintendo...hence it being so understocked.

I'm very curious about who the player is being driven by in the West. Is it more core gamers who have a big love for Cozy gaming or is it a casual audience who picked up on the hype and are curious to try it out. My suspicion would be that the later would provide a longer more sustained boost than the former, but with the Mario movie just coming out I think it will be hard to study the specific boost this game alone provided because it will certainly give them a lift as well.

Nintendo understocks most of the time, because they are always conservative. And many believed Pokopia would be big (maybe not *that* big), once it became clear what Pokopia really *is*. The internet is full of 'I misunderstood Pokopia', often by reviewers that got their hands on it a few days before release and totally changed their view once they played it.

For the playerbase, I think grouping in core and casual is always misleading people. What does it mean? Is someone who loves turn-based deep tactical games a casual or a core player? Doesn't seem very casual to me, but it certainly is different from the shooter bros. And someone who plays Battlefield on the weekends, but has not much time because of job and life? After classical definition that would be a casual, but then Battlefield is grouped a core game. This way of thinking is messing with your head and ability to analyze.

So yeah, I think people that like cozy games (aka games that are not stressful) are probably roped in by Pokopia. But more than that it also pulls in people that like goals. That was the difference between Minecraft and Dragon Quest Builders for me: DQB gave me a main quest and a lot of task to go for, while Minecraft let me off the leash and said: go. So I dropped Minecraft but obsessed over DQB. Pokopia is DQB in it's DNA (plus a bit of Animal Crossing and Viva Pinata), so it will work similarly and reach beyond the pure cozy gamers that enjoy being not stressed. Pokopia still is low stakes, not stressful. But goal oriented players will find enough as well. And sure, the Pokemon IP is helping a lot here to pull people in.

EDIT: About the core vs. casual thinking: people in our circles (gamers and gaming journalists) did underestimate also Art Academy, Tomodachi Life and Animal Crossing. And to note: a new Tomodachi Life will also hit Switch 2. So yeah, that all helps a lot. The only thing is, that the environment overall is bad for tech, with high component prices and uncertainties because of war and AI. But that will hit everyone the same, so I still see Switch 2 ahead of PS5.

Last edited by Mnementh - 5 days ago