Mnementh said:
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. |
Regarding the stock situation this is way more than the usual and led to "record" digital sales according to Chris Dring, I don't think it makes sense to underplay the extent to which this game performed above the vast majority of expectations.
Regarding casual/core, you're right in that it normally may not make sense to try and distinguish them but I do think that question translates into how long/far extended the boost on hardware will likely be and legs on the software itself. Phenomenon which really reach the casuals are able sustain for years. More core genre specific successes' tend to be shorter lived/more front loaded.
