baloofarsan said:
Third party support of any kind for Nintendo products has a big problem. The average owner of any console is going to buy approximately ten games during one generation (~5 years). For a Nintendo console there is a VERY big chance most people will buy: 2D Mario platformer, 3D Mario platformer, Mario Kart, Pokémon, Super Smash Bros, Zelda, Animal Crossing, Splatoon. That is already eight games. Switch most probably also gets FIFA, CoD and Skylanders/Lego/Just Dance that could sell good numbers. Other third party games will have a hard time getting big sales on a Nintendo console.
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Really good point. In the Nintendo ecosystem, first-party games are highly desirable. Conversely, first-party games on PS4 and Xbox are much less attractive to consumers relative to the third party blockbusters. People buy PS4/XOne for Call of Duty, GTA, FIFA, Madden, Fallout, Watch Dogs, etc. Sure, they also buy those systems for Uncharted, Halo, and Gears, but it's a very different situation from Nintendo.
It's hard for Nintendo to create a similar environment for third parties (read: "AAA" American and European third parties) on its systems. It would have to 1) make less desirable software; 2) beef up hardware to match third parties' specifications; and 3) spend advertising money showing off exclusives, timed exclusives, exclusive DLC, timed exclusive DLC, etc.
All of that is playing to Nintendo's competitors' strengths and its own weaknesses. Instead, Nintendo should play to its own strengths, namely its software. Build a cheap, accessible system and turn out games like crazy. Look at the attach rates on WiiU games. Imagine if the cost for entry wasn't $350, but $200. And imagine if WiiU supported the entire 3DS library. That's what I hope for Switch. It will all come down to the price tag though, and whether Nintendo shuts down 3DS in March.