By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Ariana Grande performing on The Tonight Show with Nintendo Labo

 

Who promotes labo best, Ariana Grande or Bill Nye?

Ariana Grande 12 41.38%
 
Bill Nye 5 17.24%
 
Celebrities really can sell anything huh? 12 41.38%
 
Total:29
Faelco on 14 May 2018
TheMisterManGuy said:
thismeintiel said:

The whole point of Labo was to attract kids and a more casual audience, which would in turn boost Switch sales, which is why Nintendo was expecting to ship 20M units this fiscal year. That has not happened. So, as far as its intended purpose goes, it has failed. Now, it may pick up during the holidays, but we'll have to wait and see how that plays out.

As far as sales go, it's not a failure per se. However, its sales aren't anything to get excited about, either. It opened low in the UK and continues to plummet each week. I'm sure the same is happening across EU. Japan has had a better result, but it's still not a runaway success, and has only sold ~50% of its initial shipment, even though one of those weeks was Golden Week. And while we'll have to wait to see how it debuted in the US, we also haven't got any stories about how successful it has been in the past 3 weeks, which makes me believe it wasn't that big of a hit. Now, we have Nintendo paying a big price for Ariana Grand and the Tonight Show to push it. That kinda also points to them trying hard to push units that aren't selling. 

That's kind of the point. Nintendo isn't expecting an instant monster hit. They're expecting Labo to grow as a product and that will depend entirely on the legs it has. Sure, it's sales so far aren't anything spectacular, but the fact that it's been in the Top 5 in Japan according to Media Create for 3 weeks straight shows that it's a consistent seller at least. The real test of Labo's longevity will be Christmas time, which is where Toys usually make the bulk of their sales. The mistake people are making with Labo is that they're looking at it through the lens of a conventional game release, but that's not really what Nintendo's going for with Labo. This is a Toy, and Nintendo is treating it as such, so its off to a decent start in that regard. 

As for Europe, well that's to be expected. Europe's always been Nintendo's weakest market, so it makes since Labo would debut lower there than in Japan or US, and US is still up in the air as NPD is notoriously slow with releasing monthly sales figures. 

The only thing we know about Nintendo's expectations is that in a month, they still didn't sell the initial shipment in Japan (far from it), because they sold only 30% at launch. And they had a massive marketing AND Golden Week. That's a poor sell-through performance, or a vastly overestimated first shipment.

 

So at least, Labo underperformed compared to Nintendo's expectations. Which would explain the necessary big new marketing push one month after release to try to relaunch the sales and at least finish to sell what's in store.



Around the Network
S.Peelman on 14 May 2018
thismeintiel said:
TheMisterManGuy said:
People are still pushing this narrative that Labo is a failure? It was #3 last week in Japan, and has been in the top 5 since launch according to Media Create. That's not half-bad for a Toy released outside Christmas. Labo isn't a conventional game release, it'll depend heavily on holiday momentum and future releases.

The whole point of Labo was to attract kids and a more casual audience, which would in turn boost Switch sales, which is why Nintendo was expecting to ship 20M units this fiscal year. That has not happened. So, as far as its intended purpose goes, it has failed. Now, it may pick up during the holidays, but we'll have to wait and see how that plays out.

As far as sales go, it's not a failure per se. However, its sales aren't anything to get excited about, either. It opened low in the UK and continues to plummet each week. I'm sure the same is happening across EU. Japan has had a better result, but it's still not a runaway success, and has only sold ~50% of its initial shipment, even though one of those weeks was Golden Week. And while we'll have to wait to see how it debuted in the US, we also haven't got any stories about how successful it has been in the past 3 weeks, which makes me believe it wasn't that big of a hit. Now, we have Nintendo paying a big price for Ariana Grande and the Tonight Show to push it. That kinda also points to them trying hard to push units that aren't selling. 

I highly doubt Nintendo is banking on Labo to make Switch sell 20m.



TheMisterManGuy on 14 May 2018
Faelco said:

The only thing we know about Nintendo's expectations is that in a month, they still didn't sell the initial shipment in Japan (far from it), because they sold only 30% at launch. And they had a massive marketing AND Golden Week. That's a poor sell-through performance, or a vastly overestimated first shipment.

 

So at least, Labo underperformed compared to Nintendo's expectations. 

 

I think your looking at those shipments the wrong way. IIRC, Nintendo doesn't actually determine the shipments for games in Japan, retailers do. It's likely that retailers wanted to make sure there were enough copies for GW, so they stocked accordingly. Add to this that Labo isn't available for download on the eShop due to its DIY aspect, so it's likely that Nintendo would want to supply more stock than usual for Labo. Plus, those shipments are for both the Variety and Robot Kits, and we know the Variety Kit is outselling the Robot Kit by a large margin. We have no idea what Nintendo's actual expectations for Labo were at launch, but Nintendo did say in their recent IR meeting that they're off to a good start so far with Labo, and that they plan to develop it into one of its staple products that is "not constrained by the boundaries of conventional video games". That's a good indication of how Nintendo actually views Labo in regards to performance. 

Last edited by TheMisterManGuy - on 14 May 2018

Keybladewielder on 14 May 2018

Queen of Kids and Cardboards



thismeintiel on 14 May 2018
Megiddo said:
TheMisterManGuy said:

But its too early to call Labo a success or a failure. It's a unique product, even by Nintendo standards. It's going to depend a lot more on evergreen sales and holiday pushes.

Do toys people buy for the holidays typically require another $300 purchase to actually use the toy? Seems more like a video game to me.

I think this is something people are ignoring when they talk about Labo as a toy.  Firstly, I don't really recall any toy that sold poorly, or just ok, and then became a massive hit about 8 months later, just because it was the holidays.  Usually those things are massive hits within a few days/weeks, and it just makes the holiday season an even crazier buying frenzy.  And 2nd, it really doesn't help that you can't just use Labo by itself.  You have to have a $300 Switch.  Which is why it is mostly selling to those who already had it, instead of spurring Switch sales, like Nintendo wanted it to do.  Sure, we may get a $300 bundle during the holiday season, but that's still $300 to play with a cardboard toy w/ a few minigames.



 

Around the Network
TheMisterManGuy on 14 May 2018
thismeintiel said:
Megiddo said:

Do toys people buy for the holidays typically require another $300 purchase to actually use the toy? Seems more like a video game to me.

I think this is something people are ignoring when they talk about Labo as a toy.  Firstly, I don't really recall any toy that sold poorly, or just ok, and then became a massive hit about 8 months later, just because it was the holidays.  Usually those things are massive hits within a few days/weeks, and it just makes the holiday season an even crazier buying frenzy.  And 2nd, it really doesn't help that you can't just use Labo by itself.  You have to have a $300 Switch.  Which is why it is mostly selling to those who already had it, instead of spurring Switch sales, like Nintendo wanted it to do.  Sure, we may get a $300 bundle during the holiday season, but that's still $300 to play with a cardboard toy w/ a few minigames.

Except Nintendo isn't expecting Labo to be a monster hit out of the gate. They said they want to nurture it as a long-term product, and Labo is selling at a very steady pace. It's never left the top 5 since launch, so that's an assuring sign that it's off to a good start. Plus, even then, it still did very well at launch. For comparison's sake, lets look at Labo's first week sales in Japan, compared to another Nintendo "expanded audience" title, Brain Age. 

Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! = 44.166  

Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 01: Variety Kit = 90,410 

The Variety Kit alone, outperformed Brain Age's first week sales. And even if it isn't #1 in the following weeks, it's still been in the Top 5 in Media Create since Launch, so while Not a monster seller, the fact that it has legs shows Nintendo is on to something here. 



Barkley on 14 May 2018

Dear Nintendo,

Stop throwing money at this crap.

Yours sincerely,

me.



fedfed on 14 May 2018

anything that can bring sales and visibility is good!



Switch!!!

Cubedramirez on 14 May 2018

She has a unbelievable hold on the Japanese market. I can't stand her music and her as a person, the video incident, but it's another clear sign Nintendo knows how to market



AlfredoTurkey on 14 May 2018

As if there weren't enough reasons to hate Labo....