What do you guys think??
Have one system to support instead of two has been a great help to Nintendo and probably plays a big part in that. Of course, there are the usual reasons as well, being COVID & ACNH. Obviously I'm not suggesting that these are the only reasons, but they certainly kickstarted the momentum that Switch still seems to be enjoying. Also, I just think people are fond of the idea of having a system you can play on the TV and then subsequently take wherever you want (not a big deal these days due to travel restrictions, but still).
Nintendo just really hit all the right notes from the beginning with this system and it's popularity doesn't come from a fad, like what happened with the Wii.
The lack of popularity of the Wii U limited the initial interest in the Switch; but now it has a unique place in the market and has a very broad appeal among non-gamers, similar to the Wii
Traditional home console gamers were cautious after Wii U bombing
Handheld gamers who had just got a 3DS wait some time to get a Switch
Non Nintendo customers only got one after the very good word-of-mouth the system take a while to get
Long-term Nintendo customers (people who used to buy Nintendo and stopped long ago) comeback because... Honestly no idea, maybe they found the system cool and the concept nice, but don't had confidence to buy a Nintendo again. Years of Switch sucess bring them some confidence
It's probably a combination of X factors, including how the games were spaced out, what games are still in the future we know of, and how the PS and Xbox lines have been behaving.
The Democratic Nintendo fan....is that a paradox? I'm fond of one of the more conservative companies in the industry, but I vote Liberally and view myself that way 90% of the time?
I think the ongoing Software Lineup has a lot to do with this.
The following table includes games that have either sold 5+ million copies and/or were among the Top 10 best-selling games on their respective platforms (becaause we need to show some Wii U games). I'm also bolding best-sellers for each system.
DS | Wii | 3DS | Wii U | Switch | |
Year 1 | Big Brain Academy Brain Age Mario Kart DS Nintendogs Super Mario 64 DS | Legend of Zelda: TP LEGO Star Wars: Complete Saga Mario Party 8 Super Mario Galaxy Wii Play Wii Sports | Legend of Zelda: OoT 3D Mario Kart 7 Super Mario 3D Land | Legend of Zelda: WW HD New Super Luigi U New Super Mario Bros U Nintendo Land | Legend of Zelda: BotW Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Splatoon 2 Super Mario Odyssey |
Year 2 | Animal Crossing: Wild World Brain Age 2 Cooking Mama New Super Mario Bros Pokemon Diamond/Pearl | Link's Crossbow Training Mario Kart Wii Super Smash Bros Brawl Wii Fit | Animal Crossing: New Leaf New Super Mario Bros 2 | Mario Kart 8 Super Mario 3D World Super Smash Bros Wii U | New Super Mario Bros U DX Pokemon: Let's Go Super Mario Party Super Smash Bros Ultimate |
Year 3 | Mario & Sonic 2008 Mario Party DS Pokemon Platinum | New Super Mario Bros Wii Wii Fit Plus Wii Sports Resort | Luigi's Mansion 2 Pokemon X/Y Tomodachi Life | Mario Party 10 Splatoon Super Mario Maker | Luigi's Mansion 3 Pokemon SS Ring Fit Adventure Super Mario Maker 2 |
Year 4 | Dragon Quest IX Pokemon HGSS | Donkey Kong Country Returns Just Dance 2 Super Mario Galaxy 2 Wii Party | Pokemon ORAS Super Smash Bros 3DS | Animal Crossing: NH Super Mario 3D All-Stars Hyrule Warriors: AoC (Tentative) |
Year 1 is "the year following launch day" and so on, which I chose because otherwise the 3DS and Switch with their Q1 launches would look strange next to the other systems and their Q4 launches.
Note that the DS peaked circa years 3/4, the Wii circa Year 2/3, the 3DS year 2, and the Wii U in Year 2. The Switch seems to have peaked in Year 4. Also note that some games were delayed in some regions.
A few things I notice from this
Love and tolerate.
March launch in major regions. Not unheard of for a handheld, not a good sign for a home console
Switch is one platform offered by Nintendo now. It's not like the DS/Wii period or 3DS/Wii U period
Waning interest in Nintendo after the 3DS and Wii U
First-party droughts, and a slow start for third-party games
Lifetime Sales Predictions
Switch: 151 million (was 73, then 96, then 113 million, then 125 million, then 144 million)
PS5: 115 million (was 105 million) Xbox Series S/X: 57 million (was 60 million, then 67 million)
PS4: 120 mil (was 100 then 130 million, then 122 million) Xbox One: 51 mil (was 50 then 55 mil)
3DS: 75.5 mil (was 73, then 77 million)
"Let go your earthly tether, enter the void, empty and become wind." - Guru Laghima
The NES, the Gameboy, and the DS are all examples that something like this can happen to Nintendo consoles (even if part of that for the NES is because of staggered releases, it still peaked in it's fourth year in the U.S. and probably would have peaked in it's fourth year as a result if it launched globally in the same year).
Shadow1980 said: Two reasons: 1) It probably took some time to gain more traction instead of having an initial rush because it was a new concept and Nintendo was just coming off of the Wii U. 2) This guy right here: Had there been no pandemic, Switch sales were likely going to be down or at best roughly flat in 2020. Hardly anybody was expecting any appreciable year-over-year gains, many if not most were expecting it to be down (at least in the U.S.), and nobody expected it to do as well as it did. Demand for consoles increased due to the pandemic and still remains elevated because of the general increase in spending on at-home entertainment, but once enough people are vaccinated and the numbers of cases are sufficiently down to where everything can safely reopen, I expect demand for the Switch to decline as pent-up demand for things like movie theaters and restaurants results in a spending spree on away-from-home events and entertainment. |
While I don't think 2020 would have been AS good for Switch, it would have absolutely been up YoY still. Animal Crossing was massive on the 3ds and there is no reason to think Covid alone is what made people hyped for that game. Also, if Covid-19 hadn't happened, many games that weren't able to be released in 2020 would have been released, further helping hardware sales. On top of that, the tens of millions of Americans and hundreds of millions of total humans that lost jobs during Covid would have felt more secure in spending money on unnecessary entertainment like video games.
Dulfite said:
While I don't think 2020 would have been AS good for Switch, it would have absolutely been up YoY still. Animal Crossing was massive on the 3ds and there is no reason to think Covid alone is what made people hyped for that game. Also, if Covid-19 hadn't happened, many games that weren't able to be released in 2020 would have been released, further helping hardware sales. On top of that, the tens of millions of Americans and hundreds of millions of total humans that lost jobs during Covid would have felt more secure in spending money on unnecessary entertainment like video games. |
I thought that I was the only one who always get confused with this narrative of increasing game spending. Overall Covid has hurted the income of majority of families so I don't see how people getting less money exactly relates with higher spending in games
I'm waiting for some report of overall increase in console spending for 2020 to give this argument any sort of credibility
Last edited by IcaroRibeiro - on 20 February 2021