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[Fiendcode]

I'm gonna get lynched by some people around here because of their concern about lazy publishing environments, but I think Nintendo has an interesting opportunity with the back-library of the Wii U. I'm someone who bought basically every one of the major first/second-party titles. I would be happy seeing more than half of those re-released on Switch; I think the games are that good and they hit a very small audience the first time around.

I think with the way the Wii U failed so completely, Nintendo may end up with a chance to make the first half of the generation's worth of their games suddenly marketable in a way that you normally couldn't at the halfway point of a system. That'll be hard to balance, because they'll need that steady stream of truly new software, but I think they can pad out their library in a way that'll make people happy.

These sales numbers are fantastic, but I think having a "captive" audience and being released so close to the launch enthusiasm, it's less of a suprise. They neeeed to take that initial enthusiasm seriously and have a plan for making their system feel like it could be a primary platform. The more oddball issues like their online chat show up, the more I think even relatively steadfast fans will start to mentally tally-up their frustrations.

It's not only Nintendo with a big porting opportunity here. Hopefully Skyrim's sales open some more 3rd party eyes. Particularly Rockstar's.

 

[The Cowboy]

Some great numbers, and i'm so happy Arms has broken 1 million (as its awesome) and i would have no surprise if Splatoon 2 gets towards the Zelda number eventually.

I wonder how much higher the figures would be without the stock issues the Switch has, i would think easily + another million (if not more).

 

[Forkball]

Christmas is going to be insane.

Switch with Mario, Zelda, Splatoon, and perhaps actual physical consoles you can find in stores and purchase.

Xbox with the most powerful console ever™

PS4 with Knack 2, and if they really wanna go hard, a Knack 2 bundle

 

[jorgejjvr]

This holiday will be crazy, the switch will have a solid line up with Amazing games, likely with 2 game of the year contender

Next year with Pokémon... It's not slowing down

 

[zroid]

that Mario kart attach rate is fucking insane. it's a port!

ARMS breaking 1 million already is unexpected and great

 

[Trago]

Good numbers, but Switch production needs to ramp up already.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Any word on the best selling third-party title on the system?

 

[Z3M0G]

Nice to see Arms doing so well. Splatoon and then this... nice to see Nintendo branching out!

These will make great Smash characters some day.

 

[AmayaPapaya]

I went through the profiles of random people I played with in Splatoon 2, to see what types of games people were playing, and a surprisingly large amount of them did not own Zelda. A lot were new owners, or simply just didn't have it. One guy had Mario Kart, Arms, and, of couse, Splatoon 2. No Zelda anywhere. The system seems to be coming into it's own now, and not just being a Zelda machine. Although, I would still expect a crazy high attach ratio, until Odyssey comes out.

 

[TsuWave]

I believe the Switch will easily arrive second by the end of the gen.

do you expect it to keep selling at this/similar pace? i dunno man, xbox one has respectable numbers

 

[JustenP88]

Pretty freaking sweet numbers. Looking forward to Splatoon 2 news. I think it's really got potential to become another ubiquitous Nintendo IP.

 

[QuixoticNeutral]

Elated to see Arms do well (zipping right through the Pikmin-to-Metroid zone, in fact, which guided my expectations for it). Fantastic game—and now secure in its place as a banner new IP for the generation in the footsteps of Pikmin and Splatoon, though I don't expect it will pull the same numbers as Splatoon 1 in the long term. 2M was what I considered a decent but realistic performance for it, and it looks on course to clear that bar easily.

The attach rates for both Zelda and MK8D are and will remain a little crazy.

 

[cakely]

Congratulations, Nintendo! The Switch is a really hot product, and those attach rates are incredible.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

do you expect it to keep selling at this/similar pace? i dunno man, xbox one has respectable numbers

I think unless the Xbox One X is a breakout smash or it takes Nintendo a lot longer than anticipated to fix their production issues, the Switch will handily outsell XB1 within a couple years.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

I went through the profiles of random people I played with in Splatoon 2, to see what types of games people were playing, and a surprisingly large amount of them did not own Zelda. A lot were new owners, or simply just didn't have it. One guy had Mario Kart, Arms, and, of couse, Splatoon 2. No Zelda anywhere. The system seems to be coming into it's own now, and not just being a Zelda machine. Although, I would still expect a crazy high attach ratio, until Odyssey comes out.

The numbers suggest Zelda is in fact the default purchase though. That said Zelda released on WiiU so that could be a portion of it.

 

[Barry Burton]

Those are some attach rates, alright...

i disagree. the presentation was the only blight on what was otherwise obviously turning out to be a hot product. the fact that some people put so much weight on an event that was really meant for japan and only streamed elsewhere in the evening or later speaks more to their worldview and how they were unable to see the bigger picture.

Yup, this. Not to overgeneralize, but a sizable portion of GAF assigns an insane amount of stock to these press conferences, E3 or otherwise. They are important, sure, but come on.

 

[professor_t]

How the hell did 800,000 people buy a switch and not Zelda?

Edit: folks gave good responses. In reality, what I'm contesting is that this isn't a high attach rate, it's the only attach rate that makes sense.

 

[Soulscribe]

Good numbers. A GTAV port would do really well too. They need some third party padding stat.

 

[DeathoftheEndless]

Any word on the best selling third-party title on the system?

I would be surprised if it wasn't Minecraft.

 

[13ruce]

How the hell did 800,000 people buy a switch and not Zelda?

Japan probably. Well a majorty of that 800k.

 

[blame space]

The success of Zelda is a wonderful thing.

The success of Mario Kart is a depressing thing.

🤔

 

[NSESN]

Good numbers. A GTAV port would do really well too. They need some third party padding stat.

I am actually stunned that both Rockstar and Nintendo aren't thinking of a port. They don't even need to do it themselves, I think a lot of devs would jump at the opportunity.

 

[sixteen-bit]

How the hell did 800,000 people buy a switch and not Zelda?

They already have it on WiiU

 

[Coxy100]

How the hell did 800,000 people buy a switch and not Zelda?

A wild stab in the dark - they don't want to play it.

 

[Neith]

do you expect it to keep selling at this/similar pace? i dunno man, xbox one has respectable numbers

Well if the games keep coming and they tap into the kids it could happen easily. But I gotta see a full year before I start betting in Vegas.

 

[backflip10019]

They already have it on WiiU

800,000 people have WiiU's?

 

[Gotdatmoney]

800,000 people have WiiU's?

Game is over a million on WiiU. I know you are joking but still.

 

[Peltz]

ARMS absolutely deserves the sales. Although the content is light, the combat is the deepest of any game ever made by Nintendo. It reminds me of Super Smash Bros. Melee in many ways. There are tons of mind games and freedom to the combat. And the whole thing does feel very balanced so far. Although it's not very fun to spectate, playing the game is an adrenaline rush on par with something like Rocket League.

I think it's the best multiplayer game on Switch, which is high praise considering how much I love MK8D and Splatoon 2.

 

[Bl4ckSunsh1n3]

How the hell did 800,000 people buy a switch and not Zelda?

I'm one of those people. Honest answer? I just haven't had time to play it yet so I haven't bought it. I've been playing other titles and just haven't gotten around to it. I will at some point.

 

[TerminalDogma]

I can admit I recently bought a Switch and, having already played Zelda on my Wii U, I did not purchase Zelda for Switch. But I was seriously tempted to do so, and if I ever see it on sale I'd probably pick it up. It's the same reason I haven't picked up Mario Kart, which I was also extremely tempted to do.

 

[panama chief]

That Zelda attach rate tho. Good shit

 

[Curufinwe]

So WiiU was at 3.91m after 10 months and Switch is 4.7m after 4 months.

 

[Peltz]

Elated to see Arms do well (zipping right through the Pikmin-to-Metroid zone, in fact, which guided my expectations for it). Fantastic game—and now secure in its place as a banner new IP for the generation in the footsteps of Pikmin and Splatoon, though I don't expect it will pull the same numbers as Splatoon 1 in the long term. 2M was what I considered a decent but realistic performance for it, and it looks on course to clear that bar easily.

The attach rates for both Zelda and MK8D are and will remain a little crazy.

Zelda and MK8D are once-in-a-generation types of experiences. They deserve the high attach rates. Nintendo really spared no expense with those games.

So WiiU was at 3.91m after 10 months and Switch is 4.7m after 4 months.

Yep, it's a positive trend for sure. But what's more telling is that there are still shortages in most parts of the world. The number could have been higher.

Wii U sat untouched on store shelves (unfortunately). Switches don't last a day in North American and Japanese brick and mortar stores. The relatively tame number (4.7m) is sort of self-inflicted by Nintendo. It could easily be higher by now.

 

[Seik]

It's going to be funny how these posts will keep getting longer and longer. Soon it will be:

There's only really Zelda, MK8, Arms, Splatoon, Rabbids, and Mario Odyssey to play on the thing.

What kind of output do people expect in the first year?

By the end of 2017:

Pffffft, of course those games are selling well, there's nothing else to play! Switch owners are literally starving for games, all they have to play is ---

Uhm... *clears throat and long breath* Zelda BOTW, Bomberman, Mario Odyssey, Xenoblade 2, Pokkén DX, Splatoon 2, ARMS, Mario+Rabbids, Mario Kart 8 and Fire Emblem Warriors.*

*Excluding all E-Shop exclusives.

 

[Nerokis]

That presentation was absolutely horrible and cast a very bad light on the future of Switch. Just because Switch has sold well doesn't mean everything Nintendo does is perfect and inspiring. And just because a product legitimately forecasts poorly doesn't mean it can't have a turnaround.

Considering Nintendo's trajectory combined with the depressing conference, predicting mediocre Switch sales was the correct prediction. Sometimes the correct prediction does not turn out to be the actual result.

This is incredible. A "correct prediction" that vastly overemphasized a single conference, neglected all the variables that pointed to the Switch's potential, and...well, turned out to be wrong in reality.

I'm not sure which cognitive biases I should be looking for here, but the range of possibilities is endless.

 

[mavericktopgun]

I am actually stunned that both Rockstar and Nintendo aren't thinking of a port. They don't even need to do it themselves, I think a lot of devs would jump at the opportunity.

Rockstar when you read that, please consider a GTA 5 (and/or GTA4) Version for Switch.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

I'll say it again. If those numbers dont include eshop only games then those third party numbers are way better than they even have a right to be.

 

[mavericktopgun]

I can admit I recently bought a Switch and, having already played Zelda on my Wii U, I did not purchase Zelda for Switch. But I was seriously tempted to do so, and if I ever see it on sale I'd probably pick it up. It's the same reason I haven't picked up Mario Kart, which I was also extremely tempted to do.

MK8 is awesome on Switch. To play it anywhere is one of the best things ever. And I have a Wii U with MK8!! It's much better on Switch.

 

[NintendosBooger]

Rockstar when you read that, please consider a GTA 5 (and/or GTA4) Version for Switch.

I'd rather take a sequel to Chinatown Wars.

 

[asagami_]

I'd rather take a sequel to Chinatown Wars.

 

[lawnchair]

Skyrim
Sonic
DBZ
FIfa
NbA2k
WWE
Rocket League

do we know which of these are getting a physical release?

 

[score01]

4.7 million in 4 months is pretty good going for Nintendo. Now sort out those supply issues!

 

[AkimbO_Arcana]

How the hell did 800,000 people buy a switch and not Zelda?

Edit: folks gave good responses. In reality, what I'm contesting is that this isn't a high attach rate, it's the only attach rate that makes sense.

I think some people played it on Wii U and waited for something new like ARMS or Splatoon 2 to justify the purchase.

 

[AmayaPapaya]

The numbers suggest Zelda is in fact the default purchase though. That said Zelda released on WiiU so that could be a portion of it.

Considering it went from over 100% to ~83%, I have to disagree. It's dropped a good amount over the past few months. That not bad, it just means people are buying the switch for other games now, which is great.

 

[Seik]

do we know which of these are getting a physical release?

All of those, except Sonic if it refers to Sonic Mania, which is digital only.

Sonic Forces hasn't been confirmed physical, but it is a Sega 'AAA' release after all, so I'd expect one and I think that's a safe bet.

 

[Noisepurge]

By the end of 2017:

Pffffft, of course those games are selling well, there's nothing else to play! Switch owners are literally starving for games, all they have to play is ---

Uhm... *clears throat and long breath* Zelda BOTW, Bomberman, Mario Odyssey, Xenoblade 2, Pokkén DX, Splatoon 2, ARMS, Mario+Rabbids, Mario Kart 8 and Fire Emblem Warriors.*

*Excluding all E-Shop exclusives.

That's not a lot, what, 3 games that have a longer story campaign?

It's like saying Horizon Zero Dawn, Yakuza 0 and Nier Automata are the only storydriven games this year for the PS4 and would be enough for everyone?

 

[SuperLeviathan]

Its interesting to note that its the hardcore games (Zelda and Mario Kart) that have been pushing sales and not so much 1,2 Switch.

ARMS has almost caught up to it and that just came out.

 

[Neoxon]

Looks like Nintendo has another successful franchise in ARMS.

I guess we can expect Spring Man in the next Smash game.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

Considering it went from over 100% to ~83%, I have to disagree. It's dropped a good amount over the past few months. That not bad, it just means people are buying the switch for other games now, which is great.

It was never 100%

 

[SuperLeviathan]

Looks like Nintendo has another successful franchise in ARMS.

I guess we can expect Spring Man in the next Smash game.

Another reason to want a proper Smash 5 than a Smash 4 DX