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GI.biz: Nintendo Switch sells 80,000 in the UK in its opening weekend

HotHamBoy

Member
Don't read too much into Switch's 80.000 day 1 sales.


Seems like st least most e- and retailers ran out of stock. Furthermore, the interesting part starts as soon all early adopters got their unit.

The stock issue is making it very difficult to track demand. Easy to run out of stock if you have a small stock to offer.

Because the Switch as a device is better at what it does than either the 3DS or Wii U and has a stronger first six months in terms of games than both of those devices combined.

Not sure I agree.
 
I'm in central London and it doesn't seem well stocked:

1rcIhpn.png

Yeah, I suspect that outside of big cities you will find them but in the city you won't.

None of the stores around here do online order/collection so you have to go and physically look.
 

LordKano

Member
Zelda is cross platform, bad grammar.



The take away should be "MK8 and Splatoon (and Mario X) failed to make the Wii U a success, why should that change for Switch?"

We've gone through this a ton of time already. Mario Kart and Splatoon came way too late in the lifecycle, and the Wii U was already completely fucked by a ton of reasons. Switch doesn't suffer from all of this.
 

LewieP

Member
Yeah I imagine they've had a strong sell through rate, even if there are pockets of stock in some areas of the country.
 

Principate

Saint Titanfall
Waaiiit, looking a those comparisons I almost forgot since it wasn't mentioned in the OP but how much did the Vita sell first week.
 

pswii60

Member
This is going to by the next nintendo troll threat just by looking at a lot of posts here.
It's really starting to annoy me.

The negativity is nothing new and not specifically Nintendo.. PS3 got constant negativity for the first couple of years after launch, in the wake of a high launch price and 360 competition. XBO has still barely got over its abysmal launch when every other thread or post was negative.

Nintendo is still in hangover mode from Wii and Wii U on here, many posters didn't like the casual direction for Wii and the poor design choices of Wii U. BotW is a major step forward in winning back some Nintendo love again, and providing the console is supported well then you'll see the negativity start to drop.
 

noshten

Member
Not sure I agree.

So launch Wii U as a device or it's first six months were better than what is announced on Switch. The same Wii U that released in the holidays and people were unsure if it's a tablet for the Wii? The best games that utilized the actual feature of the Wii U were late in it's life - Splatoon and Super Mario Maker. MK8, SSB, Bayo 2 etc only gained limited portability on the GamePad.

3DS basically had no big games until holiday and 3D as a selling point was illconceived. I remember around launch there were discussion if 3D was good for young kids, the 3D didn't even work properly and barely any games used it in any meaningful ways.

Switch's main selling point is it's flexibility and combined Nintendo liberary - if 3DS had a games of BotW, Splatoon 2, MK8D, Arms, Minecraft, indies in it's first six months it might not even needed a substantial price cut.
 

El Topo

Member
Don't read too much into Switch's 80.000 day 1 sales.


Seems like st least most e- and retailers ran out of stock. Furthermore, the interesting part starts as soon all early adopters got their unit.

Yup. We'll know in the upcoming weeks (or months) where the system stands. Still, not as bad as it could have been.
 

NSESN

Member
So the 3DS is the best launch for a Nintendo console in the UK, better than the DS and Wii. Any reason why?

It was the successor to a 150 million device. People forgets, but 3DS sold well at launch, it was after launch that things got bad. Let's see if MK8D is able to soften the drop after the launch hype.
 

JoeM86

Member
This narrative is crazy. Mario Kart 8 is a port of a Wii U game. No one is buying a Switch for Mario Kart 8, they'll buy MK8 because they already have a Switch and there's not much to play on it. People who would buy a console for Mario Kart already bought a Wii U.

Splatoon 2? We'll see how much that pushes the needle. I suspect Zelda was the biggest system seller they have until Mario Odyssey. Again, a Wii U cross-platform title.

Switch has problems ahead. We are seeing early adopter numbers. As hype dies down, hardware issues continue to creep and the realization that there just isnt much to play really sets it, people will be confronted with this question:

Do I want to spend $300 on a barely-finished console or do I want to put that money towards buy all the amazing games releasing on PS4 (or XB1, PC, etc) right now?

Oh please.

Before the end of the year, we're going to have at least 9 Nintendo published titles out. 7 of which are developed in-house, 8 of which are retail. Only 1 of which is a (enhanced) port.

Also, Mario Odyssey isn't a Wii U crossplatform title. God knows where you got that.
 

m.i.s.

Banned
The fact that it was £280 against a weak pound and with really only Zelda to carry it games wise, I'd say 80k units is pretty damn decent overall.

80k is a pretty decent figure considering the price certainly.

Question is, will it now drop like a rock or will Zelda sustain sales for weeks and months to come?
 

EmiPrime

Member
An okay start. The real concern is the dearth of game releases over the next 3 months. We've seen with the Wii U that if sales can't be sustained retailers will look to drop a console even just 6 months in which is hard to recover from. Time is of the essence.
 

Shiggy

Member
Nintendo says it´s a console, so it´s a console. It´s you who has this narrative that it is both.

Nintendo says it's a portable home console - so it's both.


Oh please.

Before the end of the year, we're going to have at least 9 Nintendo published titles out. 7 of which are developed in-house, 8 of which are retail.

Also, Mario Odyssey isn't a Wii U crossplatform title. God knows where you got that.

To compare, Wii U had 15 Nintendo-published titles out in its first year, 8 of which were developed in-house, 11 of which were retail (not counting titles where Nintendo only had a regional publishing contract). So it's not that unprecedented what you are pointing out.

Then again, MK8, Zelda BotW, and Splatoon 2 are of a significantly higher calibre than what they released on Wii U in the first year.
 

JoeM86

Member
An okay start. The real concern is the dearth of game releases over the next 3 months. We've seen with the Wii U that if sales can't be sustained retailers will look to drop a console even just 6 months in which is hard to recover from. Time is of the essence.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe next month.

ARMS in Spring (Probably May)

Street Fighter in May.

Splatoon in Summer (Probably June or July)

It's not that much of a dearth. Let's not exaggerate things.
 
It's ok honestly I expected 50k(call me pessimistic).
I think MKD will get a big campaign and bundle though.
Also let's see if Zelda can help the Switch hopefully the amazing word of mouth can help.
Also Street Fighter won't do anything lol
 

Shiggy

Member
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe next month.

ARMS in Spring (Probably May)

Street Fighter in May.

Splatoon in Summer (Probably June or July)

It's not that much of a dearth. Let's not exaggerate things.

Mentioning Street Fighter in May is like mentioning Bomberman as a great launch title. The appeal is extremely limited. To make a point, you'd be better off mentioning Lego City Undercover, which is releasing in early April already.
 
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe next month.

ARMS in Spring (Probably May)

Street Fighter in May.

Splatoon in Summer (Probably June or July)

It's not that much of a dearth. Let's not exaggerate things.

As someone who primarily plays singleplayer games, it's not looking too hot for me!
 

Jacce

Banned
This narrative is crazy. Mario Kart 8 is a port of a Wii U game. No one is buying a Switch for Mario Kart 8, they'll buy MK8 because they already have a Switch and there's not much to play on it. People who would buy a console for Mario Kart already bought a Wii U.
I love Nintendo games and Mario Kart. I never got Mario Kart 8 for WiiU because WiiU was a terrible waste of a system. I am excited for Mario Kart 8 for Switch.

Almost no one got a WiiU. Mario Kart 8 for Switch is pretty much a new game for most.
 

EmiPrime

Member
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe next month.

ARMS in Spring (Probably May)

Street Fighter in May.

Splatoon in Summer (Probably June or July)

It's not that much of a dearth. Let's not exaggerate things.

It's not an exaggeration.

The above is not good enough for retailers. 10 (great) first party games a year and next to nothing from third parties is not going to cut it.
 

deleted

Member
This narrative is crazy. Mario Kart 8 is a port of a Wii U game. No one is buying a Switch for Mario Kart 8, they'll buy MK8 because they already have a Switch and there's not much to play on it. People who would buy a console for Mario Kart already bought a Wii U.

Splatoon 2? We'll see how much that pushes the needle. I suspect Zelda was the biggest system seller they have until Mario Odyssey. Again, a Wii U cross-platform title.

Switch has problems ahead. We are seeing early adopter numbers. As hype dies down, hardware issues continue to creep and the realization that there just isnt much to play really sets it, people will be confronted with this question:

Do I want to spend $300 on a barely-finished console or do I want to put that money towards buy all the amazing games releasing on PS4 (or XB1, PC, etc) right now?

I'm not too sure about that. Wii U was already a failed console at that point. The hardware was too expensive and not very attractive. It only had terrible news sourrounding it.
And then they released a great Mario Kart for the system.

I'm not saying it will be THE system seller, but people tend to underestimate the appeal of a good Mario Kart. And we have a great one here a month after launch on a new and (so far) promising system.
It doesn't really matter that it's a port imo - we didn't make a graphics jump like PS2-3 or PS3-4 here. It looked good and still does appropriate to the hardware. And it has more content. This should be an everygreen seller.
 

Juno

LIAR and a FELON
Surely low stock is based largely on retailers not ordering a large shipment, which they base on pre-orders and general consumer interest?

Or are we saying Nintendo limited stock to retailers as they didn't have enough to go around/couldn't produce enough units?
 
Surely low stock is based largely on retailers not ordering a large shipment, which they base on pre-orders and general consumer interest?

Or are we saying Nintendo limited stock to retailers as they didn't have enough to go around/couldn't produce enough units?

Nintendo cant keep up with demand at launch. Pre-orders were sold out very quickly.
 

LordKano

Member
Surely low stock is based largely on retailers not ordering a large shipment, which they base on pre-orders and general consumer interest?

Or are we saying Nintendo limited stock to retailers as they didn't have enough to go around/couldn't produce enough units?

I'd say that Nintendo stocked enough units for the launch and that it wouldn't have sold much beter with more stocks.
 

jonno394

Member
Surely low stock is based largely on retailers not ordering a large shipment, which they base on pre-orders and general consumer interest?

Or are we saying Nintendo limited stock to retailers as they didn't have enough to go around/couldn't produce enough units?

I'd imagine that it's likely the latter.
 

Shiggy

Member
Surely low stock is based largely on retailers not ordering a large shipment, which they base on pre-orders and general consumer interest?

Or are we saying Nintendo limited stock to retailers as they didn't have enough to go around/couldn't produce enough units?

Nintendo's shipments were limited as they are only shipping 2 million units this month, worldwide.
 

forms

Member
I wonder what the corresponding numbers for other European countries are. I had a look at the webpage of one of the biggest chains here in Sweden - most of their physical stores nearby have them available for pickup.
 

PSFan

Member
Nintendo cant keep up with demand at launch. Pre-orders were sold out very quickly.

People were finding them in stores yesterday. A lot of preorders probably went to scalpers and those systems will probably start trickling back into stores by the end of the week, because it's proving not to be very profitable for them.
 
The Wii U apparently sold out at launch while the Switch definitely has not, so I don't think these numbers are great.
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2012/11/uk_retailers_wii_u_is_sold_out

The original Wii could have doubled that number as well but for stock issues considering the demand at the time. The telling number is probably that the Switch is below the 3DS which was regarded as a lacklustre launch. It could definitely do with a price cut before christmas.
 

spekkeh

Banned
To compare, Wii U had 15 Nintendo-published titles out in its first year, 8 of which were developed in-house, 11 of which were retail (not counting titles where Nintendo only had a regional publishing contract). So it's not that unprecedented what you are pointing out.

Then again, MK8, Zelda BotW, and Splatoon 2 are of a significantly higher calibre than what they released on Wii U in the first year.
Well yeah but developed by Nintendo were ports and party games, and Pikmin. NSMBU if you're charitable to not call it an upport level pack.
 

Zedark

Member
I wonder what the corresponding numbers for other European countries are. I had a look at the webpage of one of the biggest chains here in Sweden - most of their physical stores nearby have them available for pickup.
You will really have to assess this on a country-by-country basis. It seems that in Sweden there is plenty of stock, while here in the Netherlands the Switch and many accessories are completely sold out.
 

HotHamBoy

Member
Oh please.

Before the end of the year, we're going to have at least 9 Nintendo published titles out. 7 of which are developed in-house, 8 of which are retail. Only 1 of which is a (enhanced) port.

Also, Mario Odyssey isn't a Wii U crossplatform title. God knows where you got that.

I've already clarified that I was referring to Zelda.

Well yeah but developed by Nintendo were ports and party games, and Pikmin. NSMBU if you're charitable to not call it an upport level pack.

Oh god, this again? It has been shown, time and again, that NSMBU has wholly original assets. It has its own art style. It's also easily the best game in the "New" series.

Also, 1,2 Switch is one of their only major titles for the first half of the year...
 
No shit, Sherlock. Point is, you can't say it's well-stocked in UK stores (particularly in London) just because you managed to get one online.
I suspect that could be the case but the relatively low demand for Nintendo platforms in the UK pre and post DS/Wii doesn't bode well. I'm sure there'll be enough in the shops soon. Nintendo will probably be very careful with stock this time around in countries where it doesn't do so well. Don't want to avoid a repeat of the Wii U situation, no doubt. I give it a year tops before retailers start dropping it or Nintendo/retailer price cuts hit. It's too expensive for a Nintendo platform in this market outside of core Nintendo buyers/early adopters.
 

gogogow

Member
Lmao, the thing was just released a few days ago and people are already talking how it will be dropped by retailers in a year time. Jesus Christ this forum sometimes.
 
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