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Nintendo Switch #1 Selling Hardware in September. Nintendo Systems = 2/3 Total sales.

HeroR

Member
Well I mean look at the number of this people in this very topic trying to paint the 3DS's overall performance as mediocre and the prevailing notion in a larger sense that it represented what was supposed to be a continual decline of Nintendo's mindshare.

Point is, Nintendo's audience didn't go anywhere. They just didn't want a Wii U.

Even the failure Wii U managed to created a new big franchise for Nintendo in the form of Splatoon. So this narrative was always flawed.
 

HeroR

Member
ARMs' core-oriented nature was not obvious from the get go. They continuously demoed ARMs with motion-controls and the reveal trailer only focused around said control scheme. I understand motion controls does not automatically equal casual, but it the eyes of the average hardcore gamer it does.

That's because the 'average' hardcore gamer are closed-minded idiots. I wouldn't even called these the average hardcore gamers, just the loudest who complained about anything that don't fit their mindset, which is why people thought Splatoon would do Wonderful 101 numbers.
 

erlim

yes, that talented of a member
It's really rad to know you're part of something very special when you are Switch owner. October and November numbers are gonna be absolutely insane.
 
I feel like the wrong conclusion was drawn from Wii U's failure and that influenced the impression people had of Switch's prospects for success. It was thought that people had moved on from Nintendo for good. The reality was that Nintendo simply made a bad, undesirable product and the market responded accordingly.

On the point. As if Nintendo didnt exist before the wiiu + completely ignoring 3ds or similar, but these also were not successful as i learned in this thread.
 

MTC100

Banned
Ehh I disagree. I wouldn't necessarily look at the WiiU and think "ooh casual friendly", but it's clear Nintendo are doubling down on hardcore now. So THEY must think they didn't focus enough on them with WiiU.

Also the Wii captured the Zeitgeist, but it didn't prove to be a long term fruitful market.

The WiiU was just a failure on so many fronts but Nintendo needed that failure to get back on their feet after they where high on the success of the Wii. It's only thanks to the WiiU failure that we have gotten the probably best Zelda of all time along with probably the best Mario within the same launch year on the Switch.

It's also reassuring to see Nintendo caring about IQ and graphics after all, they could have been lazy and not push for 900p60 with SMO and go for 720p instead. The really understand the Switches capabilities and the need for better IQ.

Things will only get better from here, Nvidia is working on faster tegras as we speak, the Switch 2 will likely reach PS4 specs in a few years, which will be enough for basically everyone.
 

Captain Fun

Neo Member
I didn't post about it here, but I was one of the people who thought the Switch was gonna flop at the price point it was released at. I don't know if I was caught up in all the pessimism around the reveal or what, but I'm glad to be wrong.
 

HeroR

Member
The WiiU was just a failure on so many fronts but Nintendo needed that failure to get back on their feet after they where high on the success of the Wii. It's only thanks to the WiiU failure that we have gotten the probably best Zelda of all time along with probably the best Mario within the same launch year on the Switch.

It's also reassuring to see Nintendo caring about IQ and graphics after all, they could have been lazy and not push for 900p60 with SMO and go for 720p instead. The really understand the Switches capabilities and the need for better IQ.

Things will only get better from here, Nvidia is working on faster tegras as we speak, the Switch 2 will likely reach PS4 specs in a few years, which will be enough for basically everyone.

I am going to need some proof on that one since Nintendo always tries to improved Zelda and 3D World was widely praised too getting a 91 overall score.
 

vareon

Member
I am going to need some proof on that one since Nintendo always tries to improved Zelda and 3D World was widely praised too getting a 91 overall score.

I think his point is that both Zelda and Mario released on the same launch year? If Wii U was a success I don't think Nintendo would be pressured to put BoTW on both Wii U and Switch. Then you could argue that the delay made BoTW even better.
 
The WiiU was just a failure on so many fronts but Nintendo needed that failure to get back on their feet after they where high on the success of the Wii.

It really seems to be like a prototype or alpha/beta version of the new console. But i still (have to) like my wiiu as i have no time or money for the new one. I hope i can get it next year, maybe with the new SMT, Fire Emblem and Metroid.
 

AniHawk

Member
Yup.

The prevailing theory was Wii is an anomaly and Switch will simply continue Nintendo's downward trend to irrelevance.

people have a really hard time analyzing things outside of the perspective of present day. you had people proclaiming wii u would be an easy success, switch and ps4 being relatively unsuccessful to their competitors (before much was really known about each), and ds being the end of the road for nintendo as a hardware maker, or at least the psp becoming a ps2-like success in the handheld realm.

one thing i've kept track on is how nintendo's platforms are irrelevant. in the n64 and especially gamecube era it was because the library was 'kiddie', which i think even nintendo took to heart early on in the gamecube's life and tried to address to no avail. the wii was casual despite nintendo's own efforts being generally not so different from previous generations.

wii u wound up being a weird palette cleanser in a way because i think it fit people's thoughts of what a nintendo platform was - an irrelevant, ancient part of the market that appeals to a small group (despite the 3ds providing clear evidence of nintendo's continued power in the mainstream), but has good nintendo games. switch comes along and it rides the success of breath of the wild - an open-world game that is meant for older, more experienced players. it defined what the userbase and therefore library would be. you can't really attach a stigma to it so easily as it was to call their other platforms for kids or casual gamers. even the argument that it's underpowered is weak considering it has to function in a true portable mode.
 

MTC100

Banned
I think his point is that both Zelda and Mario released on the same launch year? If Wii U was a success I don't think Nintendo would be pressured to put BoTW on both Wii U and Switch. Then you could argue that the delay made BoTW even better.

Yes there are two things:
1.) the failure gave them a reason to rethink their approach and I think the Switch turns out to be what their vision was with the WiiU, that wasn't possible back then.

2.) Instead of investing lots of resources into a 3D Mario on the WiiU they took their time and moved it to the Switch, along with Splatoon 2 and the quirky Arms that tries to cater to the lost Wii crowd. Now we have a Switch with the strongest first party lineup within its first year out of any Nintendo console and you still buy their consoles mainly for their games.

I think they are in a perfect spot now, Japan is pulling their smaller games off the PS Vita(Disgaea 5 or BlazBlue as a recent example) and releasing them on the Switch instead. Games like Octopath Traveller move from being "3DS" games to the Switch and I guess no one will doubt, that the Switch will succeed the 3DS in long run. Yes Nintendo's Lineup for 2018 will likely not be able to beat Zelda, Mario, Mario Rabbids and Xenoblade 2 but Nintendo is no longer alone on their system, like they practically were after the first year with the WiiU. It's getting boosted by Indies and Third Parties from Japan and the west, 2018 will be interesting.

With the WiiU they tried to give Third Parties the stage for the launch period and we know how that turned out in the end. Batman, DeusEx, Lego and Rayman just didn't cut it.
 

I always have thought they wanted to make a switch with the wiiU but didn't have the tech at the time. So they were cornered and went with this half assed concept, being forced to find gameplay ideas to sell the thing. Remember when "asynchronous gameplay" was so hype?
I don't because it never was, it was just a stupid buzzword that never took off
 

GDGF

Soothsayer
I think it's amazing that this pie in the sky advertising callback was pretty much spot on.

dB12keK.jpg
 

Cipherr

Member
The only way 2017 will be beaten is if we get a Mario Kart 9 and Odyssey 2 the same year lol

Yeah not many mention MKart because it has a remake but its important to remember that's just a REMAKE out there. There will be a new Mario Kart, and a new Animal Crossing, and a new Mario Party, Metroid will be next year too right? Throw a Smash and a Pokemon and one new IP all on next years palette (this is assuming they managed to do this) plus third party contributions and next year could easily beat this year.

Their IP catalog is underrated IMO. They could really REALLY push for a strong second year assuming they have been pushing behind the scenes to get games done. And if they were open to entries into IP like Golden Sun, Advance Wars, F-Zero, Star Fox and Diddy/Donkey Kong Racing, the gen could have some serious heat behind it for a good strong 4 years at which point you could literally get a second Mainline Mario, Xenoblade and Zelda on the same platform.
 

E-phonk

Banned
Yeah not many mention MKart because it has a remake but its important to remember that's just a REMAKE out there. There will be a new Mario Kart, and a new Animal Crossing, and a new Mario Party, Metroid will be next year too right? Throw a Smash and a Pokemon and one new IP all on next years palette (this is assuming they managed to do this) plus third party contributions and next year could easily beat this year.

They also have 2D mario that could go every possible way. A new art style? A Mario Maker Sequel? I expect something in 2018.

And I wouldn't count out a Zelda spin off/remake as they are quite consistent with releasing at least 1 zelda game every year.

2012: Ocarina Of Time 3D
2013: Wind Waker HD + A Link between worlds
2014: Hyrule Warrior legends + Four Swords re-release
2015: Majora's Mask + Triforce Heroes
2016: Twilight Princess HD
2017: BOTW + DLC
 
They also have 2D mario that could go every possible way. A new art style? A Mario Maker Sequel? I expect something in 2018.

And I wouldn't count out a Zelda spin off/remake as they are quite consistent with releasing at least 1 zelda game every year.

2012: Ocarina Of Time 3D
2013: Wind Waker HD + A Link between worlds
2014: Hyrule Warrior legends + Four Swords re-release
2015: Majora's Mask + Triforce Heroes
2016: Twilight Princess HD
2017: BOTW + DLC

Wind Waker and Twilight Princess HD Double Pack.
 

Mory Dunz

Member
I still wonder what cosmic was refering to when he said the prediction thread was interesting.

Switch winning isn't super suprising unless it was by some crazy amount.

Rabbids at 7 isn't crazy. Metroid charting is good, but again not crazy.

We knew nba 2K won.

Hm, has he posted again since then?
 
I still wonder what cosmic was refering to when he said the prediction thread was interesting.

Switch winning isn't super suprising unless it was by some crazy amount.

Rabbids at 7 isn't crazy. Metroid charting is good, but again not crazy.

We knew nba 2K won.

Hm, has he posted again since then?

He meant Destiny was actually number 1 when add digital
 

MTC100

Banned
Most predicted PS4 over Switch due to Destiny 2 launch.

Why would they buy a new system for destiny 2 though? Maybe if the PS4 pro version would have had 60fps. People into destiny probably have a console to play the sequel on already. If anything Destiny 2 would have pushed PC sales.
 

bionic77

Member
So Nintendo is selling really well in North America and Japan but not so much in Europe.

I would have thought it would have done well there because of the portable nature of the console but maybe they just are not into Nintendo games there.
 
The Wii U gen was an absolutely necessary failure for Nintendo to learn for Switch.

They had to learn that the Wii days were over, the branding didn’t mean anything and those games won’t help lighting strike twice.

Nintendo needed HD experience, lots of droughts due to how slow they were to adapt.
I believe their new development structure didn’t start until 2013 with the merger of some of their internal teams in one building?

They needed big change to their 3rd party relations.
Lack of middleware and poor documentation hindered those that tried to support and bring their games over.
UE4 (which never came to Wii U) and Unity were up day 1 with an UE4 game shipping within the first month.

The change to NVIDIA seems to have been a great idea. The tech for something like this was finally here and probably cheap for Nintendo.
It’s Nintendo’s best and sleekest hardware to date despite being portable. Allows them to continue using what they learned on Wii U but enhanced.

There’s also Zelda, which had a massive part in helping the Switch be a success.
It took the Wii U’s entire lifespan to develop which helped it become a Switch launch title.

Nintendo’s marketing team went to shit last gen and it was thankfully fixed before Switch’s launch. The reveal trailer is probably better than anything they did for Wii U.

All these are things that needed fixing. And they needed a wake up call.
 

E-phonk

Banned
So Nintendo is selling really well in North America and Japan but not so much in Europe.
Receipts? I think "not so much" is a very relative term.

Switch sells 390.000 in france
"Philippe Lavoue, general manager of Nintendo France, says the system is on a path similar to that of Wii."

We know the UK is a weaker market, but it's YTD is still ahead of Xbox One (but behind PS4)

Afaik spain and germany also had good sales, including a best console launch ever in spain.
In Spain, the Nintendo Switch became the most successful video game console launch in the country's history, selling around 45,000 units in three days (source)
 

jts

...hate me...
Generally speaking, Europe has very strong brand loyalty to Playstation. Historical sponsors of the UEFA Champions League, PES & FIFA were always huge things, Singstar, etc. It’s just part of the european zeitgeist since the late 90s.

Of course, Europe isn’t 100% homogenous, and Nintendo is still big in France, Germany and, to a much lesser extent, still sizeable in the UK. Which tbf are the main markets.
 

Aldric

Member
So Nintendo is selling really well in North America and Japan but not so much in Europe.

I would have thought it would have done well there because of the portable nature of the console but maybe they just are not into Nintendo games there.

l don't know about other European countries but it's selling well in France. 390000 systems sold and a 80% attach rate for Zelda. lt's half of the Wii U's total sales already.
 

Si2k78

Member
Why would they buy a new system for destiny 2 though? Maybe if the PS4 pro version would have had 60fps. People into destiny probably have a console to play the sequel on already. If anything Destiny 2 would have pushed PC sales.

I see what you’re saying. But it was a more than reasonable prediction for the PS4 to outsell the switch in September. Big titles such as destiny 2, that have a heavy marketing presence coupled with hardware bundles typically move a lot of units of hardware as well. In this case, I’m sure destiny 2 did have the desired impact, but the switch just simply sold better despite the ps4’s advantage for September.
 

bionic77

Member
Receipts? I think "not so much" is a very relative term.



We know the UK is a weaker market, but it's YTD is still ahead of Xbox One (but behind PS4)


Afaik spain and germany also had good sales, including a best console launch ever in spain.
I have no receipts.

But I see a lot of posts from Euro GAFers who say you can stroll into any store and there are stacks of Switches everywhere.
 

blakep267

Member
So do you think PS4 has sold more or less than in September 2016?
What does 2016 have to do with anything. My argument is that there's no reason to assume that Destiny 2 would have a massive effect of PS4 sales 4 years into the gen and with no cheap bundle option
 

Celine

Member
I see what you're saying. But it was a more than reasonable prediction for the PS4 to outsell the switch in September. Big titles such as destiny 2, that have a heavy marketing presence coupled with hardware bundles typically move a lot of units of hardware as well. In this case, I'm sure destiny 2 did have the desired impact, but the switch just simply sold better despite the ps4's advantage for September.
No prediction that regard the Switch is reasonable at the moment, until the stock situation normalize.
Usually when one predict the outcome in a month, one guess the consumer demand from known factors (like price cuts or system selling software) however in the case of a console constrained by stock availability the main factor that determine the sales is unknown.
In short predicting Switch sales these past months was a big guess.
 
I have no receipts.

But I see a lot of posts from Euro GAFers who say you can stroll into any store and there are stacks of Switches everywhere.

That's been the case with the US for a couple months now too, and it still won last month. That doesn't mean it's not selling well, just that supply has caught up to demand.
 

Zedark

Member
I have no receipts.

But I see a lot of posts from Euro GAFers who say you can stroll into any store and there are stacks of Switches everywhere.

That's true, but that doesn't mean it's not doing well Europe. The system is widely available in US as of September, and yet it sells really well. The numbers from France tell us it's selling really well, for example.
 
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