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

18-Volt

Member
Fifa 17 is already a half a year old... Makes more sense to just release Fifa 18 in six months. Especially with Nintendo's online not being ready yet and most ppl having already bought it on other systems.

Still, it would be something. Right now they literally have nothing to cater teen British audience and won't have none until sometime in fall. Switch itself is an attractive console, but you need more than Zelda to reach wide gamer audience in Britain. Sports games are perfect for this.
 

cw_sasuke

If all DLC came tied to $13 figurines, I'd consider all DLC to be free
One big selling point of Nintendo Handhelds in the past was the full BC to the previous gen... I don't really see why anyone would expect a machine as expensive as the Switch with not link to the previous portable machines to outperform them. Doesn't make much sense... Especially since the 3DS is still available and has a massive/cheaper library.
 

NHale

Member
Honestly, it will sky rocket come Pokemon. Even your regular Joe's will go and buy a Switch for Pokemon, it's probably the strongest gaming brand ever made.

No they won't. Pokemon fans will buy them but the mainstream market is another different story especially at the current price. Regular Joe's will just say "Why do I need to buy a console to play Pokemon when I can just use the Pokemon game I have on my phone?".
 
I don't understand this comment. Nintendo were huge here in the 80s and early 90s. And we were very receptive to the Wii, obviously but that was admittedly more about the hardware than the brand name.

Them console wars at school though, they were real!

Can confirm that pretty much everyone I went to school with had a Gameboy and Pokemon in the 90's, so we were certainly receptive to Nintendo then (although admittedly, that was mostly about a game too).
 

Son Of D

Member
I'd like to see some sort of cut by May :lol. Only because thats when I could consider picking one up.
A price cut two months after launch? You'll be lucky to get a Mario Kart bundle over the summer.

No they won't. Pokemon fans will buy them but the mainstream market is another different story especially at the current price. Regular Joe's will just say "Why do I need to buy a console to play Pokemon when I can just use the Pokemon game I have on my phone?".
Correct me if I'm wrong but weren't Sun and Moon the fastest selling Pokemon games? If Go was enoughfor people then why were Sun and Moon in such high demand?
 

LordKano

Member
No they won't. Pokemon fans will buy them but the mainstream market is another different story. Regular Joe's will just say "Why do I need to buy a console to play Pokemon when I can just use the Pokemon game I have on my phone?".

People bought a 3DS and Pokémon following the launch of Pokémon GO. This narrative doesn't hold up.
 

NSESN

Member
No they won't. Pokemon fans will buy them but the mainstream market is another different story. Regular Joe's will just say "Why do I need to buy a console to play Pokemon when I can just use the Pokemon game I have on my phone?".
It must be why Sun and Moon is the worst Pokemon launch ever.
/s
 

cw_sasuke

If all DLC came tied to $13 figurines, I'd consider all DLC to be free
No they won't. Pokemon fans will buy them but the mainstream market is another different story. Regular Joe's will just say "Why do I need to buy a console to play Pokemon when I can just use the Pokemon game I have on my phone?".
You think Pokémon games have been selling +10m per gen without the mainstream market? That's not how it works... Pokémon titles aren't only purchased by hardcore Nintendo or Pokémon fans.
 

RocknRola

Member
In reference to Nintendo's own platforms I'd say that's pretty damn good, but outside of PS4 (which did a ridiculous 250k) how does it fare against other platforms in general? Good, bad, right on the average?
 
All but sold out, that's better then I expected.

I imagine Nintendo were conservative on stock after the wii u debacle, but this has still doubled it. not too shabby.
 

Flintty

Member
Can confirm that pretty much everyone I went to school with had a Gameboy and Pokemon in the 90's, so we were certainly receptive to Nintendo then (although admittedly, that was mostly about a game too).

Exactly and I think, like Mario, Pokemon became synonymous with Nintendo. If you had the game you were certainly aware of Nintendo and likely a fan.
 

Floody

Member
No they won't. Pokemon fans will buy them but the mainstream market is another different story. Regular Joe's will just say "Why do I need to buy a console to play Pokemon when I can just use the Pokemon game I have on my phone?".

Wasn't Sun & Moon a franchise record breaker when it came to sales? I think Pokemon GO got even more onboard, not less. Pokemon will sell millions of Switches, maybe not straight away, especially not if they still release on the 3DS, but eventually it will. It's the biggest system seller of all time probably.
 

oti

Banned
Cause wiiu sold like hotcakes with it right? And the worst part is that is the same verdion with a few changes.

Mario Kart sold to pretty much every single Wii U sold. It maxed out the potential sales. Switch is likely to sell more units than Wii U. Wouldn't you agree?
 
Don't underestimate Mario Kart.
Honestly, it will sky rocket come Pokemon. Even your regular Joe's will go and buy a Switch for Pokemon, it's probably the strongest gaming brand ever made.
Pretty much this. I do wonder if the hype will be there for a Mario Kart port but the return of the best mode will probably help.

As for 'Stars' and the future of Pokemon. They need to make this their new handheld eventually and Pokemon with good graphics will be a huge, huge deal on social media. Maybe this wont be Stars, it may not even be whatever comes next (Diamond/Pearl remakes?) but when it does, the Switch will do incredibly well.

Fact of the matter is this: Zelda and Mario are already here. Mario Kart is soon. If they manage to port a Pokemon game in for this year this will be an insanely strong year and highlight the the consumer exactly what Nintendo can provide. This can be the ultimate Nintendo console with all these games but they also need to strengthen the Virtual Console, give us access to Pokemon Red, Blue & Yellow from the 3DS, add Gold, Silver & Crystal. Figure out a way of porting DS, Wii and Wii U games and I'm sure they'll do great.

Its a lot of work but it'll be worth it, I'd imagine.

No they won't. Pokemon fans will buy them but the mainstream market is another different story especially at the current price. Regular Joe's will just say "Why do I need to buy a console to play Pokemon when I can just use the Pokemon game I have on my phone?".
Why is it that on Gaf we like to think the 'mainstream' is just full of idiots? They know the difference and Sun/Moon broke sales records for the franchise.
 

HowZatOZ

Banned
No they won't. Pokemon fans will buy them but the mainstream market is another different story especially at the current price. Regular Joe's will just say "Why do I need to buy a console to play Pokemon when I can just use the Pokemon game I have on my phone?".
As others have pointed out I very much doubt that. Pokemon Go was extremely successful but the mainline games are still hugely popular, especially to the average joe.
COD is way stronger
COD is certainly a strong brand but not as recognisable and profitable as Pokemon.
 

DKHF

Member
In reference to Nintendo's own platforms I'd say that's pretty damn good, but outside of PS4 (which did a ridiculous 250k) how does it fare against other platforms in general? Good, bad, right on the average?
Comparison to other platforms thanks to ZhugeEX:

250k - PS4
165k - PS3
150k - XB1
113k - 3DS
105k - Wii
70k - 360
40k - Wii U
 

LewieP

Member
Not a smash success, but respectable numbers. I'm just worried about maintaining momentum for the year ahead.
 

Sandfox

Member
This is decent especially since it's launching in March. Knowing how many consoles were shipped to the UK would be useful.
 
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.
 

SCB3

Member
Y'know I'm completely overlooking how strong a switch could be with VC


Imagine strong NES, SNES, GB, GBA, GC, DS, Wii and Wii U titles alone, all portable and ready to play all in one place ( even without the added online features )

That's a huge Nostalgia selling point imo, and with the massive success of the NES Classic, there could be a market there
 
It's a good start. This system doesn't need to be omg amazing sells because all systems can't be that. It's off to a better start than the Wii U...and at some point weren't there more Wii U's going back to Nintendo than Nintendo sending to U.K./Europe. I mean it got bad.

They just have to keep momentum to E3 and come big in the holidays.
 

MilkyJoe

Member
I feel that in out of touch not knowing Wtf Pokémon even is... I'm aware of its existence and what a Pikachu is, but I have no idea how these games even play. Anyone else?
 
Is that supposed to be okay or abysmal? Sounds like the latter

Depends what angle you look at it from (better than Wii U/Worse than 3DS).

It's say it's fairly average. If it's caused by lack of stock like some people are saying, then it's not really representative of anything.
 
People should really read more than just the headline...

It is decent, it's March and a brand that's not the hottest in the UK. And after Wii U.

How hard is it to believe that Switch had a decent launch?

EDIT. And I'd say they sold most of the stock they had for UK. I don't think that they'd overstock market like that, they have been very realistic about their expectations this time.
 

ekim

Member
Wait. It was released on Friday. That's not even full week as of now. Or does this also include all preorders?
 
Jeff Gerstmann once said that Nintendo fans would buy the Switch on launch either way. No matter what it is or how many units are available. The long run of the console will be interesting. Very interesting. At least Mario Kart is coming next month already.

Furthermore it will be interesting to see if continuing connectivity problems with the joycons will have an impact on future sales. If there is really a problem, Nintendo must fix it.
The WiiU kind of destroys that argument though. Not even many Nintendo fans bought it at launch
 
Well, at least for the UK the Switch wiLL not be carried by early hype until the next bunch of mention worthy games for Switch.
 

Kraq

Member
Considering everything, I think it did well.

But it's only gonna do better if it gets a price drop down the line. The Wii U never dropped in price here, and along with poor advertising, was probably the #1 reason why it died.
 
So like Pokemon?

Last Pokémon game did more than 15 million IIRC.

Pokemon games don't get sequels every year. That is the reason why COD is a juggernaut in the industry: it sells immense amounts every year continuously.

In 12 years, COD sold 250 million copies. It will overtake Pokemon soon in franchise sales even with its decline and Pokemon has nearly 20 years on it.
Actually, I don't even think GTA and FIFA can keep up with COD.
 

Albo

Member
Mario kart is one of their biggest sellers, but I wonder how many of the 8m people that bought it on wii u would pay full price for an enhanced port. Then again it could have the GTA5 effect who knows.
 
Seems pretty decent, you'd hope for somewhere between Wii U and 3DS (considering the handheld market has contracted) worldwide, so if the UK is on trend then that bodes well.

Goodwill for Nintendo is pretty low here, so it at least proves that they've managed to get a sceptical market to recognise their product and actually buy it in reasonable numbers.

If they can survive the lean months until Mario without sales flatlining they'll be doing even better.
 
Worth noting that from a marketing perspective, Zelda was a strange choice to headline launch. Unlike Pokemon or Mario, it has not had a recent mobile release to increase relevance outside existing owners of Nintendo hardware. The last mainline entry was released on a dead system to mixed reactions(Skyward Sword) so the last significant release was 11 years ago. Even on 3DS, it has seen two remakes of almost two decade old games, and sequel/partial remake of a 25 year old one. Of Nintendo's big three brands, it has by far the weakest mind-share.

Combined with how utterly Nintendo's mindshare vanished during the last six years due to the WiiU, and the fact that the UK is probably the weakest market for the 3DS, this is quite decent.
 
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