Well done Nintendo and all that Jazz...I just don't get the appeal
and if the appeal is its handheldness, why the hell haven't MS and Sony (Especially MS with Xcloud) announced a handheld?
XSS should have been a handheld.
Just think of it like this people love nintendo and the people who do only need to buy one Nintendo system now and it’s a versatile hybrid perfect for a lot of situations. Combine that with some of the best iterations of popular series and you have a no brainerHmm, the Nintendo Switch seems to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. But why its so popular?
It does not mean it's bad either, it's all personal opinions to it's quality, but it's sales speak for themselves.
Astute observation. Good post.Given their history, it will very likely be a Switch successor. Nintendo has always followed a Revolution/Evolution pattern with their consoles, introducing something radically new and disruptive, followed by a refinement of that idea:
- NES --> SNES
- N64 --> GameCube
- Wii --> Wii U
- Switch --> ???
(so put away your vintage bloodstained pitchforks, I'm not talking about your cherished childhood memories)
Yeah, I remember hooking my 3DS up to my TV using a device that Nintendo released for that purpose and playing with a controller Nintendo released for that purpose. Switch is just like every other handheld, right?Because it's a handheld. And no... what..
It's a bit strange to say that Nintendo isn't competing with Sony or Microsoft when we look at entertainment and the amount of time each person has to play games or to watch Netflix, or read books. All these devices, services, and experiences are competing with each other at some level.
are we talking about nintendo or mcdonalds here? I think it's safe to say that mcdonalds is objectively bad low quality food. nintendo is a bit of a mixed bag, recently (so put away your vintage bloodstained pitchforks, I'm not talking about your cherished childhood memories) output has varied between excellent to laughable and this is the only correct opinion I refuse to argue about it ._.
Seriously at this point i think the Nintendo head office has a cash jacuzzi next to every desk and a mini one for the army of 1000 highly potty trained office puppy mascots
Damn then and their.. p p puppies... Booohooohooo
Well done Nintendo and all that Jazz...I just don't get the appeal
and if the appeal is its handheldness, why the hell haven't MS and Sony (Especially MS with Xcloud) announced a handheld?
XSS should have been a handheld.
Sony had the Vita, but it fell victim to the same poor management calls as PS3 (bespoke memory cards, for instance) and failed. They stopped developing AAA games for it like 7 years ago~Well done Nintendo and all that Jazz...I just don't get the appeal
and if the appeal is its handheldness, why the hell haven't MS and Sony (Especially MS with Xcloud) announced a handheld?
XSS should have been a handheld.
IN what market? They are all in the videogame market. The only difference with the switch and ps4 is it has the ability to play it in your hand. The artistic style of Ninendo games make the horsepower irrelevant.These new machines will have little to no impact on the Switch at launch or going forward, the Switch has not been competing in that space since the beginning, and Nintendo have not been in the hardcore market since the Gamecube.
IN what market? They are all in the videogame market. The only difference with the switch and ps4 is it has the ability to play it in your hand. The artistic style of Ninendo games make the horsepower irrelevant.
Games like Mairo Odyssey, Zelda BOTW, Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros, and many others hold up Graphically to any modern Standard despite being on weaker Hardware.
On what system should I buy Dragon Quest XI or Skyrim or Diablo III?They get lumped into the whole video game market when in reality they have not competed in the power race for ages, Nintendo has carved a little niche out for itself, this was all was pointing out.
On what system should I buy Dragon Quest XI or Skyrim or Diablo III?
Like it or not, they do share the same market with Sony and Microsoft. When people make comparisons to the best selling console, what other consoles are they talking about?
Why is it that when a comparison benefits Nintendo, then they are in competition but when the comparison doesn't benefit Nintendo (like hardware specs, for example) then suddenly Nintendo isn't in competition.
I simply meant the Switch appeals to a wider demographic, if Nintendo wanted to compete directly with Sony and Microsoft it would not get them enough sales, so while Nintendo is in effect competing in the video game market like Sony and Microsoft, they are attracting different types of customers.
Btw I do not see it as a competition, I am glad Nintendo and Sony are doing well this generation.
I bet you own a Switch and atleast a PS4 or an Xbox One. Nintendo is attracting the same people who play Sony and Microsoft's consoles.
I bet you own a Switch and atleast a PS4 or an Xbox One. Nintendo is attracting the same people who play Sony and Microsoft's consoles.
Always appreciated your well presented factual information here.It's a bit strange to say that Nintendo isn't competing with Sony or Microsoft when we look at entertainment and the amount of time each person has to play games or to watch Netflix, or read books. All these devices, services, and experiences are competing with each other at some level.
Nintendo has very much been in competition with Sony and Microsoft, courting indies and AA publishers to the Switch. They have created a sizeable market for the indies, studios, and publishers who have invested their time and resources to create an audience on the Switch to be successful.
Let's not kid ourselves the most successful games on the Playstation and Xbox have always been Sports, Shooters & GaaS games - every year in Europe we can guarantee that FIFA is the #1 game across the continent, in North America, it's usually COD, GTA V is selling insane amounts because it has because it also has a GaaS component. When we talk about "hardcore", let's just call it what it is, friends wanting to play FIFA, COD, or GTA Online together. You could pretty much remove 90% of single-player games and the vast amount of people that have Playstation or Xbox wouldn't care.
People who game on the PC, Switch, Playstation or Xbox aren't any more hardcore than one another.
On a different level, you could also look it at from a perspective of content. Nintendo will probably never be in a position to have 80% of the gaming market in the West. Yet, there are markets where dedicated video gaming has started trending towards this reality since the Switch released. The closer you get to Japan the clearer it is that Hybrid Device, Nintendo Software supplemented by AA & indies is enough to dominate a market. We might start to see this trend in other places like France and Spain in the near future but not while FIFA remains the biggest game there. In the meantime, because Playstation is fading into irrelevance in Japan, so are Western AAA games. Although never a major market for Western publishers, there were some companies that had hits in Japan. So it's not impossible to break into Japan or other Asian markets but perhaps it's difficult to do it with whats popular in the West. Outside of GTA and Minecraft, there aren't many million-selling western games in Japan for example.
But one recent example of a Western game becoming a hit in Asia is Human Fall Flat, started off as a one-man project, now a studio with around 20 staff and surpassing 600K on the Switch and Playstation in Japan back in April. It's been in the Top 20 on Switch eShop since it's launch, so I won't be surprised for the 1 million milestones to be hit by the end of the year. It's one of the rare Western games that seems to have become a hit across Asia. Certainly, it's price helps it's not a $60 hardcore game but nonetheless, it's a bonified hit. So when a smaller studio is looking at growth, they might look at the Switch ecosystem and prioritize it, similar to how Hades is a timed exclusive on the system. Perhaps this would change with the launch of the latest consoles but I very much there would be any change to the trends we are seeing in Asia and most importantly Japan.
Japan 2019 Famitsu Top 50 Software Sales:
Switch - 12.741.147(72.96%)
PS4 - 4.719.818(27.04%)
TOTAL - 17.460.965
Japan 2020 Famitsu Top 50 Software Sales:
Switch - 13.172.822(78.55%)
PS4 - 3.596.253(22.45%)
TOTAL - 16.769.075
South Korea 2019 Media Create Software Sales:
Switch – 1.564.125(63,42%)
PS4 – 844.641(34,25%)
TOTAL – 2.466.442
Taiwan 2019 Media Create Software Sales:
Switch – 1.136.238(51,33%)
PS4 – 1.060.802(47,93%)
TOTAL – 2.213.418
The last point is regarding Japanese 3rd Party publishers, all I can say is that outside of very few Western focused titles, in the coming years there would be more and more Switch exclusives. Japanese were slow to adapt to the PS4 and Switch, they would be even slower to adapt to the PS5 and they aren't interested in Xbox unless Microsoft is footing the bill. This fall will be a sign of things to come, as Koei, Konami, Marvelous, Atlus, Nippon & Bandai have all started to focus the majority of their efforts to the system. Next year Capcom will release their first major efforts on the Switch as well, and Playstation's market share in terms of Software will fall below 15% in Japan, despite the launch of the PS5
I wonder how long Nintendo will stick with the Switch line. Will they go from Switch to Switch Pro to Switch 2 or straight to Switch 2?
If they want some bragging rights they should prolong the main Switch line with a Pro so that they all keep selling for years and who knows how many the main Switch line can sell before they move onto the true Switch successor.
Bottom line is the Switch absolutely deserves to sell the way it's been selling and more. Such a fucking amazing system with an amazing library of games.
Its games. It will always be games.
Look at the top releases on PS and XBox. How many of them could be described as "serious" games.
TLOU2 and Ghost of Tsushima are all very serious and sombre and all about that gritty drama. What if someone isn't into violence or wants to have a bit of fun playing games? There's not much on offer.
Even looking at Cyberpunk 2077 coming up. It looks like an awesome game to me. However, it's loaded with content that I just think won't appeal to someone who's looking for a bit of family friendly harmless and generally fun content.
Nintendo has a thing for releasing games that are just straight up fun to play. Games that you could easily recommend to anyone.
Right. About the only thing in that category would be Ratchet and Clank and Crash Bandicoot. Otherwise, 90% of what the other consoles offer is serious, "mature," heavy, grimdark and violent stuff. If you're into that, fine. But if you're not -- if you're tired of a constant diet of that, and you're looking for something fun and lighthearted -- then Nintendo is pretty much your only option. It is the only company focused on that sort of game. And they don't halfass it, they do it excellently.
The handheld option is part of the Switch's appeal, for sure, but people aren't buying it primarily for that. They're buying it for the games. Without games to play, a handheld option is pointless. What has been pushing these sales numbers so high, for so long, is the wide appeal of their games.
Given their history, it will very likely be a Switch successor. Nintendo has always followed a Revolution/Evolution pattern with their consoles, introducing something radically new and disruptive, followed by a refinement of that idea:
- NES --> SNES
- N64 --> GameCube
- Wii --> Wii U
- Switch --> ???