Jaded Alyx
Member
Wii launched in November. Not hard to achieve really.
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NPD Analyst: Switch US retail SW on pace to be biggest Nintendo launch year on record
Wii launched in November. Not hard to achieve really.
Toadthemushroom
Member
Correct. What I meant to say is that because 3DS had no digital games in its launch year, any game bought for 3DS would be boxed, whereas we know eShop sales are pretty healthy on Switch, and boxed games alone are going to outpace 3DS (assuming 3DS, which launched in March 2011, was the current victor)
lmao well I actually have been predicting the success of the Switch since the Eurogamer leak in August (?) 2016
I'm not even all that obsessed with Nintendo, I just knew they had a hit on their hands.
I believe 3DS cleared 4 million in NA during it's first year on the market. It had a huge price-cut mid year and the biggest titles launched in the fall.
Switch is simply far more attractive as a device and the launch lineup is far better than either 3DS or Wii U. Its something I've said since it's release and it's not surprising it's doing better than 3DS and Wii U. The only question mark remains supply but I'm confident at least 50% of the annual supply is meant for the fall, with Super Mario Odyssey launching I expect the supply to really ramp up into the holidays.
Switch is simply far more attractive as a device and the launch lineup is far better than either 3DS or Wii U. Its something I've said since it's release and it's not surprising it's doing better than 3DS and Wii U. The only question mark remains supply but I'm confident at least 50% of the annual supply is meant for the fall, with Super Mario Odyssey launching I expect the supply to really ramp up into the holidays.
Principate
Saint Titanfall
This is all lacking digital which will likely be more favour to the switch. I would be surprised if it was close launch aligned.
A lot of handhelds didn't.
Toadthemushroom
Member
It definitely bodes well for the future since traditionally Nintendo has always sold two platforms side by side (so DS and Wii software sales and 3DS and Wii U software sales and GC and GBA software sales).
Nintendo is still supporting the 3DS in the same way Apple did the iPod after the iPhone launched, too.
And because it's a portable / hybrid I'd bet it has a much higher rate of digital purchases than the Wii U. I know that I've bought 5 full-priced retail games (Zelda, Splatoon 2, Mario Kart, Rabbids, Pokken) and they're all digital. Back when the Wii U launched I was still a physical purchaser.
Add it all up and it promises to be a huge year for Nintendo.
Add it all up and it promises to be a huge year for Nintendo.
Well, two of them, to be precise. The GBA and the 3DS, and the GBA launched in June. GBC and DS both launched in November.
But as I said above, I still think it's impressive Switch beats both of them "by a fairly large margin".
A lot of handhelds didnt have worldwide launches like the Switch. Nor did they launch as early.
It's absolutely an odd comparison.
Toadthemushroom
Member
And neither had digital, which implies that digital-only offerings may be additive and aren't taking away from boxed + digital games.
There are something like 150 games on the eShop as of this week, and in Europe at least, only 25-30 or so are boxed.
3DS launched in February in Japan, March in North America, Europe and Australasia.
But when did a worldwide launch matter in this thread? The unit sales information is specific to North America. It's the NPD.
Zelda's full of stuff like this. You can reflect aghanim's magic with the butterfly net, pull out the fishing rod to distract Ganondorf in TP, and I think the same works against Demise with the butterfly net.
Worldwide launch should be irrelevant when talking about NPD data, as they're US only (or maybe US + Canada).
This is about the US market....i dont see how other platforms having worldwide launches or not matters.
The comparison is flawed though since Switch games are usually more expensive than past handheld titles anyway. Good result for sure but it doesnt tell us much.
MatPiscatella
Member
Jon Carter
Member
Calendar year renders this tidbit pretty useless. It basically only means it's doing better than 3DS since that's the only other system that launched in Q1.
LordOcidax
Member
Dark Cloud
Member
Hmmm
Lord of Ostia
Member
Uh, they are bringing Lost Sphear and Octopath Traveler, both look to be quality. Have you tried the demos for either one yet? I would do so before making judgements like this.
DeuceGamer
Member
More good news for Nintendo. Hopefully this bodes well for Third Parties during the holidays. If the big Third Party games are selling well this holiday, then it will probably open the flood gates for projects that are getting green lit, if the floodgates haven't already been opened.
LordOcidax
Member
Why Not...? lol
OrbitalBeard
Member
January: "Switch is DOA"
September: "This really isn't that surprising"
I love you guys.
September: "This really isn't that surprising"
I love you guys.
ElectricBlanketFire
Member
Glad to see it's doing well. This is good news for everyone who plays games regardless of preferred platform.
Classicblunder
Member
They have a really good library this year. There isn't anything in 2018 that I'm excited about though, assuming MP4 is 2019+. I feel like Nintendo intentionally release aligned their big internal games to this year. Seeing a few major 3rd party ports indicates it may have worked. Also the indie content has been top notch.
Jon Carter
Member
The Switch is a lot more successful than I feared, but this actually is not surprising. The only fair comparison is with the 3DS and that system was infamous for its really bad first year until the release of Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. If Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2 and Super Mario Odyssey didn't beat that, that would have surprised me even if hardware sales had been mediocre.
LordOcidax
Member
AcademicSaucer
Member
Thanks for clarifying
He's the translator so... probably speaking in tongues
March 3 vs March 27. Not all days in March are the same.
It was just another point to highlight how different the launches were. I could also mention handheld and console market consolidation, Zelda + Mario. Advantages the 3ds didnt have.
OrbitalBeard
Member
Even though it launched in June, I'd argue the GBA is also a fair comparison.
I also guarantee you that if someone had stated eight months ago that Switch would have the best Nintendo launch calendar year, software-wise, in 22 years, that person would have been laughed at by most people. It really wasn't until BotW's stellar reviews that some people started realizing "hey, this might go better than I thought".
This also includes all software, not just first party releases. So, Switch is breaking Nintendo launch year records with almost zero third party support (yet). It's very impressive.
Launches by quarter:
Q1
Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo Switch
Q2
Game Boy Advance
Q3
Virtual Boy
Nintendo 64
Q4
Nintendo Gamecube
Pokémon mini
Nintendo DS
Wii
Wii U
What are the current-gen AAA games it is getting?
MatPiscatella
Member
So sales of thing should never be compared to sales of past thing?
OrbitalBeard
Member
1998
Nintendo's slate this year was/is full of AAA games.
Not without spotlighting context. The fact that so many people here are assuming this includes the Wii before realizing when it launched says as much.
FIFA18 I believe.
Love the NPD discussion but the release period makes for a rather flawed analysis at best.
It would be better to wait for the September numbers to then do a 6 months comparison, and even better in April 18 with the March numbers for a full year of data.
Right now, the comparison is basically telling us it's doing better than the 3DS...
Thanks for clarification. That's really impressive. I know it's not a "fair" comparison to most consoles like some posters in here are mentioning but ultimately, that doesn't matter to Nintendo or publishers/developers. What they are/should be taking away from this is that Switch owners are ravenous for software, not because there's a lack of games, but because they want more games to play.
This.
revenue or units sold?
Interfectum
Member
Western third party? Wolfenstein 2, Doom, etc and this is only the start.
In before someone says Bethesda doesn't count...