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WSJ: Switch fails to turn on investors, surprises unannounced

At the end of they day it always has and always will be about the games. If the shown list of companies give the Switch first rate treatment, if Nintendo's development that had previously been spread between console and handheld is finally consolidated then the company has taken the two biggest steps to being a contender. Almost nothing else matters.
 

NotLiquid

Member
For now. Social media buzz doesn't directly correlate to sales, and I think plenty of people feel burned by Wii U.

And a conference isn't going to cause a lot of social media buzz? That's what was being refuted. The Wii U had conferences and that did absolutely nothing for it.

Inversely, Nintendo managed to get the eyes of the entire internet social medium talking about the Switch with just 3 minutes of a video that makes it crystal clear what it's supposed to be. Obviously that alone won't translate to sales but they've clearly got a visible presence and it's up to them now to ride that momentum the best way possible. They didn't need a press conference to get a whole lot of people talking.
 

Soroc

Member
Let's be honest, outside of Saturn fuckery this is one of the worst ways you could possibly unveil a new console.

I don't really consider this the official reveal though. So in that regard, its not following normal procedures here. They literally just gave a sneak peak but didn't finish off with the wait for xx date and xx time for the full reveal.

This is more akin to them showing the wii mote at TGS and only talking about the wiimote there, then months later at E3 showing off the full console and price and games.

Except what they showed obviously isn't as groundbreaking as the introduction to the wiimote.

I still think what they showed and how they messaged it was ace on point but all they did today, after the reveal has settled in now today it left me frustrated waiting for more information. Nintendo blue balls at its worst.
 
This isn't how it works.

I mean, if the primary concern from investors is that it will have a high launch price then why not? It would be surprising news which addresses the primary concern of their investors. Surprising news in general is what causes stock spikes, and good news typically causes upward spikes.

What upcoming titles? I don't know anything other than Pokemon/SMB Mario Maker. Both def massive sellers but what about Wii U?

I'd say the NES Mini is actually a bigger deal for them this holiday season.
 

Velkyn

Member
And a conference isn't going to cause a lot of social media buzz? That's what was being refuted. The Wii U had conferences and that did absolutely nothing for it.

Inversely, Nintendo managed to get the eyes of the entire internet social medium talking about the Switch with just 3 minutes of a video that makes it crystal clear what it's supposed to be. Obviously that alone won't translate to sales but they've clearly got a visible presence and it's up to them now to ride that momentum the best way possible.

Frankly, I'd be surprised if they manage to ride the momentum at all.
 
Except what they showed obviously isn't as groundbreaking as the introduction to the wiimote.

Depends on your metrics.

The concept (and the software we've seen) aren't going to immediately make more people interested in trying a Switch. (Which is why investors aren't pleased.)

But the concept is surprisingly forward-thinking and future-proofed, given that dedicated video gaming devices are going to eventually have to face the fact that traditional displays and "the living room" don't matter nearly as much as they once did. Switch could be ahead of the curve of "mobile" devices cannibalizing even traditional games.

I mean, if the primary concern from investors is that it will have a high launch price then why not?

The primary concern from investors is that people won't buy it.

The price is just a really big question mark that makes it difficult to say "people will buy this." Especially after Wii U was too expensive because of its similar focus on a device with a screen.
 

Soroc

Member
Depends on your metrics.

The concept (and the software we've seen) aren't going to immediately make more people interested in trying a Switch. (Which is why investors aren't pleased.)

But the concept is surprisingly forward-thinking and future-proofed, given that dedicated video gaming devices are going to eventually have to face the fact that traditional displays and "the living room" don't matter nearly as much as they once did.



The primary concern from investors is that people won't buy it.

The price is just a really big question mark that makes it difficult to say "people will buy this." Especially after Wii U was too expensive because of its similar focus on a device with a screen.

You are 100% right. I have no interest in portable gaming, still don't. But I do like the idea of bringing the Switch to my parents house when I visit them from time to time.
 
You are 100% right. I have no interest in portable gaming, still don't. But I do like the idea of bringing the Switch to my parents house when I visit them from time to time.

Yeah, I've heard similar sentiments from other people I know who just play on PCs or something and have never owned handhelds.

And it's nice that Switch doesn't seem to care how you use it. That definitely wasn't the case for Wii U (even if it was for a number of its games).
 
I bet it's $299 / £250. Hell it might even be £299 here in the UK too due to the brexit wank. If it's more than that then nobody but the Nintendo faithful will buy it.

My max is £300 including Zelda, but I would hardly feel like I got a bargain at that price. Especially when I no doubt have to buy the 'Pro' controller too.

But with all the competition Nintendo have, both from mobile and several console options, I feel it should be cheaper still to guarantee any success. And they need to be firing on all cylinders in the software department.
 

Kagoshima_Luke

Gold Member
“We haven’t shown everything,” a Nintendo spokesman said, adding the company would provide additional information about the Switch next year, before its scheduled launch in March

You mean they will show more than a 3 minute video at some point before the system hits stores?

8jRK_f-maxage-0.gif
 
The primary concern from investors is that people won't buy it.

The price is just a really big question mark that makes it difficult to say "people will buy this." Especially after Wii U was too expensive because of its similar focus on a device with a screen.

I'm talking about this article mainly (and other similar articles), which suggests that investors are primarily worried that it will be too expensive for a mainstream product. Predicting overall success is much more intricate than the analysis presented in these articles seems to be. Investors in general want something simple to focus on as a positive or negative aspect of a product. In this case, they fear the price will be a negative, but if the price is as low as I think it could be, then that would be a big swing in that analysis.

It's not really an important point though, I'll give it up.

Yeah, I've heard similar sentiments from other people I know who just play on PCs or something and have never owned handhelds.

And it's nice that Switch doesn't seem to care how you use it. That definitely wasn't the case for Wii U (even if it was for a number of its games).

This is the main thing I found interesting about the video. It does seem like they've learned from the Wii U that people should be able to play any game how they want to play it. I do like that attitude, but it has me worried about their potential motion controlled games. I was very much looking forward to having essentially two Wii motion + controllers one in each hand for some precise motion control games.

I guess we'll see how they address that.
 

Sean

Banned
I'm excited for the Switch personally but I can totally see how this system might be a massive flop.

It's in a weird middle ground. It's not going to compete with PS4/Xbox as a console (especially when Pro and Scorpio release). And probably won't get most of the third party ports from those systems.

And it's not going to make a great handheld due to the size and more importantly the terrible-sounding battery life. There's also a good chance they price it too high for the typical handheld audience.
 
They could stop marketing right now and the game would still sell a bajillion million copies.
Yea people keep mentioning sun and moon. More info on a console that won't even have the game isn't going to hurt a new mainline pokemon at all. Unless of course sun and moon are on the switch but knowing gamefreak...ha!
 
I think he/she was referring to Pokémon Sun/Moon, which is Nintendo's big holiday game this year.

Tens of millions of 3DS owners (and Pokemon fans) don't just suddenly stop owning 3DSs (or being Pokemon fans) because new hardware is announced.

It's in a weird middle ground. It's not going to compete with PS4/Xbox as a console (especially when Pro and Scorpio release). And probably won't get most of the third party ports from those systems.

I think people are seriously underestimating how viable this thing could be as a gateway for Western publishers to get their games into Japan on platforms Japanese players are actually using. (Hint: portable systems)

That alone could justify the costs of developing ports.
 

basik

Member
The suprise that turns on investors will be that it has touch screen and it plays tons of mobile games easy ported from android (tegra gives it away).

Calling it!
 

sanstesy

Member
Nintendo wants people to buy the for them very profitable 3DS this holiday until the end of christmas season with Sun/Moon basically being the main anchors from a marketing standpoint. It's that simple.

People referencing the Wii U being dead anyway are completely missing the point.
 
Well, no wonder! I imagine that they must be getting more and more pressured by their shareholders to put their eggs in the mobile basket.
 

Timeaisis

Member
It could have been the most amazing console reveal of all time to NeoGAF and investors would still probably shrug and ask what they are doing with mobile.

Investors are fickle and stupid. They have no idea what's going on in the market, they're just following trends.We'll see how the Switch pans out, I think it will sell pretty well for Nintendo given the price is right.

I'm technically a Nintendo investor
 

commish

Jason Kidd murdered my dog in cold blood!
The suprise that turns on investors will be that it has touch screen and it plays tons of mobile games easy ported from android (tegra gives it away).

Calling it!

Uh... would that actually be a selling point, the ability to play mobile games?
 
Let's be honest, outside of Saturn fuckery this is one of the worst ways you could possibly unveil a new console.

Yup. A complete lack of showing compelling gameplay experiences or new games or price or the UI or information on online gaming, or generally ANYTHING that we didn't already know.

This trailer could easily be summed up with the wowitsfuckingnothing.gif and it would accurately describe what we actually saw and learned during those three minutes.
 

mookie

Neo Member
Just in case nobody else has pointed this out. There was a false upwards move which occurred just based on news of the announcement. When you remove that move the stock only dropped about 3% once that correction is factored in. The american stock is flat today. At this point it looks like the american stock will rely on movement from the japanese stock until things settle in. Monday in Japan will be interesting.
 

phant0m

Member
To be fair half of those views are from Gaffers rewatching it 100x times each. :p

If a large segment of "core gamers" like it that much, you've got a winner on your hands. Most press/media reactions so far have been positive too.

Can't wait to get mine.
 

Cynar

Member
Just announce a Pokemon Go port to it.

Im actually shocked by this. I've had no interest in Nintendo since the N64 days and this console/handheld looks amazing to me.
There wasn't anything announced really software wise. All we got were tech demos. There needs to be concrete plans with game announcements before people are actually interested. We didn't get that yesterday.
 
Of all the publications you would think that The Wall Street Journal would at least understand a little about how share trading works.

"Buy the rumour, sell the news" is a well known strategy.

Buying stock when there's anticipation of good news coming. Riding the run up in price. Then selling once the news is officially announced to take your profits.

It must have been a slow news day at the WSJ for them to be churning out articles like this.
 

JoeM86

Member
Again, can I remind people that Sony's shares fell after the PS4 reveal and Microsoft's fell after the Xbox One reveal.
 
Let's be honest, outside of Saturn fuckery this is one of the worst ways you could possibly unveil a new console.

Did you miss the part where you can take home console games out with you on a trip or on holiday or to a party or to the park or on a plane or to a tournament or to the ball game?

This is Nintendo going balls out for the PS4 and Xbone. Don't believe the hype that says they're going in a different direction. The thing plays core games, probably close to Xbone and PS4 visiuals and you appear to be able to take them anywhere. Total game changer.

Of course, PSP and VIta offered games closer to the core market than Nintendo did and look how that turned out. So it's very risky. But he who dares, wins, Rodders!
 

atr0cious

Member
Only dropped a couple points, from hasty investors, nothing to worry about. Going by the speculation reports most investors know less about Nintendo's future and plans than a gaf poster. Wait till the price gets announced, that's what I'm waiting for.
 
What haven't they announced? The spec?
The touch and motion capabilities. Maybe more interesting Virtual Console, considering what they're doing with NES Classic and the like. Specific game announcements from both themselves and third parties.
Conkerkid11 said:
They missed the part of announcing a console that releases in 5 months where you give the consumers a price and let them throw their money at it.
We've seen people around here guessing everything from 200-400, and sometimes further on either end. I wouldn't be too surprised if they're gauging current reactions before determining what they want to go with as launch price.
 
Can anyone blame investors for being nervous? After the 3DS and then the wii U Nintendo isn't in a great place right now. Investors are nervous and rightfully need to see something concrete to believe things will turn around. The video whilst good wasn't entirely convincing that this is a product that will be super successful. We don't know the price. We don't know it's software line-up and despite the list they provided we still don't know if 3rd parties are on board.

So far from what they've shown I'm not sure this thing will be a huge success. I think it could be but I wouldn't be buying shares based on what's been shown.
 

JoeM86

Member
Can anyone blame investors for being nervous? After the 3DS and then the wii U Nintendo isn't in a great place right now. Investors are nervous and rightfully need to see something concrete to believe things will turn around. The video whilst good wasn't entirely convincing that this is a product that will be super successful. We don't know the price. We don't know it's software line-up and despite the list they provided we still don't know if 3rd parties are on board.

So far from what they've shown I'm not sure this thing will be a huge success. I think it could be but I wouldn't be buying shares based on what's been shown.

What? 3DS did very well. Just because it didn't overtake DS doesn't mean it didn't

Also, saying we don't know if third parties are on board when we have a list of third parties that are on board isn't logical
 

Guevara

Member
I feel like these investors;

At first I was just excited to hear anything from Nintendo.

Then the trailer was well-done and fairly compelling, even though a lot of the specific use cases were silly.

But in the harsh light of day I see more problems than potential. I can think of half a dozen possible showstoppers: price, battery life, power, 3rd party support.

Right now I'm leaning pessimistic: this is really like a second (better) take at a Wii U.
 
Mobile is a huge growth market. How is that dumb, tho?
Because Nintendo isn't allowed to do anything else for investors to be happy.

I think one of their investors asked why they even made video games or something like that. These investors ask some dumb questions from what I could tell.
 
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