Nintendo President Says Switch Building Momentum to Match Wii
The company sees its 10 million fiscal year target as the magic number for both profitability and third-party support.
The Nintendo Switch has been a pretty remarkable financial success, even seeming to surprise Nintendo. That has drawn comparisons to the runaway success of the Wii, and Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima has now said they're ramping up production of the Switch to make sure it hits the critical point where it can rocket upwards.
In an investor Q&A session, Kimishima said the company has increased its manufacturing output. The goal is to reach 10 million units in this fiscal year, which will start to turn the corner on profitability. Nintendo also sees that as the magic number to tempt more third-party development from publishers.
"Being able to reach an installed base of more than 10 million units is fundamental to creating a strong business in a number of different ways," he said. "Shipping 10 million hardware units this fiscal year, as planned, will give publishers and the rest of our business partners a sense that the future of Nintendo Switch is more promising."
In the meantime, Kimishima said the company is planning first-party titles to keep the success snowballing, which could lead to matching the success of the Wii. Plus, he feels that as a portable system, it could have appeal like its handheld business, in which some families would buy multiple systems.
“If our sales go according to our plan this fiscal year, we will be able to see Nintendo Switch gaining the momentum in which it can approach relative parity with Wii afterwards," he said. “Plus, considering that Nintendo Switch is a home console video game system that you can take with you on the go so you can play anytime, anywhere, with anyone, we think there will be households that feel as though one is not really enough. This is another point that drives us to match the scale of Wii's popularity with Nintendo Switch."
-
Shacknews
replySteve Watts posted a new article, Nintendo President Says Switch Building Momentum to Match Wii
-
Now they need to go all-in on development. They can't have huge gaps between big titles like they did with the WiiU. The WiiU had mediocre holiday titles.
-
Yup. They need to really find a good rythem for releases.
-
They need to start working with small-medium sized developers to use their IPs. If nintendo doesn't have the resources or interest to make another 2d metroid, then there are plenty of small devs who have proven they're up to the job in the last few years.
There are plenty of other IPs they could offload to talented teams that would be thrilled to take on the job, they could still insist on the usual nintendo level of quality, while still freeing up their 1st party teams to work on the big hits. -
Which is exactly why they're refitting Wii U titles like Mario Kart 8 to fill gaps between new games. That strategy benefits everyone: Nintendo pads our their release calendars so they can assure consumers and third-party publishers that games are coming to Switch regularly; and consumers get to play fantastic games that many overlooked because the Wii U flopped.
-
-
Not true. I snapped up Mario Kart 8 DX on day one because 1) a user base of millions ensures I have opponents on Switch, which is no longer the case on Wii U; 2) the game being portable makes it must-own. Sure, I own Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, but if I want to play that on vacation I'll have to pack up my console and hook up to a TV.
-
"there are dozens of us!"
-
-
-
It sounds like Kimishima understands that. From the Q&A (emphasis mine):
"In the video game business, it’s important for consumers to feel that a sales momentum is going to grow, and we are setting a standard with Nintendo Switch to release a continuous string of major software titles from now on. And if our sales go according to our plan this fiscal year, we will be able to see Nintendo Switch gaining the momentum in which it can approach relative parity with Wii afterwards." -
there shouldn't be major gaps now that mobile + console teams can develop on the same hardware.
-
-
GET THREE 500 PERSON TEAMS EACH ON ZELDA METROID AND MONSTERHUNTER STAT! FUCKIT GET THREE 500 PERSON TEAMS ON EACH GAME! MAKE ALL THE GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!
-
I know the Wii was a huge financial success but I personally don't look back on it as a great console at all. There's very few games on it that I think of as all time classics. I mostly think of what a pain in the ass it would be to setup with the sensor bar and how the pointer controls never worked well enough for me to enjoy.
Conversely I loved the Wii U, and think of it as a great console with a lot of classic games.-
Perceptions of icky hardware don't change the fact that there were great games on the system like Galaxy 1 & 2, Xenoblade, Donkey Kong Country Returns.
-
-
