Topic: Let's address the elephant in the room.

We should all be excited about what is happening on the switch right now. I can't remember the last time I had so many third party titles I was interested in and willing to buy. For me I'm getting Fifa, WWE 2k, La Noire, and Doom in the next couple months. That seems insane. The question is what happens if these games don't sell well and what should be sales expectations? Third parties "some" seem really excited about the console. But what happens if these games dont do too well.... Is that the end of the excitement? Will we see another Wii U situation when it comes major third party games. I'm doing my part but I'm curious to see how these games sell.

I’m with you on all these good games coming out. I want to get everything you listed too. But I’ll have to spread them out. I’d like to get Skyrim too. Doom will be a day one release for me. If not a midnight release. I don’t think will get another Wii U scenario out of the Switch. The demand is so high right now. I’ve seen people post videos and comments that they will buy a game on the Switch if given the option over something else. E3 next year will surely have a good show for what other third parties will bring to the table. I’m very optimistic for the future.

@DTMOF84 my thing is will that demand change from a publishers perspective if certain games bomb? It's inevitable but I wonder what there sales expectations are.

Heh, it's good to be cautious, but bad to be a pessimist. Good point though, just because those games are announced doesn't equal sales well, big at the very least. Let's not jump the gun!

Hopefully they all sell well. I know the hype I see and read about comes from Nintendo community sites for the most part. But I have see it elsewhere on non bias sites too. I would still remain pretty optimistic going forward.

@Qwertyninty
Well, if we want to go down that path... if those games don't sell well, the publishers will start to back away again just like on the Wii U. And then the burden will fall on Nintendo and its 1st and 2nd-party devs once more.

Kinda simple, actually.

The only difference I can see is that, for now, the hardware continues to sell much better than the Wii U. There comes a time where a large hardware base simply cannot be ignored, regardless if you publish a failed game or two on it. There are tons of big games that come out on PS/Xbox and flop, but the publisher isn't going anywhere because the install bases are just too large to ignore.

At the rate things are going by the time publishers have a chance to cancel Switch projects after "poor sales" the console will have 2x the install base of the Wii U. Not really the same thing again even if it does happen. It's also worth remembering that Wii U games sold fairly well relative to the install base. The issue was more (just?) that people weren't buying into the platform.

Street Fighter 2 sold half a million on Switch in 2017 for 40 bucks. This is my response to these concerns. I don't need any further elaboration.

Also, most of my 3DS and at least half of my Wii U games are 3rd party, so it isn't that Nintendo has good 3rd party games now (though blatantly far more support, obviously), you all are just late. Welcome to kkslider5552000's 2014 (or 2011 considering what's being ported). Glad you're finally here. (take this post half-seriously at most)

I'm confident in the 3rd party titles doing well on Switch. Inb4 someone says M rated/"hardcore" games don't do well on Nintendo, Bayonetta 2 sold well on Wii U(it sold over a million) and the Switch is popular among adult gamers right now so yeah.

@KryptoKrunch
Not to play devils advocate, but Bayonetta 2 was

1 the most hyped 3rd party game on the Wii U all generation
2 100% exclusive and funded by Nintendo
3 had Nintendo exclusive content, including Star Fox segments and costumes
4 was GotY quality, the highest rated game all year and definitely on Wii U
5 came with the original Bayonetta game, completely free on separate disc

And even then, it had to scrape the bottom of the barrel just to barely pass the 1 million threshold. Wii U gamers did NOT like buying 3rd party games. At all.

With that being said, I am feeling fairly confident that will not be the case on Switch. We have seen game after game exceed sales expectations... 3rd party games... and across multiple genres (Disgaea 5, Ultra Street Fighter II, Wonderboy, Bomberman R, Dragonball Xenoverse 2, etc).

Not only that, but Nintendo is dropping bombs with their 1st party. They're killing it with A1, top-shelf releases back to back to back to back. And as a result (coupled with the natural appeal of such a sleek, hybrid system) Switch is selling really fast. The onslaught of incredible, first party games will ensure the install base continues to grow at a rapid pace. And that will ensure there is a consistently expanding audience for third-party games to sell to.

And, Switch gamers seem to (unlike Wii U gamers) love buying games. I think the fanbase is a lot better this time around. Part of that, I believe, comes down to the fact that it's just a really appealing system and when a person really loves a system, they tend to buy more games for it. That and people actually have a legitimate reason for buying third-party ports this time. On Wii U they were just inferior ports. On Switch they're the best (and often only) handheld version on the market.

@kkslider5552000 hope you right but you have to remember that was earlier this year when people was starving for games. Some of these game will come on the heel of Odyssey. My personal opinion is there WILL be a bomb or two.... I want to see what happens. The most notable I think will be LA Noire. I don't think it's going to sell well.... Can't wait to see if that's justification for no more support from Rockstar. They should have just ported GTA... that would have easily sailed pass the million+ mark on Switch.

yeah I'm baffled by no GTA 5. Just because...it would sell. GTA 5 hasn't stopped selling well and it came out 4 years ago.

I've said this before, I'll probably have more physical Switch games in my library by the end of 2017 (which is not even 1 year into the lifespan of the Switch) than the entirety of my Wii U physical library to date. I already have 15 retail games on Switch (I actually haven't downloaded any eShop exclusives yet, but I intend to with Super Mario Bros. Arcade and Picross coming out this week), 16 if we're counting FIFA 18 this week, and then there's Odyssey, This Is The Police, DOOM, L.A. Noire, Xenoblade 2, Constructor, Fire Emblem Warrior etc. etc. etc. To think that we're getting all this less than 12 months into its life. It's crazy. November and December are going to be an expensive couple of months indeed.

That argument about PC games being cheaper could be used against any console version of any game. Yet, millions of people still buy console games despite PC being cheaper (because price and graphics aren't the only factors people consider). I have DOOM on Xbox One but I'm buying again for the hybrid play anywhere aspect. Screw the price. I can afford to buy games I want, and I want to play DOOM and Skyrim anywhere.

Just like people buy inferior PS4/X1 versions over PC, because of the ease of access aspect. If people have no intention of buying a graphically inferior version, then why complain about wanting 3rd party support on Switch in the first place?

Games on PC and PS4/X1 don't start off cheap either. They start at $60 just like Switch. And once Switch version has been out for a year like them, it'll be just as cheap too. Only it'll still offer two versions in one, which is twice as much value for your money and the only way to play the game portably.

@Masurao
I actually think a fair few Nintendo fans are buying 3rd party games now. Still maybe not a significant number, but certainly more than on Wii U. But alot of PC gamers and PS4/X1 gamers who are buying Switch will pick up these games because they like them and want that portability.

Not only is Nintendo dropping bombs with incredible games month after month (Zelda and Mario will be GotY, Splatoon 2 and Mario Kart are simply amazing, Arms and Mario + Rabbids are incredible, Pokken Tournament is legit, Fire Emblem Warriors looks fantastic and Xenoblade 2 will surely be one of the best JRPG's this generation), but some seriously good 3rd party titles are releasing alongside them. It makes for one heck of an impressive lineup of games. Something for everyone really. And I think alot of people are taking notice. People that play 3rd party games and have dreamed about playing them in full console glory on the go for years now.

I don't care with typical AAA 3rd party games that mostly adult male gamers play.
I just only need Rated Everyone, Everyone 10+ & a few Teen 3rd party games.
Give me a lot of Cute / Peaceful / Colorful / Whimsical / Quirky games !
And of course, on Nintendo Switch.
I don't need PC games if the games released on consoles as well.
I have no interest with Installing games on PC, So Complicated, My PC is not for playing games.

What a weird post. Never seen anybody in the community of any game or platform say this.

@JaxonH
This idea that somehow Wii U owners didn't want third party games is nonsense. They definitely did and they did buy them. In terms of raw metric of number of games sold per console sat right alongside the PS4 and XBOne. That wasn't the reason why these games didn't sell, they didn't sell because there weren't many Wii U owners. And they mostly weren't third party games because Nintendo was the only one who needed to be invested in that system. You can analyse the Wii U all you want but in the end that's mostly what it comes down to.

The more consoles are sold the more users there are. More users means more potential customers for a particular game on that platform. The greater the number of potential customers there are the more likely third parties are going to publish their game. That in turn means more consoles sold. That's the difference between Switch and Wii U.

@Anti-Matter What's complicated about installing a game on your PC?

@skywake
You have data to show that?

Cause I'm seeing not a single 3rd party multiplat that broke a million sold. Not a single one. In fact, most hovered around 250k. Pound for pound, you know what that is? About 1.9% attach rate. That's equal to 570k on a 30 million install base (which is where PS4 and x1 were at around that time a few years back). Yet those same games...sell millions and millions and millions on other consoles. And they wefe doing so before PS4 or X1 even broke 10 million. Contrast with how many Nintendo games broke a million. Even garbage like Wii Party U broke a million. But rock solid, critically acclaimed, definitive version AAA titles? 50k-500k.

The notion that the small install base justified low sales numbers is nonsense. Sure, one or two sold more pound for pound (Rayman and Sonic Racing) but even those were the exception rather than the rule. And still sold less than the PS3 version which was a last gen system!

This is nothing to get defensive about. It's just an observational fact. Doesn't mean YOU were party to it. But the fanbase at large did not like 3rd party games on Wii U. Multiply the Wii U install base by 4 and you will approximately get the PS4 install base right now- multiply by 3 for Xbox One. Ok, now multiply the sales of those Wii U games by 3 or 4 times and compare to sales on other systems. I think you'll find the results disturbing, especially when you consider attach rates are typically much higher, pound for pound, on smaller install bases.

@Octane
I have to buy VGA Card, Power Supply, etc just only for Superior PC specs.
I still have to connect with Internet if the games requires Original account or something like that.
It seems Complicated for me just for 1 game that I want to play Directly.

I just need consoles / handheld with No Complicated Installation, just insert the Cart or Disc, wait for seconds and Play the game.

I have no PC Gamer Mindset, not interested at all with Superior PC specs nor get involved into PC Gaming community both MMO gaming and Steam gaming. Those are NOT my Gaming world.

My Gaming world just only Nintendo Handheld and consoles + some Playstation machines. Simple and Easy.