Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Oh, it took me 6 years to notice that.

Anyway, EA's not the first company to evaluate their support based on their game. I think Fifa 18 will do well on Switch.

@BLP_Software It used to be that people bought into a console based mainly on the first party and exclusive game support, which is still very much true for Nintendo. And that could and should have been where Microsoft got one big selling point over Sony's PlayStation 4 especially as there was so little from Sony for a long while, however Microsoft's exclusives have been so weak and actually almost none existence in more recent times to the point of cancelling their biggest title Scalebound, that they have nothing to fall back on.

No marketing deals, no exclusive content and only a couple of games to this fall to coincide with their latest hardware launch. And Crackdown 3 hasn't been exactly getting the best of responses from E3.

@FragRed Nintendo has the strongest first party but Sony can just shout louder. That's the way it has always been.

The industry has been shaped by their involvement, for better and for worse. If Nintendo has a new system popping up, watch the temporary price drop.

Big first party games? Watch them shout about their deals and run sales at just the right time.

To be fair, I'm surprised Sony even needs to try anymore. They get all the overmarketed AAA games because those games are just put it on all the powerful platforms and why would Xbox be a priority for anyone? There's almost no good reason to not put your game on PS4, so everyone does and 3rd parties market the popular games and PS4 is popular so they win. Until a few months ago, they might as well be the only home console. For a lot of people, they might as well be the only gaming that isn't on a phone.

I'm not even sure they are trying. I saw their E3 conference. It was basically "Those games we showed last year are still coming. 2018. Ok? kthxbai" Probably just have bots auto generating marketing at this point. Sony execs probably just on vacation as their bots make their Playstation money for them.

@kkslider5552000 I'd say one of the main points of Sony's E3 was "We stole Monster Hunter from Nintendo!".

@Grumblevolcano
Even that hasn't caused so much impact for Sony as it one would have expected. I haven't heard much buzz about it in other sites, except for the console wars.
I don't think it will be doing so well in the casual market, but that's another story.

@DarthNocturnal
It was bound to happen. Monster Hunter is not a Nintendo 1st party IP. It's a 3rd party game, and no third-party game stays exclusive to one platform manufacturer forever. But I don't think MH World is gonna do much better than MH4U did on 3DS, even despite being heavily promoted with good graphics and 3 platforms. For one, the 3 million in sales they usually see in Japan... that's not gonna happen as a PS4 exclusive there. Even Dragon Quest XI only hit 1 million, so I wouldn't expect any more than that for Monster Hunter World. So that's 2 million in the hole right there. Then, there's the fact the games were already hitting a million in the west, so whatever it does in the west it's going to have to sell 2 million to make up for Japan's numbers and another million on top of that just to break even with what the previous games have done. Only sales above and beyond 4 million will actually allow the game to be a better success than its predecessors. Which means it needs to hit 3 million in the west- and it probably will- 2 mil on PS4 and 1m for X1/PC... The only differences it probably cost them 10 times as much to make due to the production values and 3 different platforms.

Basically what I'm getting at is ya, it'll do reasonably well just because of its production values and marketing push but it's not going to ever be a mainstream game. Just because it's a complicated and skill-based game, and complicated skill-based games are never mainstream. Dark Souls levels of success is about the best it can hope for in the west.

In the end, MH may not be exclusive to Nintendo going forward, but it most certainly won't exclude Nintendo either. If they can sell that same 4 million copies simply developing a 3DS and Switch version, they're gonna do it. Although I think by the time the next game is ready 3DS will be out of the picture and it will be a Switch exclusive. But by that time the install base will have reached 25 million and the sales potential of the game will likely rival that of past 3DS entries- the fact the game will be more popular in the west will probably make up for the smaller install base.

Monster Hunter World is a spin off game isn't it? It's aimed at the Western market, something Capcom hasn't been able to capture in terms of sales with the numbered line as of yet though it was growing. I don't see this as a win for Sony and I don't think they do either because for them to actually get that win they need the mainline numbered series to be on PS4 exclusively, and there's no way Capcom would do that because they know the bread and butter for their sales is the Japanese handheld market hence why they are prepping their engine for the Switch with the remaster.

@FragRed Nope, they've said it's Monster Hunter 5 in all but name.

This is usually a red flag, let's be honest.

@IceClimbers Oh really? Then that is worrying. Capcom have effectively abandoned their home market where it sells best. Can't see it doing too well on a home console that doesn't sell well there to begin with.

@JaxonH @FragRed This is the point Ive been making.

Capcom wants to make more money. They do this by spending more time and money on a game ignoring their biggest domestic markets and ignoring their not to be scoffed at Western market that appeard because of the eDS.

And they want to make MORE money? There is so little logic to this madness

@BLP_Software
I think they're hoping to get lucky and see the series become the next western sensation but, we're not like Japan. The masses want Destiny and Overwatch, not Monster Hunter.

Even so, the game will be sold at $60 rather than $40 so, 4m sales will be the same as 6m on 3DS. And, they're playing the long game. Even if it makes no more money than past entries, if they can build a base of 3 mil+ in the west, they can stop milking Japan so much and use their Team A/Team B split to release games for both markets.

I also think 3DS is in it's twilight and we likely won't see another MH game on it. Luckily for Capcom, Switch will be there to take it's place.

More Capcom awkwardness confirmed, Okami HD is coming to PS4 and XB1 but not Switch.

Don't forget Capcom loves to set extremely high expectations on the games they release in the West. Sometimes believing they'll hit double figures! And then seeing it fail to reach anywhere near these numbers.

@Grumblevolcano Okay. This is...

We have titles planned. BUT WE NEVER DO THE LOGICAL THING!

Okami HD would be hugely welcome. Release it at the same time as the others then it sells well and passes the Capcom test. Release it, if it all months later then it sells poorly. They said they're assessing what games to bring to Switch. If Okami HD, Disney and Megaman Collection don't fit then what does?

Sonic Mania review should appear at 4pm UK time.

Bandai Namco promise future Switch support

Bandai Namco Entertainment have promised future Nintendo Switch support to investors stating that “We will continue to introduce Nintendo Switch titles from July one after another”.

http://www.japanesenintendo.com/post/164168403084

It's not really saying a lot but it's something. Nintendo have given them a lot of business over the years and we've not got a huge amount in return. I at least think they're working on an expanded version of Smash Bros. Wii U.

I know.

I left that line dangling because I thought someone might bite. I didn't expect it'd be you though!

Regardless there was a point to me saying it - most people will see it as a PS4 exclusive. Like you point out it makes selling AAA third party games on Switch much harder and it wouldn't be easy to begin with because of differences in the demographics of the Switch userbase.

People talk a lot about Nintendo not understanding 'online' but I don't think that's held them back. They definitely did not however understand the way that marketing support and exclusivity would become increasingly important. Either that or they understood and they just decided they didn't want to pay in to that game when it was really taking off during the Wii years.

I'd go so far as to say that failing to understand and spend the money to nurture meaningful relationships was perhaps the biggest single reason that the Wii U failed (as part of a much broader marketing facepalm). It had the third party games it needed but they didn't sell and Nintendo was powerless to help them sell because exclusivity deals didn't allow them to advertise (short of selling a lot more Wii U's quickly on the strength of their own first party games).

In other words - Nintendo thought games consoles sold on the strengths of their games because that's always been commonly received wisdom but Sony (correctly and astutely) realised that the marketing of those games was much more important.

@kkslider5552000 I've said the same thing in the past. Sony doesn't really have any like-for-like competition any more so paying the amounts they must for 'marketing exclusivity' may be just a waste of money since Microsoft aren't playing the game any more.

At some point Sony executives will probably stop their management from paying out such large amounts and it'll blow a hole in the 3rd parties that are currently very cosy with them because they have no where else to turn to replace that money.

@Grumblevolcano WHAT??? I missed out on the original Okami and was really wishing for a Switch port. Why Capcom why??? AARGGH I'M SO PISSED. I THOUGHT THE SWITCH WAS GONNA SOLVE THRID PARTIES!!

Or so. I'm still heavily disappointed though. If anything else happens like this then that's it, I'm calling it quits...