The Nintendo Switch is now out in the wild, and like any console launch the days leading up to its release were a mix of buzz, excitement and some hiccups. On the downside there was plenty of chat online about issues with the left Joy-Con having connection issues in some cases, while as a positive The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was critically acclaimed and the launch line-up on the eShop had fleshed out a little after early concerns. In Japan, especially, the eShop was full of titles and options early on.
It seems that those most fickle of observers, investors, were generally pleased with the launch. Nintendo shares gained substantially (a little over 4%) by the close on 3rd March, and had continued the positive momentum when the Tokyo exchange closed today. That takes the Nintendo share value to its highest point in a month, and wipes out drops related to some of those pre-launch concerns.
Atul Goyal, an analyst at Jefferies Group, was quoted as saying the following by Bloomberg:
There's a sigh of relief today [3rd March] that the actual launch has gone smoothly so far. We have to wait and see if any major issue comes up by the end of the week.
Meanwhile Piers Harding-Rolls, head of games research at IHS Markit, highlighted that long-term momentum will truly be key for the home console / portable hybrid.
While this early adoption phase is important to build sales momentum, it can only take the Switch so far. Convincing a wider audience to commit to the platform will take some work. A mixture of compelling content and features, price point, word of mouth and effective marketing will all need to come together to engage this broader audience.
Do you have the sense that the Nintendo Switch had a strong launch?
[source bloomberg.com]
Comments 33
Nice.
Erm, the launch has gone smoothly? Tell that to all the official UK Store customers, getting their orders today or god knows when
Off topic, but did Nintendo Life recently join the Dark Side?
I'll wait to buy the system once Nintendo has got their software and hardware supply sorted out.
Launch day is one thing, but maintaining momentum is another. Nintendo's gotta continue advertising and stocking the Switch if they ever hope of getting it off the ground.
I wouldn't say it was a huge success, it was very easy to get hold of one at launch event without a pre-order and I had my choice of where to buy it from. Compared to the Wii U it seems a success but I didn't notice the usual buzz that comes with a new console
Seems like it wasn't that long ago when the first image I saw from the Wii U launch was a pic of a guy at the Nintendo World store in Times Square dressed as Mario, proudly holding up his just purchased Wii U. Congrats to Nintendo!
@carlos82 Where do u live?
Im here in Japan for about two weeks now,( vacation and gunpla competition) And honestly aside from lunch day, it seems that theres not that much buzz anymore for the switch, stores are back to showcasing PS4, 3ds and vitas. This is anecdotal but my nephews who live here aren't even talking about it.,
So far.
Around exactly last year I invested all my money from a stock simulator that uses real data and now I has da monies (not real money though)
@Piersen Not just Nintendo Life, but the Switch and Nintendo themselves did as well. Look at their logos!
Stay on the light side of the force. Play PS4 and XBONE instead you much. May the (PS4)ce be with you.
Hard to gauge without numbers but I have two people I know who skipped Wii U who were suddenly desperate to get one at the last minute (1 out of 2 did). And although that day there was some stock, and Target even advertised (for Sunday) it was pretty much sold out everywhere I saw. All anecdotal, but Zelda and Switch are doing the job it needs to for some people who had abandoned Nintendo.
Personally, I think it's pretty great but I'll admit that Zelda is a big part of that and the few Wii U owners who aren't in a rush are having basically the same experience. This might spread out the sales a bit from those fans as they'll probably be able to wait until the end of this year pretty easily. Quite agreeable a transition for consumers, actually, just doesn't light the charts on fire at the start.
The real story will be how it sells at the end of the year with Mario, Mario Kart and Zelda in tow. If it can bring famers in as the "second console" at that point there are some issues.
Personally, the launch games could have been better. Had Switch launched in the west with Disgaea 5 as well as Zelda like it did in the east, and I'm sure the console would be doing way better.
Why are we always treated as second class compared to Japan? I'd have jumped on Disgaea 5 at launch. But instead I spent the whole day hesitating, staring at the Eshop choices, wondering which title I'd hate the least. Eventually settled on Shovel Knight and have enjoyed it so far, but Disgaea 5 would have been right up my alley.
Hallelujah.
@outsider83 Wrexham and work in the Chester area
The 2nd chart really shows how much of a better position Nintendo are in from this time last year.
@Bunkerneath That's due to a lack of stock being delivered to them due to stock being oversold. In terms of the launch it's a VERY good thing. For The Hut, who run the Nintendo online store, not so much.
I'm sure I heard that Nintendo said there would be more stock by the end of the week anyway? In which case it's a complete non event. Do you remember how hard it was to get a Wii? For like 6 months?
@carlos82 I do agree but, In the past, i worked as a video game retailer and on launch we used to have around 10 consoles 2005-2006. (about 10 wii, 7 x360 and only 1 PS3). Yesterday, i went to this old place and the guy told me they had 60 Switch at launch. It is a lot more. If Ninty was able to shift that many consoles all around the world, then i guess it is normal that it is easier to find.
Love mine so far! No left joy con problem when I play on my big screen. And Zelda is VERY addictive and quite a different animal altogether than I'm used to playing. Good work, Nintendo.
We don't know whether Switch had a successful launch or not; the only 'hard' data we have is Switch supposedly selling 80k in the UK, which isn't that great to be honest. Hopefully it sold better in other regions, but I'm guessing we'll only find that out in the coming days/weeks.
Wait until Pokémon and then we'll see a fire.
@outsider83 @carlos82 A different Planet?
Wow. It seems that investors are nervous lill brats
Amien.
I'll pray the best for Nintendo Switch sales.
@diwdiws That's pretty surprising, but then again, they don't actually HAVE any Switches to sell at this point, everything is future stock and waiting lists, so it makes sense to promote things you actually have in the store to sell. And 3DS has some heavy hitters still pending for Japan.
I'm more surprised they're pushing PS4 though. None of the "home consoles" have done very well there. If we don't sugar coat it, set-top boxes are a sinking ship over there.
I can't really see this console being a long-term winner past release as more and more issues from users are unearthed if it continues at this pace and Nintendo doesn't go out of its way to do some fast damage-control to keep the trust of potential buyers.
@xj220_afiles that could be a factor and apparently it has now sold out where I live. I remember when the Wii came out and my local gamestation had 50 at launch and then none for a month or so. I'm not saying it's had a bad launch, it sold 80,000 in the UK which is double the Wii U but still significantly less then both Xbox and especially PS4, it just seems slightly muted but maybe that could be due to it been out of sync with the others and me excited for Horizon too. In either case I'm very happy with mine
The EB Games that did a midnight launch in my city, luckily happened to be the location nearest my apartment, was packed with both Switch pre-order pickups and walk-in sales. My partner and I had a grey Switch pre-ordered but halfway through the waiting period, I really found myself drawn to the Neon Joy-Con SKU. Coupled with the fact that there's actually no way to move save data to a new Switch, our plans for sharing one unit and waiting to get another when Splatoon 2 lauches went out the window. I really did not want to have to re-play all the progress I made in Breath of the Wild so I waited 5+ hours in the freezing Canadian winter to pickup a walk-in Switch. Luckily I was 6th in line for the walk-in allotment. Got my Switch. In total that store gave out 45 tickets for walk-ins in addition to the amount they had covered for pre-orders. Everywhere else in my city is completely sold out for 6-8 weeks (that's what the Manager at the EB told us when they were expecting a second wave of consoles). So yeah, I'd say the launch was rather successful, at least where I'm from!
I remember when the Wii U came out and Nintendo believed the console could live on word of mouth and the fact that it has "Wii" in the title. They also did minimal advertising on some TV channels, mainly family ones like Disney and Cartoon Network but after a few months they pulled all their advertising because of the lackluster interest in the new console. I really like the advertising approach this time around with the Switch and their Twitter/Facebook/YouTube pages are pretty nice too. What my worry is that they'll decide that advertising isn't worth it and just let the system try to survive on its own which will be the downfall of it. People need to know Nintendo has a new console, they really need to sell it. I still remember the "Wii would like to play" ads from 10 years ago, friends family and even people who didn't play video games were taking about the console because of their large amounts of advertising for it. I see a bright future for Nintendo if they can try to push this console as much as they can.
@NewAdvent
I agree but was the Wii generating Wii level interests in the first 2 days? If I recall, the Wii wasn't a preorder 5 mill at launch type of machine. It was a real life viral sensation. As people talked about it and played, people wanted it. Then it took off as fad, and the monies started flowing.
Not to say I expect the Switch to do that. I think it never reaches fad levels, but the next 6 months could see it heading into the holidays with buzz and Mario on deck. If Ninty doesn't go stupid, they can hit a homer at E3, and make the Switch a desirable console for many, not Wii level again, but better than most expected.
@Mogster It's really bad. Better than the GameCube, GBA, and Wii U, and almost as much as the DS. Still about 20-30K less than Wii and 3DS, though.
@NewAdvent
Good info, I admit the Wii didn't rally get my attention until it had hit fad status, I hadn't paid Nintendo any attention at all. So I wasn't really in on launch to know how much buzz it had. We are of a like mind about the marketing. Ninty went hard in the US, and no surprise with the launch numbers.
About 3 weeks ago I said football is where Ninty needs to market. Get some space during premier league games. Pony up in the champions league. Perhaps they will do so when FIFA is ready, but I know usually by that time it's PS4 adverts I see.
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