One of the more startling graphs in Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima's investor presentation relates to a survey conducted in the US. Based upon responses to over 60,000 email surveys in the country, it seems that many Switch owners in the country were young adult males, overwhelmingly so.
This may relate to the realities of launch window enthusiasts, and it's a limited survey, but it's certainly food for thought for Nintendo.
That may explain why Kimishima-san revisits the topic of broadening the Switch userbase later in the presentation, notably in a section highlighting that over 300 publishers are currently working on games for the Nintendo Switch (including eShop titles). Alongside a graphic highlighting varied confirmed games, it's stated that attracting gamers of all ages and types is a priority for the Switch.
This is just some of the lineup that has been announced. As you can see, the wide variety of genres among the titles will further increase interest for Nintendo Switch. Having a broader consumer base will make it even easier for software publishers to do business. We are also continuing our work to establish a collaborative framework that facilitates the creation of more successful titles for our software publisher partners.
Based on the data at hand, we can see that the growth of our appeal among children and female consumers is beginning, more so for the Japanese market than for the US and European markets. Looking at intent to purchase among consumers who have not yet bought Nintendo Switch, there are indications that purchase intent is trending upward not only among children and families in their 30s but also among junior and senior high school students, and consumers in their 20s, of both genders. Nintendo is going to continue to work hard to expand our consumer base, among families and game fans as well, to increase purchases.
Overall it's a positive picture in terms of third-party support, and with the solid sales and publicity around the Switch there'll no doubt be a drive to bring more publishers and titles on board. It's the age-old trend with gaming systems - sales bring support, and support brings more sales. It's not always easy to line everything up in that regard, but the Switch certainly has a chance.
[source nintendo.co.jp]
Comments 49
Well yeah, it's new and selling like hotcakes!
Yay I'm in the most prominent Switch owning group for age and gender! 😆
OMG I'm a 3%!!! or an 86% if on gender.
We're already almost at 300 games right? Next year by years end I can see close to 600 games, let hope for quality!
@Judgedean Sorry for being nosy here the curiosity is overwhelming me, but are you a 45 and up or a n/a gender?
@Joeapple haha didn't see that N/A 3%. I'm 45 and definitely male the last time I checked.
eep!
Must. Buy. Fewer. Games.
I’m hoping we see some last gen collections get released as well. As a handheld gamer I’d like to have stuff like the mass effect trilogy, bioshock trilogy, COD warfare trilogy, dead space trilogy, Batman trilogy, and the Enzo trilogy all be portable. They could be priced at 39.99 or something too, which is a lot of bang for your buck.
Lol my wallet wont survive that, but i love the switch and all the games so far, keep the quality high and keep improving!
Look at all those Japan exclusive games [some type of angry emote]
2017 or not, there is still a kind of stigma for being a gamer, and more so for girls. There are plenty of female gamers, but in my experience they are far less likely to talk about it in public or even admit it to people outside their close friend groups.
Anyway I am glad the Switch is getting more 3rd party support. And brace yourself for all the people whining about ports.
This just keeps getting better and better.
Who are all these publishers? Would the vast majority be indie games perchance? Are Capcom giving us a new Resident Evil? Are Konami giving us Metal Gear? Are Ubisoft giving us Assassin's Creed? Are Square Enix giving us Final Fantasy? Are Activision giving us Call of Duty? Are EA giving us Star Wars? Are Rockstar giving us GTA? Etc, etc, etc.
Now if only they'd bring Phantasy Star Online 2 Cloud and Dragon Quest X over. Like, give the rest of the world the same opportunities as Japan at least... Not my fault I wasn't born over there...
Just missed out on the 3% over 45... <phew>
I've been playing video games since I was 8 and things like the Switch just keep my love of gaming going...
@Xaessya : It seems that the West gets more exclusive games than Japan. Japan actually misses out on a lot (if not most) non-AAA Western releases.
Most of the Japanese games in the above image will be released in Western markets though, with the only exception I can spot being Sumikko Gurashi (a ridiculously cutesy Japan-exclusive franchise) and possibly some of the Dragon Quest games. The Atelier game is confirmed for a Western release in early 2018.
More than 300 publisher ?
Okay, one of them should be EA with The Sims 4 for Switch.
Btw, the 3% of N/A gender probably Genderless / Bigender ??
Please, please, please let Vlambeer be one of them!
Two games that can broaden the user base are Pokemon and Animal Crossing.
This will appeal to children and females and of course the current install base too.
Also titles like GTA, Dark Souls, Mortal Kombat/Injustice 2, Smash Bros., Phantasy Star Online for West and Monster Hunter for West can increase and broaden the user base. Make it happen Ninty!
Did Arnold Rimmer call himself a fish again? 3% NA on gender?
@JJ286 From Software was working on something at the time of the Switch reveal: http://cdn.gamer-network.net/2016/usgamer/Nintendo-Switch-Shot-06.jpg
@SLIGEACH_EIRE
"Who are all these publishers? Would the vast majority be indie games perchance?"
Well given that there's only so many big publishers out there, the obvious answer is yes. What's wrong with that? The Wii U had a lot of indies too, your point there? Of course this is just a PR stunt to say that there's so many games in the works.
A lot of these big publishers had utter failures on the Wii U, so that's why there's hesitation — doing ports, to test the waters, and to see if there's still an audience for them. This is why I keep saying that people need to buy third party games on Switch if they want new games. However, I will say that Capcom is being ridiculous saying that everything they put out is a "test" and the lack of Monster Hunter — after the 3DS treated them so well, is mind baffling.
Well done Tatsumi Kimishima, great job so far! Now can we have MP4 next week please?!
pointless stats, 12 year olds rarely have $300 to buy a gaming console
Sigh. That female metric is depressing. Oh well, hold the line sisters, hold the line. At least the metric is seeing some growth in general. (also I'm going to be sooooo broke for the forseeable future)
@ValhallaOutcast
Nope, but their mummies and daddies do have that money and are happy spending more than that on their little darlings at Xmas!
@ThumperUK well it's buyers age not users age
@hiptanaka yeah I know and hope is coming next year.
@ValhallaOutcast
If you look carefully at the small print at the bottom, the question Nintendo actually asked was the age & gender of the person who wanted the console the most (not who physically bought it).
@AG_Awesome
That’s a great idea. It really is win win. Developers can take tried and true games and get samples and Switch owners have great games. I would take the dead space day 1.
Yay I'm a 5% and an 86%
@sillygostly
I'm hoping for that Phantasy Star Online 2 the most
Um I can scarcely keep up with the games that are coming out as it is! I can tell the Switch is going to be the first Nintendo console for me that I simply cannot play everything I would like to, what a problem to have!
I'm more amazed to learn there are more than 300 publishers (not necessarily developers).
Nintendo.. give Rockstar some coin to bring a Switch version of GTA online to the console.
Actually find the Male to Female ratio really interesting, as Nintendo handhelds typically have really high ratio of Female owners.
They should find a way to subtly appeal to that.
43% and 11% here. Millennial Sisters represent!
The thing is that Nintendo had a similar breakdown for the Wii U. Whereas Nintendo completely failed in appealing to their core demographic that bought the Wii U, this time around they seem to have more games that appeal to that 20-30 something year old who wants games like doom, skyrim, and wolfenstein. I'm glad to see they're actually trying to appeal to the people who actually buy Nintendo consoles as well as slowly trying to expand to a wider audience compared to the backwards approach they had with the Wii U
@SLIGEACH_EIRE
You sure did mentioned a lot of bad games there. If you're going to criticize Switch, try mentioning games that people want. All you had worth talking about was GTA and COD.
So, although I'm 22, I still are younger than the majority of Switch american owners. All that people who thinks that videogames are a "thing for kids" should see this info, it would help them to see the reality.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE
"Who are all these publishers? Would the vast majority be indie games perchance?"
😂 Of course they are. How many non-indie publishers are there? Nowhere near 300.
"Are Capcom giving us a new Resident Evil? Are Konami giving us Metal Gear? Are Ubisoft giving us Assassin's Creed? Are Square Enix giving us Final Fantasy? Are Activision giving us Call of Duty? Are EA giving us Star Wars? Are Rockstar giving us GTA? Etc, etc, etc."
Anybody who wants those series already has one of the systems with multiple iterations on them.
@electrolite77 The question was rhetorical. I know the answer.
I'm pretty happy with the third party AAA games that are out and coming out. Hope there are many more in 2018 of course, but I think we got the best case scenario so far.
Really interested to see what Nintendo does. Yeah we got Kirby, Yoshi, and Metroid Prime 4 (prob 2019) announced, but interested in their IPO's. Also, what happens when all of their major franchises have a game out? All IPO's after?
5% and 86%
There's that DQXI logo.
How much longer till we see the Switch version?
I hope they know that isn’t a static curve, it not like I’ll stop playing video games at 45... However, priorities and budgets do change, if you have kids, drastically! Better start making those core DX games now big N, before I need to start saving for the kids going to college!
Just announce a quality baseball game (RBI does NOT count) and I'll probably break down and buy a Switch. Otherwise I can wait out a revision to add a d-pad to the joy cons.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE
Who really cares about GTA, Assassin's Creed, COD etc ?!?
I know that a few people like you are, and of course these titles would be a nice addition to the Switch game library.
But what really matters for the Switch, is some unique First and Third party content. That is what's going to sell it, and make it interesting for most buyer's.
Not big Western multiplatform AAA titles, that you already can play anywhere else. These are nice to have, but not a need to have.
Many have a PC, PS4 or X1 for these games already. And there you can also play the better versions, than on Switch. So no matter what, the traction of these big games on Switch, would be minimal anyway.
But eventually we are going to see more of those big games, if the Switch keeps selling as well. We already got Doom, Skyrim, Wolfenstein 2 and FIFA. More will come.
Take it easy, and don't be so negative all the time. It's not healthy for you
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