Zelda, Mario Kart And Xenoblade Selling Like Hot Cakes In Japan As Nintendo Struggles To Meet Switch Demand

I'm Surprised that Mario Odyssey isn't on the list as its the best game in the world (certainly better than 1-2 Switch anyway)

But it is selling less now than it ever was in Japan, although it is still selling very well.

I don’t get it seeing they did maintained far more the sales globally in the previous months. Also check NPD. The December NDP will clear this up.

If Nintendo is to meet their goal of 20m this year then shortages is a bad way to start seeing that they would need to greatly up production already.

This makes no sense. The article is talking about games flying off the shelves.
In the article there is no information on the Switch hardware shortages that is highlighted in the headline.

Journalism at its best.

Need MORE Supply !!

1, 2, switch? Really? That’s interesting...

@big_bad_bob no, just shows that Japanese are weird

So that's why Xenoblade 2 fell off the charts so early.

@Equinox These are game shortages now.

Whereas prior it was systems, now its actual physical chips with software on them. I imagine it also has to do with the well documented Flash chip supply issue affecting many industries.

But therein lies the issue: what can they realistically do? Theyve already found other suppliers for screens, due to their previous one losing half its business when Apple left them and had to shut down some lines that made the lower cost Switch screens.

There is only so much they can do so fast. Finding new manufacturers alongside Macronix wont be easy nor will assembly lines appear in factories overnight given businesses dont work with spare capacity, as that would be a financial black hole in money being spent on equipment and employees not doing anything at maximum efficiency.

So those manufacturers will need to increase labour and assembly lines and equipment, which will take time, and then the benefits of any sought out contracts for additional suppliers will be met.

I advise being patient. It's easy to complain and blame Nintendo but remember Nintendo themselves dont physically make or assemble the components. They establish contracts with other companies who source parts and then assemble to Nintendo specification.

Those other companies will experience part shortages and the slow speed of expansion of efficient workforce and equipment. Thise will have a knock on effect. Nintendo cannot themselves directly influence the problem at its root, only get more people at more companies doing more work, in hopes that mitigates an industry wide problem from another sector

@Hotfusion,

Do you mean the console itself?.

The console pretty much sells out in Japan as soon as it's re-stocked...it was not all that long ago some stores were holding lottery systems for people to have the chance to buy the system.

And some folks were convinced that Xenoblade 2 bombed in Japan, lol.

@Equinox We are just out of Christmas. Give them a break! You should have seen the toy stores overe here in Oslo, Norway just after Christmas! It's like they were robbed clean by thieves lol!

Just now, almost three weeks later, they start stocking up the shelves again.
The Switch here too is sold out now in most retail stores.

@Bunkerneath @big_bad_bob
1 2 Switch has sold well in Europe and NA as well. It must be well over a million worldwide by now.

@19Robb92 I'm sure many bought it, then regretted it almost instantly

@johnvboy

No, I am just stating the article is badly written. The article is ALL about SOFTWARE and nothing about HARDWARE. The headline is about hardware demand struggles.

A few weeks on a journalism course still haunts me.

No you are right. It does fly of the shelves.

My reasoning is simple. Nintendo upped production to meet its 10m forecast sales. They had to.

Looking at Media Create in Japan, sales are still very good but dropping.

In January ALL sales will drop. By February they will be significantly down again. This is a natural trend with all consoles and pretty much ALL tech. The Switch is not “new” anymore and the holidays are over.

In other words the article is making Nintendo “look bad”. Like not being able to deliver. To others of course it will be a positive.

Game shortages are a bit weird in 2018 when thereis a digital option, don’t you think?

If Ninty had more units for sale , Switch could of sold like 15+ million worldwide by nows lol

My theory is they expected Mario Odyssey and Splatoon 2 to sell well in Japan so ensured adequate stock. Perhaps they felt Zelda, MK8 (how has it done in Japan?) and Xeno 2 would have more modest sales in Japan so kept shipment sizes more conservative.

I wish people would understand that it's not as simple as some executive calling the factory and saying "make more Switches, they are selling too well!" They have to order parts and and supplies, schedule shifts, get more shipping arranged, sort out how many units to each location... and all their suppliers need to do the same thing, and THEIR suppliers need to do the same thing, all the way down to the company that makes the plastic for the joy con cases and the company that refines all the basic materials for the CPU and GPU. We are talking about thousand and thousands of units per shipment. It's not as simple as calling the local pizza shop to order 4 pizzas instead of 3 when another friend shows up to your house...

I've never in my life bought a so-called 'hot cake'

@Bunkerneath
Haha, probably

The Cloud, Corrin and Bayonetta amiibo have been sold out for months here in the Netherlands and I don't see Nintendo fixing that so. The only hope I have left for the Bayonetta amiibo is in regards to a possible restock when the Switch versions of Bayonetta 1 and 2 finally hit store shelves.

@Heavyarms55

Depends on the upping.

Nintendo clearly stated they upped production to meet their revised figure for first year sales.

They also clearly stated they will up production again to meet a new 2018 figure, IN 2018.

Adding a couple more pizzas to an order is not the same as adding an additional 100. That’s just stupid to assume that.

Any big company has a production that be slightly scaled based on initial sales, whether to be scaled back or increased.

It’s called planning.

@Hotfusion And they did plan. They just were not arrogant enough to plan to be breaking records! I mean let's be real, they'd have to have been massively arrogant to just assume they'd be doing so well, and keep doing so well for months on end.

@Hotfusion I wouldn't call Switch sales of 159,636 in Japan for the first week of January as "selling less now than it ever was"

Splatoon 2 sold 130,901 and with digital sales included, it's now sold over 2 million in Japan alone. These are crazy numbers.

@FX102A Either Mario Odyssey or Splatoon comes bundled with most of the consoles being sold in Japan so a lot of people are not getting them physically.

But yeah, the sales expectations for Xenoblade were probably much more modest since the last couple sold ~150,000 in Japan and it is a mid-tier, medium-budget game... This one looks like its numbers will be a bit better than the previous two.

@Marios-love-child it’s du to a shortage of carts.

@Hotfusion,

It is very difficult to gauge sales numbers when the console pretty much sells out as soon as it's restocked...you have no real idea if the consoles sales are slowing or Nintendo did just not manage to get enough stores that particular week.

It was pretty clear Nintendo were producing as many units over the Holiday season...but even that looks like not enough.

I wonder how many switch consoles would have sold in Japan if Nintendo could have kept up with demand?.

Interesting.

Nintendo once again creating artificial shortages in order for people to just buy games off the eshop...

Not surprised. Nintendo has always had problems with supply.

@19Robb92 people knock on this game but bring it to a party or family gathering or something like that and oh boy, does it shine. especially with casuals and non gamers which is most of the population let's be honest

Xenoblade chronicles 2 - best game on my switch (my opinion) and already sunk 140 hours and haven't completed the main story yet...

@Hotfusion It’s a shame your journalism course didn’t cover commas. Or spellchecking.

Very happy to see Xenoblade Chronicles 2 selling well. I want a sequel in the future. 175 hours in......

@parasnail I agree. I havn't enjoyed an RPG this much since the Snes days. (I switched the dialogue to Japanese, and turned off the combat banter though haha)

@Marios-love-child Maybe because Nintendo expected big sales from Odyssey and stock properly but not so much for the games listed which is good cause it means the games listed here are beating expectations.

@JJ286

That's a very good point

@Bunkerneath I think the game is...Okay? But people are willing to pay full price and bought out the game? That’s another level of fever for games.

Tell me about that.
My son wanted to buy Pokken Tournament DX with the “Otoshi dama” money he got on New Year’s Day but we couldn’t find it in any store we looked at. Amazon is selling it for a premium price so instead of paying more he just decided to wait for a while.
Right now most games are sold out everywhere!

Switch shortages acceptable.
Physical copies shortages not acceptable

I don’t know where the person writing the article lives in Japan but I haven’t seen any soft or Switch shortages since December. You can just go in any electronics store and find a switch and games on retail. And second hand there are hundreds below retail value.

@Hotfusion Actually, your first comment is rather hard to read, whereas the article is perfectly fine. The headline mentions "Switch demand", not "demand for the Switch console". As such it refers to anything Switch related that Nintendo produces, which also includes software.