The one and only Shigeru Miyamoto has been in the headlines a few times already this week, speaking about how he's broken his habit of "upending the tea table" and how Nintendo has worked hard to escape its 'childish' reputation.
Now, in the same interview with Japanese magazine Famitsu (as translated by Oni Dino from Nintendo Everything), Miyamoto explained the reason why the Switch had become so successful. According to the legendary Nintendo designer, it all comes down to some "good timing" in an age where people are always carrying around devices such as smartphones. Miyamoto says how Nintendo felt a dedicated video game system could easily succeed based on this trend:
The Switch released with good timing in this age where people are walking around and using devices like smartphones. And yet, they get loaded up with a lot of data. So for this reason, we thought it should be relatively easy for a single console with a single technological architecture to succeed, given the situation. For mobile [gaming], there are many different hardware versions that all have to be accounted for, so you don’t know what else is going to come along with it all.
This "good timing" arguably came at a price – with the Wii U's lifespan cut short. Although the troubled predecessor of the Switch was manufactured right up until January 2017 (just a few months before the release of the next-gen system), it struggled to maintain interest from start to finish.
Nintendo also did a much better job on the marketing front during the Switch generation – releasing a video that clearly illustrated its unique selling point right away. You could also factor in the system's stronger library of games from the very beginning – including all the Wii U ports that are now available.
What do you make of Miyamoto's comments, though? Do you think it was simply good timing that made the Switch a success? Share your thoughts below.
[source nintendoeverything.com]
Comments 47
I agree with him, it filled a gap I didn't even think existed until I got one.
Thanks to the release of BoTW too
I agree that developing for iOS and Android screen sizes has become a nightmare. But I also think that the switch had more than good timing... the marketing, portability, and great games (two of the greatest games in its first six months) drove it to be a mega success
I agree with Miyamoto, the Switch had amazing timing when it launched, but there is a more important element at play when discussing "why is the Switch a success?" Marketing. The logo is one of the smartest, cleanest and vividly self-explanatory logos I've ever seen for a video game console. Add to that logo the satisfying "click" sound and you've got something to write home about. Unlike Sony or Microsoft, almost 100% of Switch commercials begin with their logo; that bright-red title card and "click" immediately draws your attention to the screen and from a Pavlovian viewpoint calibrates your brain to start thinking about a Switch before they've even shown you anything. Combine that greatness with clever marketing that targets the young adults who grew up on Nintendo products and lean on them as ambassadors to help get the word out about your new console and it was guaranteed to be a win.
I wholeheartedly agree with him.
@Chowdaire This. Couldn't have said it better myself. Love how they've marketed the switch and that click sound grabs people's attention.
I think Miyamoto is right.
Also, fact is that there is still a market for a dedicated gaming device that plays real games, rather than shovelware and junk you can only play with your thumb on a touch screen.
Further the Switch is the first device to deliver that dual nature so successfully. It's not like the Switch is the only portable device to be able to also output to a TV, but Nintendo took that idea and made it seamless and that's important. You don't even so much as have to plug and unplug it to switch between TV and portable modes, you don't even need to turn it off or to change settings. Most other similar devices demand at least that much.
The pure simplicity of being able to set down your controller, walk across the room, pick the Switch up, mid-game and take it with you and keep playing is really appealing.
And conceptually this idea is well explained thanks to what @Chowdaire already so perfectly explained.
Companies are saying the future is playing games on every screen you can put in your face, and while that may come to pass, the Switch with its browser-less, singular functionality of just playing games proves people still want to play on dedicated and well-designed for gameplay hardware. Never believe that the all-in-one solutions are going to replace everything because they never do
Well that and it doesn't have a stupid name or forced Gamepad nonsense with 90% of the library.
I think moreso it’s because Nintendo started focusing on their core fanbase again, instead of how they pandered primarily to non-gamers during the Wii and somewhat Wii U era.
He sure is talking a lot lately. Quick. Someone ask him about the Switch Pro.
Remember all the uproar when we were told it wouldn't have Netflix or a Web browser?
Well It still hasnt and seems to have done just fine without them.
Would it be nice if it had them? Sure but for me the Switch was and always will be about playing games.
Thankfully Nintendo knocked it out of the the park this time with a clear message about what the console was (I'm talkin about you Wii U) and a good solid line up of must have games within the first 12 months and beyond
The good news is that it is going well in sales but the bad news is that next year that maybe the PS5 and XBOX4 will launch, the graphics gap between the generations will be huge! Sony and Microsoft develop the new consoles with new hardware every time. Nintendo unfortunately after GameCube era, stopped doing this and it feels like a step back to graphics capabilities. I know know gameplay is more important BUT the players actually wants higher graphics and immersion to the game. Will Nintendo follow again the same path and we will beg after some years for a Switch PRO?
@GetShulked This right here is the ticket. They stopped chasing casuals.
I was keen to get back into Nintendo after skipping Wii-U. BOTW was the tipping point for me; a big exclusive Zelda at launch. I don't remember the Wii-U launch games. Also, the grey switch looks better, more modern and grown-up than the Wii-U design.
@nkarafo I don't care too much about the PS5 performance difference because, if it is good, I'll buy one of those too. For me, a game looks good if the developers spent time and effort making it look good. I don't count pixels but, I would like a scratch resistant screen and a d-pad. I think Nintendo can compete with the same graphics in BOTW, for the sequel. Maybe a slight bump so there are no more instances of slowdown when there are a lot of trees.
Not sure timing had anything to do with it. For me the Switch is the 3DS successor which was coming naturally to the end of it's life. The hand-held market has always been huge, and always dominated by Nintendo. If they had only released the Switch Lite, I think that would have been a success as well. As it was, they released the full-fat Switch which is a blindingly good portable which has the neat trick of being able to be docked to a TV.
@RickD I agree that there is an overreliannce on WiiU ports and I have been waiting to see a first party game that was designed for the switch that shows off what that mobile chip set can really do. Labo and ring-fit don't count.
@Investor9872 He just did one interview, it's just that Nintendo Life is milking it, with an article on every bloody sentence of his gospel...
What I garner from that snippet is their thinking behind the Switch is having less distractions on the console and putting games first. Funnily enough that was the first thing I noticed about the Switch. It’s very deliberately stripped back so you go straight into playing games. A minimalist approach.
A friend of mine had his Switch die on him so he figured this was a good opportunity to get an Xbox One X. The clutter and bloat, not counting the constant updates and waiting for games to install drove him mad. All he wanted to do was switch it on and play a game. He ended up giving it to his son.
There’s never one thing that makes a Games System successful. You have to get a lot of the different aspects right, as Nintendo have done with the Switch. Good timing plus good hardware plus good software plus good marketing.
@nkarafo
It won’t make much difference. Switch isn’t getting many of the AAA PS4/XB1 games anyway.
Hardware is meaningless without good software to back it up, and the Switch had plenty of that in its launch year in particular.
I still mourn the short lifespan of the Wii U as it had a stellar first-party lineup with the likes of Mario 3D World, Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8, Pikmin 3 and the Zelda remasters.
Removed - unconstructive
Give Aonuma and his team their fair share of the success too, Miyamoto-san.
Nintendo took the potential and strengths of the Vita and PS TV and made them a reality. They did what Sony refused to do and actually MARKET the machine. They told the world its out there, exactly what it does and said it loud.
They had the tech inside that allows the Switch to play proper ports like Doom and The Witcher 3 unlike the Vita which barely played Borderlands 2. They embraced games from all genres and walks of life and don’t seem to be stopping.
I for one am absolutely loving the Switch and Nintendo’s success with it.
Well I think miyamoto is right
it was the right time for the switch to be released
I know for sure we get in the future a foldable Nintendo
@RickD
New ideas, I'm not sure the industry is brave enough anymore.
@Chowdaire yep I could be out of the room and hear that “click!” on the TV and you know there’s a Switch ad on. Plus the fact it’s ingrained in the OS, right down to putting the joycons back in. Very clever.
They say the average age of gamers is now in their 40s I believe, which is right where I am. It was my generation that grew up in the video game boom if the NES and SNES, and when hanging out at arcades and getting into fights if you threw someone in SFII was a thing.
For people my age, the Switch is perfect. I don’t have a man cave and don’t have multiple TVs to dedicate to gaming, and I’ve got responsibilities and stuff to do!
The switch allows me to play games on tv, undock it when the Mrs. wants to watch a show in TV, take it with me on business trips, etc!
I feel it is more about evolving to meet the needs of this age’s gamers more than anything.
I have more people my age buying a switch than I’d ever seen with any other system.
I think that’s what has made it great.
@Kalmaro basically my own thoughts ... though I had an inkling this gap existed ever since picking up Dragon Quest 7/8 on 3DS and enjoying the convenience of handheld play for my schedule but just wishing at times I could just... plug the thing into my TV so I could lean back on my couch, controller in hand rather than held up in front of my face, when having time to really relax at home.
Similarly the points raised in the interview confirm my hunch about handheld gameplay: by making the Switch a handheld console with decent performance it answered the things that remain a huge weakness of smartphone and mobile games: the lack of standardized dedicated gaming controller and hardware(where phones are so varied they're running into the same issue than PC gaming's lack of standardized hardware for performance/compatibility) but also how many mobile games are bound by data cap/etc... which is a non-issue for the great majority of Switch games.
And unless somehow phones ever answer this, and to do so they'd have to cease to be phones imo, the Switch just showed why dedicated hardware remains more than relevant.
Incidentally it also show why streaming won't be overtaking consoles anytime soon imo even if it does make it's own niche someday... but I suspect that niche might be smaller than we think.
@Xjay you KNOW a Switch ad just started on TV before you even look at it the moment you HEAR that 'click' sound, seriously.
That was such a brilliant decision even if i'm not really one who enjoy as in general ^^:
@Ludovsky I like the idea of streaming a lot, I do it for my PC, I just don't think it should replace hardware.
Instead, it should be an option, like, you have the option to stream a game at higher specs or something.
@Yas that's the reason I got a switch. I hadn't played a nintendo home console since the SNES. If the switch wasn't a handheld system I wouldn't have bothered with it
@TimboSlice You sound like me...That's the other thing I love about the Switch, is having a little old school arcade in my hands.
I hope when it's time for a Switch successor, Nintendo employs the same aggressive advertising practices they did with the Switch (and the Wii frankly) to get the message out. I think the Switch has a long life ahead of it, especially if they plan on beefing up the internals as the parts become cheaper for Nintendo to do so.
It is also so good because they deliver games people want to play: Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Spaltoon 2, SSBU, DKC:TF, etc.
Miyamoto is always so full of sh*t. Switch is successful because of Zelda and a stream of quality software subsequently.
@Valdney BoTW is definitely one of the games that brought people in, but it's not the only one. other games like octopath traveler & popular game franchises like pokemon also brought people in as well as the indie games & remakes.
the only real issue the switch has is the lofty costs of accessories & the joy con drift.
I hope this is not a sign of Nintendo thinking to pull back on marketing again... the real reason Switch did well is because of the marketing, not some magical timing... it was literally the first Nintendo ad that was adult focused. Remember the ad where the man was walking his dog and then he pulled out his switch to play Zelda on the park? That was good marketing.
Whatever the cause might be, just don't follow it up with a Switch U.
@RickD AAA game development has become so expensive and risky, hardly anybody takes any additional risks these days and try to squeeze as much money out of a game/engine as possible. Others sell lootboxes, Nintendo re-releases previous gen titles. And given the user base of Wii U, those are like new titles to most of the crowd. Can't blame them for trying to recoup the money invested on those titles.
@dew12333 Agreed.
@TimboSlice
You’ve hit the nail on the head. I keep saying things like this, while others still seem to think nothing other than ‘Powah’ matters.
Marketing. Commercials and ads that were light years ahead from the Wii U era. Switch's main success factor.
A lot of the success has to do with it being a tablet, handheld, and console that can be played wherever you like. It really sells for casuals with the gimmicks sorta like the Wii had its own gimmicks.
The succes definitely wasn't due to the quality of the hardware...
But I guess there was a demand for a console made of cheap plastic that scratches and bends on casual use.
I really can't believe this piece of garbage is outperforming the Wii U in any way.
Anyone remember Nintendo saying it wasn't going to replace the Wii U? Right....
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