shazbot

Am I missing a graph? The table above is sales/revenue, not profit, right?

@Andy_Witmyer If you're not interested in being nice, you're more than welcome to enjoy the special place we have very nicely prepared for you until you're ready to be nice.

TO THE GULAG WITH YOU!

My brother and I share a spreadsheet so we don't duplicate purchases for this reason.

I've beaten 120 of my switch games, I've started another 300, and my total games owned is 765.

...which means I've got a backlog of 345 unstarted games

...on Switch.

Take down in 3...2...1...

Here we go, "THE FINAL LAP!"

I also find this confusing. As many have said, I'm also a predominantly digital owner with a large library of games. I have some physical (~15 games) but the ability for my brother in the US to share accounts, and thus games, has led to a frankly obscene (~500 game) backlog and spreadsheets for tracking purposes.

As an aside, the top line revenue numbers are, if not misleading, obfuscating that digital sales are significantly more profitable dollar for dollar as they eliminate many supply chain costs and middlemen.

@SleeplessKnight Really? Biggest blunder?

My impression is that is was timely. I'm not particularly desperate for Kameo, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Kinect Adventures or PD Zero on Switch.

Edit: Not to say I don't value their N64 contributions, Blast Corps, Goldeneye and Perfect Dark got a lot of play at our house, but after playing SoT and RR on XbOne, the post-Nintendo IP strikes me as thoroughly meh.

If it reviews well, I'll pick it up digital Day 1. I'm willing to support innovation in this franchise. All other Pokemon games I've picked up on switch were second hand physical, so no $$$ went to Nintendo.

Thanks COVID

@onex this is on game pass, and I'm sorry to say it has awful performance hiccups on a series x. I highly doubt it will run acceptably on switch.

@Dr_Lugae I didn't know that. Comment deleted.

Also, agree with your point regarding sham self-regulation.

@Tandy255

That's part of the issue. There's credible allegations they're buying items from themselves to establish a track record of sales at increasing prices, so that their (combined) 25%+ commissions continue to grow.

Except can't preorder in SG

@nessisonett

There are costs to research and development, software and hardware integration, testing, country certification, labor overhead, etc.

Pure parts costs is a very poor way to assess a system's overall profitability / pricing reasonabless.

I'm sure if Nintendo sold its systems at-cost and fired a bunch of people that also wouldn't make you happy.

@kpenders @checkr911 These are extremely hyperbolic and ad hominem comments, that don't contribute to the discussion.

People can have different opinions than you - and that's ok.

There are games that don't appeal to me. There are games that are poor value - to me. But neither my opinions - nor yours - are objective facts, and despite what other have said, it is not appropriate to insult swaths of people who see value where you don't.

I was keen on both MS and Nintendo's shows. I have a Switch and a Series X w/ GamePass. Clearly I have a different perspective than you, and if you want to have a conversation around each show's/game's merit happy to do so, but not if the starting point is that I have no intelligence because my opinion is different than yours.

These must be really small projects to make profits at 5000 copies. Not sure what standard publishing agreement rates are, but using digital storefront rates at 30% and average sale price of $60, developer take home would be $210k minus any other costs or rate differences, and any other physical item costs in package.

I'll tell you what I'm NOT playing - a switch pro.

Huzzah! I can go to E3 for the first time!

@VoidofLight
If you follow the link, the 'Fan' tier explicitly says access is free.

@KateGray I read the first paragraph and I thought, "This is Kate, isn't it?"

Scrolled up...bingo. You've got your own distinctive voice. Don't know how hard you're pushing against editorial style and controls, but don't change.

It's nice to have news that clearly has a personality behind it.

@MontyCircus Got it. If it was a literal never, would have been fascinating, but understand handheld doesn't appeal to everyone. I dock at my computer monitor at home, but I'll always just carry in it in my bag and get some play time in on the train or bus, or before bed.

@MontyCircus I find this confusing, the first thing I did on unboxing was turn on my switch!

Real question: is this hyperbole or have you literally never turned it on out of the dock? And if true, can I ask why not? Super curious.

@TheFullAndy On the flip side, without having to worry about commercial success in units sold, developers could potentially focus on making a game that fits their vision, with the backing of MS for development. Case in point: Psychonauts 2

That said, I don't disagree with you, but if your game wasn't going to sell great, gamepass can be a real boon, particularly for live service games where recurring daily players is more important.

I wouldn't call it great - beat it on gamepass and it was fun , but it has enough frustrating moments that I would call it slightly better than just fine.

The movement speed for your main character is... just...so...SO...slooooooooow.

@impurekind didn't they do the same thing to Balan?

@BabyYoda71 I'm very curious, I'm going to put a dollar on bots

@Northwind I came to the comments to say almost the same thing.

Such an incredibly specific bug - maybe it was a dev's family member who experienced it first?

@BenAV Funnily enough, this is the game that non-gaming partners want to play the most when we get together.

I don't disagree that it's both light on content and the minigames are mediocre, but I'm surprised at how often this (and Mario Kart) get brought up.

Also, does that mean I should circle 2025 for DLC?

I'll be honest, since getting a Series X I've played it more than my Switch, but mostly because it's hooked up to the HDMI switch for my WFH workstation. Also there's a couple titles on Game Pass (that I was planning on picking up on Switch) that I played through - Narita Boy, Genesis Noir - in addition to falling headfirst into Forza Horizon 4.

That said, I still bring my Switch with me everywhere, and play it during breaks if I'm out. I would say my Switch game spend has decreased slightly, but not my overall. I recently picked up RE2 Remake, and a couple other big games from last-gen I missed on XbOne, to make up the difference.

@Razer But isn't that the point everyone is making (except you)?

They're not MMOs, but they are in fact online games.

You're calling me a shill, because I (and others) am pointing out that your statement is factually incorrect?

Which part of your original statement is true? The games mentioned are real. The games mentioned play online. The games mentioned have multiplayer.

Don't throw around ad hominems because you don't know how to communicate your perspective clearly. And don't put words in my mouth, because you can't say what you mean.

I said what I meant, and I didn't defend Nintendo's online service, despite your inference to the latter.

@Razer This is a very myopic comment.

Of course we can. Monster Hunter and Splatoon are obviously, "real online multiplayer" games. They may not be YOUR preferred type of online multiplayer, but they are clearly both online (✅) and multiplayer (✅).

FPS (fortnite, pubg, CoD) are known to be less popular in Japan than elsewhere, per player, but that doesn't make the specific IPs you mention non-online games.

Or did you mean you only are a real online game when you're littered with lootboxes and micro transactions? Because you're right, MonHun and Splatoon don't have those...

Having beat the game on GamePass as well I came here just to say this game is a beautiful, aurally-delightful janky mess on Series X as well.

Multiple soft locks, multiple puzzles where I thought I was doing something wrong, only to look up guides and realize I was doing things correctly just the game was not accepting my inputs. Easily a dozen+ forced restarts to continue progression.

Aesthetic marvel, broken game play, bugs and not 'fun' in a classical sense.

Still worth checking out.

This looks cool. Will install when available.

@aznable I will grant my hackles may be up, and I'm replying in good faith, but your initial comment reads (to me) like a self-aggrandizing sideswipe of a group of human beings, i.e. bigotry, irrespective of class membership.

I, personally, find it distasteful. Reasonable minds can disagree. Happy to leave it there.

@aznable The whole thing. (Excepting the part where you make clear you're not included as a racist, homophobic, mouth-breathing, gun-loving, religious wide-load and you're keen on Doshin)

@aznable I agree. Bigotry isn't cool.

So stop it.

@beatrice @bloodninja
I've been playing it on gamepass and I would say it's a Metroidvania-lite. There is some searching and backtracking, and there are progression and traversal hidden by new moved/mechanics, but it's minimal and fairly linear (so far).

@chromaticdracula @coxula
And though having a map would be nice, it's worked (thematically) as the player character is 'lost' in this digital world.

@marurun I think I made it much further into Hollow Knight than you, but bounced off the endgame too. I wouldn't say this is particularly difficult, and is generous with combat related checkpoints. I think I'm ~halfway through the game, so can update if that changes.

EDIT: After beating the game on GamePass can confirm it's good. I would say, however, it shouldn't be called a MetroidVania because it prevents you from backtracking to certain areas after you progress.

Any (all?) of Nintendo's non-Mario Kart racers:

F-Zero, 1080, Diddy Kong Racing, ExciteBike/Truck

I'm pretty sure, based on phrasing, that doesn't include digital.

Do the World data include digital sales?

Is this a good thing? Heard people on PC were not happy.

Over the course of PFX3, with the various sales, I've ended up buying every single table...I hope I can transfer them to the next iteration!

Looking pretty awesome...

@ianl579 I dunno, I think Triangle Strategy, Neon White and the Ninja Gaiden collection were surprises.

I dunno if it's just because I never got on the hype train, but I was pretty excited to see 50 minutes of game announcements.

Woke up early to watch it at 6am live and wasn't disappointed. Lots of stuff I won't be buying and some stuff I will, but it was really cool to see so many new (and old) games coming to Switch.

I'm particularly surprised that Outer Wilds is coming because I remember reading a technical 'analysis' of that game at launch that claimed the CPU of the Switch couldn't handle if.

Works until it shows up on your 'most played' profile page...

@luigitornado Being a huge douche 'forthelulz' is still being a huge douche. Doesn't mean I think this is a huge deal, but still. That's some grade A ass-hattery.

@maxz Very eloquent contextualization, and condemnation. Nicely said.

I just can't get behind a revenue model that can't be sufficiently profitable with full price base games, pre-order special editions priced at multiples of base, season passes at 1/3 of base, and tons of cosmetic DLC.

If you can't figure out how to make a game profitably without tapping into continuous revenue from whales your operational and development expenses and/or profit expectations are out of control.

@zool I don't think anecdotes are relevant, unless you have a story about the 75 million people you know without PS5s, who buy PS5 games anyway?

Whether your friends buy games or not, there's more Switch+Switch lites in the wild than PS5s and I know 0 people who buy PS5s who don't have a PS5. You definitely can't sell a game to someone without the platform... Which is why install base matters (even to Sony, probably why they delayed Returnal and haven't given a date to Ratchet and Clank),

@zool Sounds like we have to agree to disagree, as reasonable minds can differ.

If I can sum positions (in good faith), your perspective is that the Switch Lite specifically should not be included in console sales because it is purely a handheld and not equivalent to a PS5 sale?

My perspective is that gamers care about games, and game developers/publishers care about potential sales. They are unlikely to sell more if their game than consoles in the wild, and so units sold vs units sold is a fair comparison because it is indicative of where non-exclusives are likely to end up (i.e. Switch, including switch lite, install base of 80 million represents significantly more sales potential than PS5 current install of ~5 million).

@zool if you were offended by me finding your comment odd, I apologize, it just seems to me that apples are being compared to apples, units sold against units sold.

But I must maintain that your examples seem off (to me).

Nissans do significantly outsell Rolls Royces. If I'm an accessory maker who makes profit on volume sales, I will produce Nissan accessories. If I'm a luxury maker, I'll produce for the Rolls.

But I don't see any £400 luxury games for PS5, because it's a mass market consumer electronics device. (And Rolls aren't sold at a loss)

You can get in a twist that it's the 'best home games console there is' but it feels like fanboyism at play, particularly when you ignore the PS5 digital edition price (£349), inflate the base edition price by £50 (actually £449), and do the opposite for the Switch, ignoring the base edition (£279, which globally has outsold the lite by ~3:1) for the cheaper lite price of £199. The price difference for the models is a range from £240 - £80 or 0.4x to 1.2x, not quite the same as your example where the price difference starts at ~11x (Qashqai ~£22k vs Phantom £270k).

Which is fine, but then your complaint comes across as skewed by your PS affinity.

@zool That's an odd comment to make.

Switch consoles sold vs PS5 consoles sold, apples to apples

You can do the approximate math for revenue, but then you could make the claim that Switch is being sold at a profit, while PS5 is being sold at a loss, and net is better than gross for measuring corporate performance.

Unless it's just a fanboy thing about , "It's not fair that PS5 has less numbers because it costs more!", in which case...whatever.

EDIT: Also, from a developer/publisher perspective, install base is a better metric than revenue for estimation because each console in the wild is a potential sale, not each revenue unit as determined by Zool.