The Wii U is one of the most high profile, dismal flops for a mainstream console in history- possibly, only Sega’s Saturn would match it. With Nintendo following up on that console with the Switch, people have a lot of reason to be nervous- how can they be sure that the Switch won’t flounder like the Wii U did, leading to a similar kind of early abandonment as the Wii U?
According to Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime, there are two very basic reasons for why the Switch will do better than Wii U- one is that consumers fundamentally understand what the Switch is, and react positively to it, and the other is that Nintendo plans on having a steady stream of games coming for the system.
“Nintendo Switch is a home console you can play anywhere, with anyone. Clear. Compelling,” he said. “We see the reaction by consumers whether it’s measured in Twitter trending topics or views of videos on YouTube or just the frequency with which I get called by old high school buddies that I haven’t heard from in 30 years who are asking me how to get their hands on Nintendo Switch. We have communicated the proposition clearly and it is compelling.”
The games lineup will be equally important, he says. “Wii U will go down as having fantastic content–the issue was as you look at the reality of exactly when the games were launched, there were large gaps in between,” he said.
As of right now, Nintendo has eight first party games announced for the Switch, all for release this year, so on their part, it sounds like they are trying to deliver games- but they will have to do better still, especially given the apparent paucity of third party games that it is likely the Switch will have, too. With that said, however, the Switch is already selling out, and general response to the device appears to be positive, in spite of Nintendo’s various missteps- so at least it seems like Nintendo are working from a firmer foundation this time.
