The Nintendo Switch’s success so far is truly astounding- but it does beg the question, is this kind of success actually sustainable? Or will people end up losing interest in the shiny new thing eventually, inevitably?
According to Karol Severin, Lead Analyst at MiDIA Research, the Switch’s ultimate success rests with its lineup- as long as Nintendo keeps the lineup of games on the Switch as strong as it has been so far, the system will continue to do well.
“For now, Nintendo’s line up mix is addressing the right issues as they bring their hybrid games proposition to life fully,” Severin said to WCCFTech. “They have games to please the traditional console owner, with key partnerships such as FIFA and Rocket League announced. Simultaneously, Nintendo is working on leveraging their hybrid positioning via the planned developments of Pokemon, Super Mario Odyssey, and Pokken Tournament. All are parts of popular franchise worlds upon which the company can build further distinguished propositions which are developed with this hybrid proposition in mind. While I don’t know what Pokemon on Switch will look like, I imagine leveraging the hybrid proposition in ways like creating an immersive console-like battle environment, but then making the on-the-go hunting process a lot more mobile-like.
“If Nintendo can maintain a healthy mix of traditionally popular and innovative title releases until it has a large enough catalog of titles which fully leverage the hybrid proposition (and therefore create a fully fledged Unique Selling Point), my outlook for the console remains positive. The counter point is that however good the E3 announcements were, Nintendo shouldn’t stop now. If it did it would start losing the initial excitement and possibly momentum.”
This all sounds reasonably sensible- after all, the Switch will ultimately be selling on the back of Nintendo’s games, and very little else. As long as Nintendo continues to push out more games for it, there’s no reason for the Switch to slow down any time soon.
Just look at the lineup of games for this year- apart from the already released The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, ARMS, and Splatoon 2, we still have Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, Fire Emblem Warriors, Pokken Tournament, Xenoblade Chroncles 2, as well as Super Mario Odyssey. This isn’t counting third party games such as FIFA 18, NBA 2K 18, WWE 2K18, Rocket League, and The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. Nor is it considering the fantastic lineup for next year, which includes Yoshi, Kirby, Fire Emblem, Pokemon, Pikmin 4, and of course, Metroid Prime 4.
Right now, there is the confidence that Nintendo is going to go all in on supporting the Switch- and as long as they keep supporting it with their games, I have no doubt that the console will end up doing well. Let’s hope they don’t slow down.