Pokemon is one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises, having been touted as the biggest system seller they have for years, and with the franchise making the jump to the Nintendo Switch with its next instalment, expectations are obviously quite high. However, according to industry analyst Michael Pachter, owing to the fact that, for a handheld, the Switch is priced at a costly price of $300, Pokemon on the hybrid system won’t be a system seller, even if it does manage to sell very well.
“Pokemon will come out and sell well,” Pachter said in an exclusive interview with GamingBolt when we asked him about his predictions on how successful the game will be. “It’s an interesting question, because I don’t think of Pokemon as a system seller for consoles- I think of it as one for handhelds. So this brings us back to whether we consider the Switch as a console or a handheld. I know Nintendo views it as both, but I personally think of it as a handheld. And I also think that at $300, it’s way too expensive for a handheld, which means that once the hardcore fans have bought one, it’s going to be viewed as an expensive handheld because of the price. And if that’s the case, I don’t think Pokemon pushes it over the top.”
“I think Pokemon has mass appeal, and it sells tons of millions of copies to a lot of people,” Pachter continued. “But I don’t think that those people will spend $300 on one game, while I think that Smash Bros. fans will spend $300 for the one game that pushes them over the edge. So, no, I don’t think Pokemon will be a system seller for a $300 console. Yes, it is one for a $129 handheld- but not for a $300 console.”
That seems to make a lot of sense, though then again, this seems to be based on the assumption that Pokemon on the Switch will be a similar kind of game to what we’ve seen from the franchise on handhelds in the past. Of course, there’s nothing to suggest yet that it won’t be, but if Game Freak successfully manage to make a similarly addictive experience that is tailored more for console audiences, it may indeed end up becoming a system seller (not that the Switch is in need of one).
What’s your take on this? Sound off in the comments section below, and stay tuned to GamingBolt for our full interview with Pachter.