Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

@johncalmc Exactly. The UK is an anomaly.

You ever noticed we have this constant macho image we need to maintain? Kids are bullied in schools for not playing GTA and CoD and FIFA or for playing "baby games". Heck I know I was and even had some of those comments on this very site!

The UK is a weird market unto itself.

Anyway, thisll let you know a little hint about how the retail scene, just in general as this can easily (as we see on the UK eShop) appky to other nations as well...

https://gamingbolt.com/nintendo-switch-third-party-digital-sa...

Third party sales are higher on the eShop than at retail in the US for the first time.

In the UK it also obviously is, just look at the chart, but in Europe as a whole I expect its guaranteed to angle that way to be a digital storefront because as Ive mentioned, lots of third party games are digital only here but physical elsewhere

Not that this is indicative of Switch sales in the UK, but the other day I went into my local Argos...

and they replaced the Xbox shelve with a Nintendo one. The PS shelve is still twice as big, but no Xbox representation was surprising.

Maybe this says more about Xbox then it does about Nintendo. Might take a picture the next time I pop in.

@YummyHappyPills To be fair though those kids do need to man up and start playing proper games. Hail Brexit.

@Fight_Teza_Fight I still remember when ASDA stopped selling Wii U games because they weren't worth the shelf space any more. You know it's serious when the shops can't be bothered.

@johncalmc @Fight_Teza_Fight It may be an indication stores arent down with Xbox effectively selling stuff for 7.99 a month.

Why stock something like Sea of Thieves when Xbox undercuts you so heavily.

I do wonder how Xbox Game Pass is affecting sales of their games.

It is an absolutely incredible system. Basically what PS+ would be in the wildest fantasies of Sony fanboys.

Maybe Microsoft will transition away from retail altogether over time and solidify the Xbox brand as a subscription service to play games like Sea of Thieves and Halo 4?

@Ralizah
That's basically what Microsoft wanted Xbox to be from the beginning when they first acquired the net tv stuff and started out the DirectX Box path.

The One was really the culmination of what they wanted for living room dominance. If they hadn't handled the likes of E3 2013 so very badly, things could already be quite different.

@Ralizah 2m $60 sales per game release or 10m $10 sales each month. Mathematically, it makes sense they want to go to subscriptions and just have everyone on Windows.

We already know independent stores are dropping Xbox because of that.

@YummyHappyPills Production costs aside, the subscription make the same amount of money as the regular sales would with that example.

@Jaz007 Yeah. But thats a one off purchase of $60 of which Xbox only gets some, even on first party stuff at retail. With their rate of first party content wouldnt it be preferable to have 10m $10 payments MONTHLY, instead of each person giving you some of a $60 payment for 2 million sales for each release they make sparingly.

@YummyHappyPills The macho obsession is everywhere in Europe. UK isn't special in that regard.

I think it's more that English speaking countries favor products from English speaking countries.

I always thought that as the X Box is an American brand and the majority of Europeans hate America, that is why it doesn't sell that well?

I know that is a sweeping generalisation that is just the impression i got.

Not trying to go off topic but any company would rather have guaranteed revenue rather than a risk revenue generator. For Microsoft, if you sell say 40 million subscriptions to Gold every month/quarterly/yearly, and of those another 5-10 million with gamepass that is revenue that can largely be relied on for as long as the system/eco system remains healthy. Sea of Thieves has sold well, as I understand, but it equally could have been another Recore or something that sold low amounts. That would mean the division cutting back expectations.

Microsoft as a whole are all about service models now. Windows, Office, Azure and 365 cloud are all becoming subscription based rather than relying on sales. I think Xbox will continue that way to be honest.

@JohnnyShoulder There's probably an element of that - but mildly.

I think when it comes down to big console sales it's mainly it's just down to prestige and brand loyalty. I'm a Sony fanboy so tend to buy Sony everything where I can. Sony were making brilliant hardware across many divisions long before even Nintendo entered the video game business. There's a trust to Sony hardware I think.
Couple that sort of thinking with the fact that MS just tend to get it wrong so often (original xbox controller, RROD, wireless connectivity, XBL Gold being charged while PSN was free, the XB1 E3 nonsense), it puts people off.

EDIT: Nintendo has mostly always been straightforward - 'here's our thing, it plays games'.

Apparently the port of Ys VIII on PC isnt doing too hot...

That bodes well.

*In before NIS blames the Steam market place for being too overcrowded & claims that Valve doesn’t like small publishers

They can’t catch a break with this game (22% on steam). Has there been some sort of reshuffle over there? There seems to be no quality control anymore.
I do expect them to get everything up to speed by the time the Switch version launches...probably.

@Fight_Teza_Fight When I say doing too hot, I dont mesn sales, we cant tell that anymore as SteamSpy is dead.

Im talking aboutt optimisation.

My concern is if this doesn't do well on Switch then Falcom walks. Its only coming because NIS beat them over the head enough

@YummyHappyPills Yeah I figured as much. Took a look at the user reviews...they’re not so good.

@Fight_Teza_Fight Which is sad. Here's hoping for the Switch port being good in June as thats the one I'll be getting.

I mean it should be fine. The game runs on Vita, but they also said they are basically just downporting the PS4 version so...

https://gonintendo.com/stories/307141-dragon-quest-xi-intervi...

Behold - Nintendo is using middleware that is current, as opposed to outdated (Which developers used to complain about) and Epic Games (The developers of Unreal) are not obligated nor inclined to add support for a system into an older version of an engine, nor is ANY middleware developer.

Yet people still blame the Switch for this? It's a case of how middleware development works and Square Enix being Square Enix and announcing a game before they even knew what they were making it for. Again.