Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

@johncalmc I think - despite Ninty's best efforts, Switch will continue (and eveually surpass) sharing the indie space with Vita.
So long as that continues and larger third parties see that the install base remains large, accepting of indies and as impassioned as Vita lovers - the 3rd party space will be fine.

@johncalmc I agree. Also anecdotally, in my work there are five of us with a Switch and all of us game on other machines primarily (a couple on PS4 but the rest PC). All of us have BOTW, Mario Kart and Odyssey and a few indies (I have the most titles with Doom and Skyrim). I think this might be why we keep seeing these games break the top twenty in the UK as people like the Switch, buy the software they can't get elsewhere and play that. People are buying it for the form factor and great first party games as a refresher from other hardware.

@johncalmc The Switch is performing far worse in the U.K. than in other regions, though. ESPECIALLY at retail. I don't think your local game shop's Switch section is any more indicative of a grim future for it than, say, the low-ish sales figures of the PS4 in Japan week after week when compared to Switch.

@Ralizah I have no idea, which I guess is why I said to take it with a pinch of salt. I certainly haven't done any hard hitting analysis of the situation. I'm just always surprised when I see the Switch section in a game shop because it always looks pretty sad.

When you say Switch is doing worse in the UK compared to other regions, do you mean some other regions, or most other regions? I naturally assumed it was doing nowhere near as strong in Europe as it was in the US because that makes sense.

@johncalmc

The Switch has apparently become "the highest-selling console of all time in the French market"
http://nintendoenthusiast.com/blog/2018/01/12/nintendo-switch...

Fastest selling Nintendo console in Germany.
http://nintendoenthusiast.com/blog/2018/01/18/the-nintendo-sw...

It's apparently selling pretty well in Italy.
http://nintendoenthusiast.com/blog/2018/01/11/nintendo-switch...

The Switch was the fastest selling console in its first year in the U.S.
And we all know how it's doing in Japan.

I mean, we don't have explicit, constant sales data for a lot of markets, but it seems to be selling incredibly well almost everywhere... except for the U.K.

@Ralizah @johncalmc
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-02-07-why-isnt-ni...

I don't think "far worse" is quite right. Perhaps just 'not as good as everywhere else' - where 'good', is spectacular!

@johncalmc The Switch is probably the worst performing in the UK out of anywhere globally.

In the US, Japan, France, Italy, Spain...its either outpacing the PS4 (Japan) or Wii (Europe) and becoming the fastest selling system in the respective country ever, just like in the US.

When we say its worst in the UK we MEAN its worst in the UK. Its almost an exception!

But if you looknat tge Switch eShop in the UK, third party stuff is routinely leaps and bounds above first party. In fact yesterday the highest first party thing was MK8D, with I believe 10 or so third party titles like Football Manager, Stardew, Skyrim etc. Above it.

The retail scene paints a grim image yes...but almost every other country its available in paints the exact opposite image.

Guys - seriously - 700,000 units sold in the UK up to February, that's not a failing market or even poor sales!

@YummyHappyPills @KALofKRYPTON @Ralizah

Weird. We're the only place in Europe that buys Xbox Ones too. What's going on here?

@johncalmc

Diverse install base and multiple ecosystem users.

I wouldn't buy an XB1, but would consider a Switch had I not got the Vita. I know several people with some combination of PS4, XB1 and Switch hardware.

@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.