NINTENDO LEARNED THEIR LESSON WITH THE WII U
Nintendo’s new console, the Switch, launches worldwide on Mar. 3. Nintendo just recently had a live streamed presentation, announcing the price, launch line-up, and other key features of their new hybrid console. With the Wii U’s lackluster sales, 13 million sold, it lacks in comparison to its sibling, the Wii. With that console selling like it did, what reasons do we have to be hopeful for Nintendo’s Switch?
Miyamoto did an interview with Fortune in 2015, talking about how the Wii U crashed and burned. “I feel like people never really understood the concept behind Wii U and what we were trying to do,” he mentioned. “Unfortunately, because tablets, at the time, were adding more and more functionality and becoming more and more prominent, this system and this approach didn’t mesh well with the period in which we released it.” As you can see, Nintendo is aware that the Wii U was a mistake. This time around, they’re not boasting the Switch as a tablet, but as a gaming console first. The Switch is its own thing and has no affiliation with Nintendo’s past two consoles; no Wii-motes, no nunchucks. Nintendo dropping the Wii name is going to help them when it comes to selling this piece of hardware. Consumers associate Nintendo with Wii and motion controls, but the Switch puts motion aside for the most part and will be all the better because of it.
Nintendo’s President, Tatsumi Kimishima, says that, “It’s possible the Switch may sell as well as the Wii,” in an interview with Nikkei. Truth be told, the same thing was said about the Wii U before it launched, but that’s mainly because Nintendo thought people would purchase anything with the name Wii in it at the time, especially after the insane of amounts of units the Wii sold. The Wii U showed that this isn’t always true, Nintendo wants their systems to sell. They may over estimate sales from time to time, but this isn’t the Wii U. They’re not just relying on the name of the console alone to have it sell, they’re putting in the work with their titles and advertising.
Nintendo knows what they’re doing when it comes to making money. They’ve been doing great in the mobile world this past year and the Switch advertising has been on point. Nintendo decided to only show millennials’ in that first Switch trailer and no kids. This shows fans that they’re thinking about the older crowd; the people who used to play Nintendo consoles in the past but slowly backed away from the Japanese company. The trailer shows Skyrim, NBA, Mario Kart, and a few other titles that made the console just look insanely fun. It’s catering to hardcore and casual players at the same time. The Switch could end up being Nintendo’s next big hit by getting the attention of all gamers everywhere. With the Nintendo Switch reveal being the most viewed video on Nintendo’s YouTube page, it’s clear that people are interested.
