Nintendo
Of all the big takeaways from this year in gaming, Nintendo’s reemergence as a major powerhouse in the video game industry has to be the biggest. The Nintendo Switch looked like a slick piece of kit from its earliest reveal, but nobody could have predicted just how popular it’s proven to be. And not just the hardware, either, because as much of a factor as its hybrid functionality has been in driving sales, the software has been hugely impressive too. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is now joined by the recently released Super Mario Odyssey as the highest rated game of the current generation. The Mario brand carries so much weight in the gaming industry that Odyssey is surely going to prove a tremendous sales point for Nintendo this holiday season.
There’s so much content to enjoy on Switch already that the console might very well be experiencing one of the best launches we’ve seen in the console space. We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention other excellent titles such as Splatoon 2, ARMS, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, and, of course, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. There’s also the upcoming Xenoblade 2 to look forward to, and the future promise of mainline Pokemon and Metroid titles.
However, by far and away the biggest contributing factor to Nintendo’s ability to dominate this holiday season is the fact that the console is finally readily available to purchase. Nintendo’s dire production issues have really choked its ability to move substantial numbers in the console’s first six months at retail. Only in Europe has the Switch existed on store shelves for any substantial amount time, proving comparatively impossible to purchase in the US without lightning fast reactions at the drop of limited stock. But these woes seem to now be a thing of the past, with Nintendo assuring that Switch stock will remain plentiful moving forward.
