Current Events > It's hard not to get the feeling that Switch 2 will flop

(+) Yeah! (+)

449 and 500 is a bigger ask for a lot of people, especially in todays economy, but Mario Kart World alone is gonna move consoles and print money.

Its quite clear that Mario Kart is a GTA level money maker

Mad-Dogg posted...

You know what, thats fair.

Guess for the switch 2 its really going to depend on just how much mario kart world or the donkey kong game (alongside some 3rd party ports like yakuza) can attract a crowd.

At the same time it isn't like the Wii U's launch title list was bad and that had a new 2D mario game to play, so we will see.

I still contend that the launch lineups were responsible for the lion's share of nintendo's "dark age."

Like, for both the Wii U and 3ds, Nintendo were laboring under the delusion that they could put out an expensive piece of hardware with an experimental gimmick and just... not have any system-selling exclusives on launch. That cheap ports of years-old 3rd party games all by themselves would move enough units to buy them a year of development time.

They have not made the same mistake since. Launching the Switch 2 alongside BotW (no, literally nobody cared about the wii u version) cemented the system's popularity on day 1. Mario Kart will probably do the same here. You need at least one big gun on launch day.

I think it'll struggle more than the Switch but a flop is horribly unlikely. Modern Ninendo has only had two disastrous launches, and both of those were 99.99999999999% because of terrible naming schemes that cause parents to think the brand new next generation systems were simply accessories that cost $100 more.

It would flop if it were names "The new Switch" or "the SWiitch" or other such garbage that I'm sure was seriously considered. Calling it the Switch 2 means that unlike the 3DS and Wii U, non gamers will understand it's a full generational jump.

Keep in mind the largest demographic of Switch owners is literally single mothers. Kids will continue break their switch lites, and when it's time to replace some parents will opt for the newer system.

I'm also just gonna toss it out there for people who are flabbergasted about the price.

PS5 has been the fastest selling Sony system of all time. It released at the same price point as the Switch 2. Now you MIGHT be able to argue that the Pandemic boosted sales of everything gaming in general for that time span maybe, but what it does show is this price point is not a crazy expensive price point for the industry as a whole. At all.

And while Gamers (and lets be fair, we are posting ON Gamefaqs, we are core gamers) might mince words about specs and power and whatnot, the general population doesn't GAF about any of that. So while we might look at the comparison and be like, "Well the PS5 has _____ specs and internals so it makes sense for it to cost this compared to the Switch 2 internals", the general population doesn't care. They will care that Nintendo made games will ONLY be made for Switch 2 moving forward.

Like fuck, even the whole like, "Games will be released for the previous console and this one" is being severed pretty quickly. The launch title is Switch 2 exclusive. The new Donkey Kong is Switch 2 exclusive. Already.

mystic_belmont posted...

I think the problem is, there really isn't a compelling reason to get a Switch 2. I have a Switch, why should I buy a newer one?

Yeah I agree. I have an NES, why should I buy literally any video game console beyond that?

There's four guarantees in life, and that's that there will always be a GTA, Mario Kart, Call of Duty, and EA FC game topping the weekly sellers charts.
This thing launches with a Mario Kart so it's going to be flying off the shelves.

Most of us are in our 30s and 40s. We can afford $80 games and are old enough to remember when they were $80 back in the 90s. Quit complaining lol

--Zero- posted...

Most of us are in our 30s and 40s. We can afford $80 games and are old enough to remember when they were $80 back in the 90s. Quit complaining lol

I mean I was old enough to remember them sure, but my kid/teenage ass ain't had no money to get jack shit and my parents looked at me like I'm crazy when I dared suggest getting whatever game I was looking at new, lmao. I could only cut so much neighborhood grass, and "allowance" was a foreign word to my parents.

Vast majority of my NES, SNES, and genesis games I played were thanks to rentals, and I mooched off my older n' cooler brother buying N64, PS1 and dreamcast games for that.

Aside from rentals and older sibling mooching getting my own games was a special 2 year event.....1 for christmas, 1 for birthday. Maybe a 3rd if I'm lucky.

Good luck to the kids growing up in the modern day asking parents for 69.99 and with nintendo depending 79.99 or possibly 89.99 physical games w/ no rentals to fall back on. (Well I guess besides game fly wherever they still operate at).

There's definitely a lot more competition today than 2017, so it's definitely not gonna do that well. The space is way more crowded now, with a million different options.

DarkChozoGhost posted...

Keep in mind the largest demographic of Switch owners is literally single mothers. Kids will continue break their switch lites, and when it's time to replace some parents will opt for the newer system.

Not really. Their largest are Millennials and Gen Z. Kids play things like Roblox, Fortnite and Minecraft nowadays, which doesn't require much.

Looking almost the same as the Switch 1 is not gonna help it. Parents are gonna wonder what's so different to justify the much more expensive purchase. Especially giving looming economic concerns.

Also I really don't get the asinine "you hate it but you're gonna get it" responses, nobody is flipping out over or "boycotting" the Switch 2 to begin with, besides the pricing it didn't do anything particularly offensive, people are just not finding motivation to buy it at all. Realistically it's gonna want a stronger first-party lineup sooner rather than later.

Hayame_Zero posted...

It has new games and better performance. Like every other console successor.

Traditionally on top of library additions Sony and MS relied on graphics to push new hardware while Nintendo relied on innovation. This is gonna be a rare case where all you're selling the new gadget on is extra games, since it's similar to the predecessor in structure and its graphics aren't particularly novel.

DarkChozoGhost posted...

Keep in mind the largest demographic of Switch owners is literally single mothers

Don't post BS unless you can back it up

If ps5 is doing well, switch 2 will do well. People will buy trusted brands like Mario kart. Its going to be the new series that suffer at high prices due to uncertainty. So what well wind up seeing likely is sequel after sequel, much like Hollywood.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

I can't even remember the 3DS's launch so that one really was pretty bad. Like a 3DS version of street fighter 4, and was that resident evil revelations game on release? I don't even remember.

I am legit trying to remember what nintendo put out without googling it and I can't come up with anything.

I do think holding off on the new mario kart for the switch 2 along with coming up with a new donkey kong game+zelda ports/upgrades for breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom is smart though.

InfinityMonster posted...

Not really. Their largest are Millennials and Gen Z. Kids play things like Roblox, Fortnite and Minecraft nowadays, which doesn't require much.

Most single mothers are Millennials, gen X moms' kids are grown.

And the majority of Switch owners are women according to demographic information that was released. A huge chunk of them are moms that have it as a family system.

SecretBase posted...

Looking almost the same as the Switch 1 is not gonna help it. Parents are gonna wonder what's so different to justify the much more expensive purchase. Especially giving looming economic concerns.

*looks at incrementally improved iPhone's that basically never radically alter their design, and are hugely successful in part because of that*

>_>

Wii-U was the last generation of parents who didn't grow up with technology doing exactly this. My siblings all have children and are in their late 30's to late 40's. They're not going to get confused about "Why does this look really similar to the Switch?!" because they've also lived half their lives in the era of the cell phone technology system.

While we maybe think of Wii-U as "not that long ago", it was 13 years ago. In 13 years we've definitely seen that technology doesn't mean radical changes to form factor and actually there has been a huge push against that. Again look at Apple. If the next iPhone did radically change form factor people would lose their shit.

Jeff_AKA_Snoopy posted...

If the next iPhone did radically change form factor people would lose their shit.

Remember when they got rid of the home button?

People said it'd be the death of iPhone.

UK has had some sites open pre orders that sold out in minutes. I think it'll do fine.

DarkChozoGhost posted...

Most single mothers are Millennials, gen X moms' kids are grown.

And the majority of Switch owners are women according to demographic information that was released. A huge chunk of them are moms that have it as a family system.

Your implication was that it's single mothers buying it for their kids. There is no proof of this. Sure, single mothers fit into Millennials and Gen Z, but it's implying they're playing it, which nobody is denying. Same for women.

It might not be as successful as the Switch 1 but it won't be a flop. The switch brand is still really strong, and they haven't reinvented the wheel like they did with the Wii U.

Yeah, flop is too strong a word. The switch 2's launch game line up is legit nice and so I don't think it will be close to some sort of crippling failure.

I do believe that it isn't going to match the switch's sales numbers for awhile though since the 80 dollar games is going to be a point of concern from a lot of people in the middle of this tariff stupidity.

I absolutely dont think it will flop. A lot of gamers loved the original, and there is a whole set of more casual gamers who dont come to boards like this who still love the Switch. That brand loyalty alone should be enough to save it from being a flop, even at this price point. I expect it to not sell as well as Switch, but to move decent number of units.

I will say that I was surprised by how uninspiring the Direct was. My youngest son and I watched together-Switch is his main console, and I expected him to excited. Afterwards he shrugged and basically said eventually, but not June. I agree with him. I think a good number will feel that way-there just was not much unique to show. But I expect Switch 2 to sell a lot over time.

Not to drag politics into this, but if Trump goes through with these moronic tariffs, I fully expect the world economy and especially the US economy to go off the rails. In that case, all bets are off. I certainly wouldnt want to be part of a company releasing a console in 2025.

If it launches on June 5th with only 80$ Mario kart and donkey kong I could see the system sales not being especially good for a couple months

Cos like why would I get a switch 2 if I already have a switch

That said, of course, if it has as long a lifetime and as much support as the switch did, it's going to have an immense catalog of system-selling games

Jeff_AKA_Snoopy posted...

*looks at incrementally improved iPhone's that basically never radically alter their design, and are hugely successful in part because of that*

>_>

Wii-U was the last generation of parents who didn't grow up with technology doing exactly this. My siblings all have children and are in their late 30's to late 40's. They're not going to get confused about "Why does this look really similar to the Switch?!" because they've also lived half their lives in the era of the cell phone technology system.

While we maybe think of Wii-U as "not that long ago", it was 13 years ago. In 13 years we've definitely seen that technology doesn't mean radical changes to form factor and actually there has been a huge push against that. Again look at Apple. If the next iPhone did radically change form factor people would lose their shit.

iPhone sales have been dropping. People are getting more resistant to redundant releases as the economy stagnates and upgrades experience diminishing returns.

Nevertheless phones are considered necessities, there's a social element to keeping up to date on fancy devices, and many carriers offer upgrades at discounted rates.

It's a different market for games. We've seen poorly distinguished consoles nevertheless sold at high price points underperform before.

SecretBase posted...

iPhone sales have been dropping. People are getting more resistant to redundant releases as the economy stagnates and upgrades experience diminishing returns.

Nevertheless phones are considered necessities, there's a social element to keeping up to date on fancy devices, and many carriers offer upgrades at discounted rates.

It's a different market for games. We've seen poorly distinguished consoles nevertheless sold at high price points underperform before.

iPhone sales are dropping because there is a much more robust market share for cell phones and a big desire to go with Android to get what is the same basic product though. If you want/need a smart phone, you can get dozens of different models.

If you want to play Nintendo games, you buy the Nintendo system. Until they decide to release 1st party titles on PC, this is the only way to play those games. Your kids want to play the next Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, frickin Animal Crossing? Gotta have the Switch 2 eventually. If YOU want to play the next Zelda title? Gotta buy a Switch 2.

Now yes, we could say the same thing was true for the Wii-U, except it wasn't. If you wanted to play new Nintendo titles, you could also buy the 3DS at the same time. 3DS was getting a Mario title, a Mario Kart, some sort of Zelda game. You don't even have that option anymore.

With $80 video games, I'm almost hoping it will flop

it won't

It's a video game console, "more of the same" is such a stupid take I can't even

HylianFox posted...

I'm scrolling YT's front page and came across a video titled "Nintendo Is So Greedy" that already has nearly 2 million views...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/641058ff.jpg

Thats an average view count for Charlie.

I don't think it will flop, but I don't think it is going to do as well as the og Switch.

Nintendo when they do something weird and different: " what is this gimmicky bullshit? Just give me a console that plays games"

Nintendo when they just make a new console that plays games: " this is just more of the same? Flop incoming."

Jeff_AKA_Snoopy posted...

I'm also just gonna toss it out there for people who are flabbergasted about the price.

PS5 has been the fastest selling Sony system of all time. It released at the same price point as the Switch 2. Now you MIGHT be able to argue that the Pandemic boosted sales of everything gaming in general for that time span maybe, but what it does show is this price point is not a crazy expensive price point for the industry as a whole. At all.

And while Gamers (and lets be fair, we are posting ON Gamefaqs, we are core gamers) might mince words about specs and power and whatnot, the general population doesn't GAF about any of that. So while we might look at the comparison and be like, "Well the PS5 has _____ specs and internals so it makes sense for it to cost this compared to the Switch 2 internals", the general population doesn't care. They will care that Nintendo made games will ONLY be made for Switch 2 moving forward.

Like fuck, even the whole like, "Games will be released for the previous console and this one" is being severed pretty quickly. The launch title is Switch 2 exclusive. The new Donkey Kong is Switch 2 exclusive. Already.

This reminds me, I do think the same happened to Pokemon sword and shield.

Pretty much the most disliked set of games pre-release due to all the pre-release controversies, yet it's currently still the second most selling set of games in the franchise, beaten only by Gen 1 games.

Because it not only happen to be released during the pandemic giving it a massive boost, but also, the general, casual gamers who became gamers for the first time due to the pandemic, do NOT know or care about the controversies. Pokemon is a big well known franchise for casual gamers like them, and the new games happens to be just out. And that's all they care about.

Now it has reached the 2 million mark
>_>

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/15a70fc3.jpg

HylianFox posted...

Now it has reached the 2 million mark
>_>

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/15a70fc3.jpg

Again, that's normal for that dude.

HylianFox posted...

Now it has reached the 2 million mark
>_>

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/15a70fc3.jpg

Pfft. His video on Jojo Siwa got 3.2 million views. Nintendo needs to do better.

Dakimakura posted...

I wish my parents were that rich.

I'm that rich and I'm a hard no. $60 for games is my cap. $450 for a console is my cap. I buy excatly 4 new games a year full price. Lunar will be my 3/4. Metriod Prime being the 4th. That's it nothing more. Anything its sales when the price drops.

I dont have income coming in as much and I have to be frugal.

A lot of people are going to be eating crow when it doesn't flop, just like they did with the original Switch which everyone thought would flop saying Nintendo was doomed

I doubt it'll flop. Nintendo is selling them at those prices because it's confident it will do well.

Will_VIIII posted...

I still don't understand the price complaints. It's cheaper than the base PS5 (with a disc Drive) or the series X.

I could see an argument that they could have offered a digital only version but that draws the ire of a different crowd.

The price for the console itself is manageable. The price for everything else is absurd though. $80 games is crazy.

I'd feel a lot more comfortable with the prices of the console and games if I had more of an income. Paying over $560 for the console and one game makes me shudder.

3tn dollars just got wiped off the US markets. Yeah Switch 2 is gonna have a fun time if Trump doesn't do his favourite political move the patented Backpeddle tomorrow.

Thinking back, the console price is fine. It's just the 1st party games that kills me.

I've been looking at prices of Switch 2 games on a couple of sites
and honestly, just speculating here, but I feel like the only Switch 2 games that will be 80$ are:

1. Nintendo's biggest guns (Mario Kart, Smash, mainline Zelda, etc)
2. Switch 2 versions of Switch 1 games with more substantial/DLC-like updates and not just graphical updates/Switch 2 feature additions. This would explain why Forgotten Land and Jamboree increased 20$ on Switch 2 while both BotW and TotK only increased 10$. Obviously TotK is an exception to the rule since it was already 70$ on Switch 1 so it going up $10 brings it to 80

Otherwise most other games I believe may just be 70$ like DK Bananza is?

And with Mario Kart World itself atleast you have the option to go for a Switch 2 bundle that effectively makes it so you only spend 50 on Mario Kart World, so that's atleast one less 80$ Switch 2 game people have to worry about paying full price for (depending on how available/stocked the MKW bundle is anyways)

I also wouldn't doubt there will be Switch 2 bundles for other games as well, like the next Smash game, though we might not see such bundles release until sometime after the Switch 2 games in question release.

Up to almost 2 1/2 million views

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/e90ae9ac.jpg

Seriously, this thing has almost as many views as the Direct itself...

I think Switch 2 will eventually be a resounding success in the same way the 3DS would be. 3DS started off ridiculously slow but gained a lot of steam over time. I thought about other parallels being Wii to Wii U and NES to SNES, but neither of those offered the comprehensive backwards compatibility that Switch 2 has with Switch. Should have none of the confusion and growing pains associated with either of those systems. Mothers aren't going to be angry that their previous catalogue of games can't be forward ported to the new hardware.

HylianFox posted...

Up to almost 2 1/2 million views

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/e90ae9ac.jpg

Seriously, this thing has almost as many views as the Direct itself...

Is this just a gimmick where you try to be as obnoxious as possible?

To me, the worst it'll get is probably similar to 3DS and PS3. Bad launch, but they'll take measures to recover.

HylianFox posted...

Up to almost 2 1/2 million views

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/e90ae9ac.jpg

Seriously, this thing has almost as many views as the Direct itself...

So are you just going to continue ignoring that this is normal for that dude because it goes against the narrative you're trying to push?

That's weird man.

mystic_belmont posted...

I think the problem is, there really isn't a compelling reason to get a Switch 2. I have a Switch, why should I buy a newer one?

if you play handheld, you shouldn't until the OLED version gets released