That Nintendo has made history in the video game industry is not something new. We owe them such popular icons as Link, Samus Aran, Kirby or Mario himself, the imperishable Italian plumber.
But something is changing.When you see hundreds of people queuing on a rainy day to get a Nintendo Switch-yes, that console that is on its way to fulfill its expectation of 10 million consoles before closing the year-You sense something is changing. In the indie ecosystem and in the general play market .Let's analyze what it is.
ROUND OF NUMBERS
Famitsu announced that SNES Mini had managed to sell 368,913 units in the space of four days .At present it is estimated that the console has reached, internationally, a million copies sold.
It is not something strange: between November 2016 and April 2017, NES Mini, the previous incursion in the "mini" scale, managed to place 2.3 million units, playing stock breakage , while thousands of speculators came to sell the small domestic for 500 dollars.That has been the demand that the Japanese has already confirmed the reposition of this first console by the beginning of 2018.Nintendo understands the market, understands its wishes: the rumors even point towards a new Game Boy MINI.
A section of the industry lives in its eagerness to multiply profitability: once fixed costs are covered, the culture of the remake and the revision is done with everything.For a minimum investment by the distributor we find editions'Gold ',' Definitive ',' Anniversary ',' Kiwami 'or any synonym.
Nintendo, on the edge of this scenario, has a schedule scheduled with large-scale releases every month , without the need to appeal to third parties, simply by keeping its internal production machinery powered .And pampering those who enter to market their own developments, as we will see later.
OVERCOMING ALL EXPECTATIONS
'The Flame in the Flood' gets the best debut of its history on Switch, selling triple what was expected.The sales of 'Neurovoider' on Switch in a month equal the total sales of the game on Steam.Switch from 'Boy Boy: The Dragon's Trap' sells more than the rest of the combined platforms, the same can be said of 'Dead Squared' or 'Ocean Ocean'. Nintendo continues with its weekly dump and users buy and play nonstop .And physical sales on Switch are going very well, it's a reality.
What does this do if, for example, PlayStation already tried an equal movement in Vita and did not work even remotely similar? Well, first we have to take into account three conditions.First, Nintendo is not devaluing products with risky offers , with much lower cut prices, something that Steam does or its own Sony's platform .The Nintendo public knows that sales are somewhat timely, not a sales strategy marked from the first day of marketing.
Second, Switch enjoys a positive press in the indie ecosystem .It is a console on which it is easy to program-even having a game ready in a single day-: developers fight to get the devkits , while Nintendo delays the wait after a strict validation system.Finding 24 launches in a single month, even on "high season" dates, can generate a feeling of oversupply.reality tells us otherwise.
Switch has achieved what Vita promised but could not (for battery, for space, for functionalities): to be the perfect device for the home of the indies, both for mechanical rudiments and for low competition in the current offer, a market Sweet for a user who wants a good selection.
Third, there is a feedback that leads to a lucido momentum: it is a relatively new console supported by the developer with her own works. Your audience is comfortable in an ecosystem that offers ideas .No one needs to emigrate to satisfy their concerns. branding labels this maxim: there is color, there is life.Invite to dance, meet and play.This is his maxim.No, seriously, contemplate this damn La La Land with Mario and company:
NAVIGATING TO CONTRACORRIENTE
Nintendo comes from the biggest failure of its history , from a poorly focused launch and a poorly presented product called Wii UY turned out to be a remarkable gaming platform.Its way of working against the tide, strength that makes it more imperishable, less generational, has caused more than a headache for developers.
The third parties began to cancel launches, while others were forced to freeze developments such as ZombiU 2 due to low sales of the first delivery or lack of "power", as in the case of Watch_Dogs and their respective DLC. The specialized press was discouraged, put its hands to the head .So, what has led to this radical change of roles?
Sometimes we wonder what motivates us to play .What sensations are spurred to go to these same digital worlds over and over again.What does it mean to sit in front of a screen of any size and take the control, with absolute literalness, of what happens in front of us.Playing is the best manifestation of freedom.We could simply say that "we like it." We could say that it helps us to disconnect, or that it teaches us things.
Nintendo always returns to these questions, reflects on the liminal wicks of the videogame user .That's why he knows his desires and knows how to sell nostalgia packaged in gray boxes.And his relationship with studios and creatives is It has become more direct.
When it was discovered that within each SNES Mini there was a functional version of the classic 'Golf', and that it was a talisman in memory of the late Satoru Iwata, some users simply thought they were facing an unlockable secret or a game that I had tried porting and finally the hardware did not allow it.The reality, more poetic, it turned out that Nintendo is always putting an extra love and devotion on every object that launches for sale .And that makes them special.
Some time ago, the Pop Culture Detective Agency team wondered about the wasted potential of video games: each day more violent, repetitive, aggressive and focused on a young male niche.This does not seem the way to go.But when we observe phenomena like PlayerUnknown's Battleground we verify that yes, that the public keeps asking for blood at all times.The reality this time seems more profane: although sales send more than ideas, good ideas also sell.And Nintendo, half a century later, is still truffled by people with talent and good ideas.That is the battle that Ninty seems to be winning .
Images | Nintendo
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