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Sales Data Nintendo Switch has now outsold the PS4 in the US

Its also possible that EA has determined that PS4/5 and Xbox One/Series combined represent a significant portion of their potential fanbase and that the number of potential customers on Switch, who do not already own another console is too insignificant to mandate the dev teams support Switch.

Maybe this dovetails into your first bullet, but I naively assume that if Fifa did gangbusters on Switch that perhaps other yearly titles would have had their PS4/X1 games ported to Switch.

Im curious to see if the rumored CoD installment materializes.
I would say it would have been very hard for FIFA Legacy Edition to do gangbuster numbers considering the amount of stuff missing from it & FIFA Ultimate Team (Switch).

The hilarious part is that it has done great numbers for the type of product that it is though.
 
Maybe this dovetails into your first bullet, but I naively assume that if Fifa did gangbusters on Switch that perhaps other yearly titles would have had their PS4/X1 games ported to Switch.
We know thanks to NPD charts that Fifa Switch has done amazing numbers being the leading SKU in retail in a lot of European countries. And EA has a history of bias against Nintendo since Wii U days
 
Its also possible that EA has determined that PS4/5 and Xbox One/Series combined represent a significant portion of their potential fanbase and that the number of potential customers on Switch, who do not already own another console is too insignificant to mandate the dev teams support Switch.

Maybe this dovetails into your first bullet, but I naively assume that if Fifa did gangbusters on Switch that perhaps other yearly titles would have had their PS4/X1 games ported to Switch.

Im curious to see if the rumored CoD installment materializes.
FIFA sells at least 500-600k a year on Switch, on par with Xbox version. And it's a legacy version, unlike Xbox one.

The reason EA focuses on other platform is purely money related. Both Sony and Xbox pay EA for market their game on their behalf, they even pay for console bundles like these:
FIFA17ConsoleSIDE.jpg
console-playstation-4-1tb-slim-abonnement-fifa-21.jpg

If Nintendo wants to get the best of EA has to offer, they need to pay. They do pay but it's nowhere near enough what others pay. This is how EA works and it's never gonna change.
 
Oops, you're right. My original post said "without a GTA" but I remembered GTA Trilogy was a thing. I guess my point doesn't work any way you slice it, lol
Switch is the 2nd best selling console without a new GTA (no late ports/remasters), right now Wii is the best selling one
GBA: GTA Advance
DS: GTA Chinatown wars
PS2: GTA III + others
Switch: None
Wii: None
X360: GTA IV + others
 
It was, as usual, that weird gamer myopia. After the October reveal presentation it was clear that Nintendo had something with wide appeal – that reveal spread far outside of the usual “core Nintendo fan” circles. But then the January presentation hit, and spec-and-number-focused gamers were dismayed by its “too high” price of “still lower than any other console” and its “ridiculous” pricing of $80 for a set of Joy-Cons. But normal people are willing to pay for an appealing producf, even if it’s “more than a Nintendo portable should be,” and no one in the real world is basing their hardware purchase decisions between completely different types of platforms based on whether a second controller is $15 more than the competition or not. Simply put, Switch was a product that was more than the sum of its parts, and spec-focused geeks and gamers have always struggled to understand the appeal of that type of product, even if its obvious to less knowledgeable people. It’s the same way some of the most plugged-in tech enthusiasts initially dismissed the iPod, like with the infamous “no wireless. less space than a nomad. lame” quote, completely missing the point of the iPod’s key innovations (a pocketable as opposed to a CD-player-sized design and an easy-to-navigate interface). Almost no one even remembers what a Nomad is today, but that was the clear winner to geeks back in the day.

It’s the same myopic reason why gamers are convinced that it was the memory card pricing that doomed the Vita, even though the Vita was just fundamentally a product that didn’t have mass appeal in 2012. Most people didn’t even get to the part where they discovered the memory card prices; they just weren’t interested in the hardware and it didn’t have any big games to change their mind.

I'll admit I was someone who thought it would succeed after the October 2016 reveal, but was much more skeptical about prices after the January 2017 event. It wasn't that I was worried about pricing mixed with specs, but just the pricing alone in its entirety. I don't think people base their purchasing decisions on what controllers are 15$ more than other controllers, but the overall pricing of what the package they're buying is (i.e. they compare the price of a console, a couple games, and a couple controllers).

Tbf, I think a big part of that was me being behind the times on realizing how important pricing is. As far back as 2006-07 it seemed to be a huge deal, the PS2 was outselling the current gen consoles at the time because of its 100$ price point.

I really think Smartphones changed the game and raised the price ceiling on what people are willing to spend on tech pretty highly. The average age of the consumer going up probably also helped a lot.
 
FIFA sells at least 500-600k a year on Switch, on par with Xbox version. And it's a legacy version, unlike Xbox one.

The reason EA focuses on other platform is purely money related. Both Sony and Xbox pay EA for market their game on their behalf, they even pay for console bundles like these:
FIFA17ConsoleSIDE.jpg
console-playstation-4-1tb-slim-abonnement-fifa-21.jpg

If Nintendo wants to get the best of EA has to offer, they need to pay. They do pay but it's nowhere near enough what others pay. This is how EA works and it's never gonna change.
It may change now that FIFA is no longer beholden to EA.
 
It’s crazy to me how huge the 360 was in the US and how Microsoft lost most of that. I’m sure NA is still Xbox biggest market, but 360 was another level here.

I mean, it was no where near as bad as the drop from the ps2 to ps3 was in the US market lol

And the ps4 still couldn’t recover that drop :p

I expect the Series S/X to easily recover that. Also, easily outsell the PlayStation there again this gen.
 
It may change now that FIFA is no longer beholden to EA.
It may change if someone else grabs the FIFA license. And that's not happening with that price tag anytime soon and EA will remain as the king of soccer.
 
0
I didn’t :D
Wait, I went on vacation to the US with my Switch during April so maybe I counted?
Third parties who's been supportive of Switch (2K, Embracer): This prints money!!!!

Others: Well yeah. But what IS money? Have you ever thought about that? Why do we need it? Why? Why are we even here?
So we can blame 2K and Embracer for inflation.
It's maddening. Like, no-one expects GTA6 to all of the sudden be Switch-exclusive or anything, but at the same time, folks can attempt at smaller budget exclusives like in the Wii days, you don't NEED huge budgets to make more compact, Switch-specific games, even if it's an HD platform.
Totally agree. Sadly big publishers are laser-focused on big budget AAA titles with live worlds and hyper-engaged player bases. Spend big win big and all.
Imo, AAA focused 3rd parties are becoming less important given how they are releasing fewer, & fewer titles these days and heavily focusing on big budget love service games.
GTA Hot Coffee redeemed.
I was surprised to see this. I know Switch isn't ahead worldwide yet, and Switch is much stronger than PS4 in Japan, so outside of Japan PS4 is still something like 20-25 million in the lead. US is a big chunk of that non-Japan market, so I thought maybe half of that lead would come from there. So I guess PS4 is just stronger in Europe and "Other" than I realized. Harder to keep track of these things since Sony's shipment numbers are just worldwide.
As one of the “Other” markets, I could say that here in Chile the PS4 was incredibly popular while the Xbox One was almost non-existent. The Switch is popular too but I don’t know if it’s on the same scale today as the PS4 was back in it’s prime during 2015-2018. Maybe mostly because of price, here a Switch is REALLY expensive compared to the other platforms and the cost of the games is another problem too. Even used games can be expensive.
 
Third parties who's been supportive of Switch (2K, Embracer): This prints money!!!!

Others: Well yeah. But what IS money? Have you ever thought about that? Why do we need it? Why? Why are we even here?
“There’s more to life than money...”
 
0
What's really impressive to me is that the Switch has found success in the US independent of those games. Hollow Knight is now more important to the Switch than Call of Duty.

In the past, missing those games was a death knell, but now they're just a "nice to have" instead of a "need to have."
Nintendo is truly built differently. Their energy embodies "We are NOT the same".

Which again, explains why they're treated the way they are by 3P. Ps or Xb missing those games is a dud on arrival, yet Nintendo just walks on to glory, whistling Dixie.
 
I'll admit I was someone who thought it would succeed after the October 2016 reveal, but was much more skeptical about prices after the January 2017 event. It wasn't that I was worried about pricing mixed with specs, but just the pricing alone in its entirety. I don't think people base their purchasing decisions on what controllers are 15$ more than other controllers, but the overall pricing of what the package they're buying is (i.e. they compare the price of a console, a couple games, and a couple controllers).

Tbf, I think a big part of that was me being behind the times on realizing how important pricing is. As far back as 2006-07 it seemed to be a huge deal, the PS2 was outselling the current gen consoles at the time because of its 100$ price point.

I really think Smartphones changed the game and raised the price ceiling on what people are willing to spend on tech pretty highly. The average age of the consumer going up probably also helped a lot.

I will be honest. I did not understand some of those concerns regarding pricing? It was 299. 100 dollars more than the 3DS (sure, the small 3ds was cheaper, but those were non existent). I just think with what the machine was in 2016/2017 - and it was cutting edge as it could be for the price point, size, battery life - 300 bucks was solid and cheaper than the other systems at 400. The Wii U was 300, so no way it would be sold less than a Wii U or the same price as a 3DS.
 
I'll admit I was someone who thought it would succeed after the October 2016 reveal, but was much more skeptical about prices after the January 2017 event. It wasn't that I was worried about pricing mixed with specs, but just the pricing alone in its entirety. I don't think people base their purchasing decisions on what controllers are 15$ more than other controllers, but the overall pricing of what the package they're buying is (i.e. they compare the price of a console, a couple games, and a couple controllers).

Tbf, I think a big part of that was me being behind the times on realizing how important pricing is. As far back as 2006-07 it seemed to be a huge deal, the PS2 was outselling the current gen consoles at the time because of its 100$ price point.

I really think Smartphones changed the game and raised the price ceiling on what people are willing to spend on tech pretty highly. The average age of the consumer going up probably also helped a lot.

I think that idea about smartphones is definitely true. You can also look at devices like the iPod as starting that trend even pre-smartphone.

In a weird way, the general audience seems to be less price-sensitive than some of the enthusiast set, which seem to obsess over whether any given hardware is a good value on paper. The general market seems to care more about, like, games, or what their friends have, or what unique qualities the system has. The way some enthusiasts were talking about the Switch, it was like the fact that it was portable didn’t matter in terms of whether it was going to be considered an appealing product or not; it was all about whether $299 was too much for a product with 4GB RAM or whatever.

Another thing that I think people are sometimes “behind the times” on, when they think about how pricing will doom or not doom a system, is inflation. Like, $299 in 2017 isn’t the same as $299 in 2000, and obviously the $299 launch price in 2000 didn’t exactly hurt the PS2’s success. $299 in 2017 dollars is almost exactly in line with the $199 launch price for the Nintendo 64 in 1996, for example – not quite an impulse purchase, and definitely a bigger “toy,” but not outside what a middle-class family might elect to purchase for a holiday or birthday, or what a young adult could be able to purchase for themselves with their disposable income.
 
Sony not making PS4s at all for the past couple of years and the new consoles being hard to get helped a lot
1st thing probably has helped make it quicker but Switch has been outselling PS4 launch aligned since 2019 so in the end wouldnt matter , second thing doesnt matter nobody buys a Switch due to not being able to get a Series X/PS5.
 
In a weird way, the general audience seems to be less price-sensitive than some of the enthusiast set, which seem to obsess over whether any given hardware is a good value on paper.
It probably helps that general audiences don't spend as regularly on gaming. They don't feel the urgency to optimise their spending when it is only the occasional splurge.
 
Another thing that I think people are sometimes “behind the times” on, when they think about how pricing will doom or not doom a system, is inflation. Like, $299 in 2017 isn’t the same as $299 in 2000, and obviously the $299 launch price in 2000 didn’t exactly hurt the PS2’s success. $299 in 2017 dollars is almost exactly in line with the $199 launch price for the Nintendo 64 in 1996, for example – not quite an impulse purchase, and definitely a bigger “toy,” but not outside what a middle-class family might elect to purchase for a holiday or birthday, or what a young adult could be able to purchase for themselves with their disposable income.

All true points regarding inflation, however, buying power - at least in the U.S. - also plays a role due stagnation of wages until very recently in many parts of the workforce outside of specific fields. So back in 2001, 200-300 bucks for a console (so GameCube or PS2) felt like buying a 200 - 300 console today due to buying power. In high school, I was paid 6.50 per hour to start working part time at Subways. After graduating college, while I was figuring out what to do, I started working at Starbucks, making 7.25 per hour to start while everything else kept rising and rising in price for the most part - except video games, which up until recently, have always remained kinda affordable. When I quit Starbucks back in 2014 finally, new partners were still getting started at under 8 bucks per hour! Insane!

Now PS4 comes out, boom, 400 bucks entry. I said no thanks. I waited 4 years until it got a price drop to 300. PS5 at 500 bucks? No thank you. I will wait a few years. My limit for consoles has always been 300 bucks usually usually. Back then, and today. Because due to buying power despite inflation, seeming to just shoot down, but console gaming always seemed just at a good reach even when in college and post college.

Now that I make decent money, I can splurge on a 500 console... but I also don't want to. If Nintendo Switch 2 is ever 400 - 500 bucks or whatever (and i doubt it, maybe 399.99 if they do a cheaper model at 300 and a more expensive model), my days of being a multi console owner are done. I will stick with Nintendo and be content.
 
I would say it would have been very hard for FIFA Legacy Edition to do gangbuster numbers considering the amount of stuff missing from it & FIFA Ultimate Team (Switch).

The hilarious part is that it has done great numbers for the type of product that it is though.

We know thanks to NPD charts that Fifa Switch has done amazing numbers being the leading SKU in retail in a lot of European countries. And EA has a history of bias against Nintendo since Wii U days

FIFA sells at least 500-600k a year on Switch, on par with Xbox version. And it's a legacy version, unlike Xbox one.

The reason EA focuses on other platform is purely money related. Both Sony and Xbox pay EA for market their game on their behalf, they even pay for console bundles like these:

If Nintendo wants to get the best of EA has to offer, they need to pay. They do pay but it's nowhere near enough what others pay. This is how EA works and it's never gonna change.
I stand corrected, but confused.

I have trouble imagining that a company in the money making business would pass on ports then
 
I stand corrected, but confused.

I have trouble imagining that a company in the money making business would pass on ports then
EA would need to rework on the engine they use for everything (Frostbite) so it could run properly on the Switch, that's something they refuse to do for whatever reasons; they said when shareholders asked for the lack of Switch support that they think in Nintendo platforms only 1st party stuff sells and competing vs 1st party Nintendo is hard, we don't know if they are serious or just shareholder talk but whatever it is it's a really weak argument.
 
EA would need to rework on the engine they use for everything (Frostbite) so it could run properly on the Switch, that's something they refuse to do for whatever reasons; they said when shareholders asked for the lack of Switch support that they think in Nintendo platforms only 1st party stuff sells and competing vs 1st party Nintendo is hard, we don't know if they are serious or just shareholder talk but whatever it is it's a really weak argument.
I think it's more of business decision, considering they already made it possible to run Frosbite on Switch. Bringing the Power of Frostbite to the Nintendo Switch
 
EA would need to rework on the engine they use for everything (Frostbite) so it could run properly on the Switch, that's something they refuse to do for whatever reasons; they said when shareholders asked for the lack of Switch support that they think in Nintendo platforms only 1st party stuff sells and competing vs 1st party Nintendo is hard, we don't know if they are serious or just shareholder talk but whatever it is it's a really weak argument.

I think it's more of business decision, considering they already made it possible to run Frosbite on Switch. Bringing the Power of Frostbite to the Nintendo Switch
I see the PS4/X1X versions of many sports titles are running Frosbite, so coupled with Frostbite actually running on Switch I am confused.
 
I see the PS4/X1X versions of many sports titles are running Frosbite, so coupled with Frostbite actually running on Switch I am confused.
the simple answer is Switch ports wouldn't make enough money to put people to work on them. the games would be profitable, but they would be better put to use elsewhere
 
the simple answer is Switch ports wouldn't make enough money to put people to work on them. the games would be profitable, but they would be better put to use elsewhere
That certainly must be the calculus, but I’m surprised after being informed of Fifas
numbers.
 
I might double dip and get a Lite in a few months if no hardware is announced. I've been eyeing one for the longest time as something smaller to take on the go, especially with cloud saves.
 
WII: ~41.7M
GBA is below Wii but something above 35M

Switch at minimum should be ~35M right now.
By North American shipment numbers, Switch actually just passed GBA. So if Switch is still behind in NPD numbers, it shouldn't be for very long.
NSW_NA
 
IMO in the end the difference between NSW and PS4 will be around 10M-15M.


At the moment that's the GBA.
NSW is going to blow past it obviously.
But also maybe NSW will receive some kind of CoD...
I could see the Switch aim for 135M.
 
wow the DS is so absurd. 53 million?I dont think it will manage to reach the DS in the us even if it manages to surpass it worldwide lol
It's the same case in most of Europe really, DS sold so well it's almost impossible for NSW to outsell it, the DS is the best selling console in almost all West Europe countries by a lot. Most of Switch sales that allow it to match DS performance are from outside of the Western Europe/NA/Japan
 
FWIW, how the various region's current Switch shipments match with the DS total.

Worldwide: 69.9%
Japan: 76.5%
NA: 70.1%
EU+Other: 66.1% (No separate numbers available for DS)

Not very different anywhere, really.
 
I will be honest. I did not understand some of those concerns regarding pricing? It was 299. 100 dollars more than the 3DS (sure, the small 3ds was cheaper, but those were non existent). I just think with what the machine was in 2016/2017 - and it was cutting edge as it could be for the price point, size, battery life - 300 bucks was solid and cheaper than the other systems at 400. The Wii U was 300, so no way it would be sold less than a Wii U or the same price as a 3DS.
One other element of the "concern" over the $300 was the commonly held beliefs of the power limitations based on the announced third party games. It's easy to forget now but ppl openly discussed whether Rocket League was too much for the Switch. Surely never Overwatch. "Why spend $300 on another device that's only capable of running Nintendo games instead of an Xbox 1S that's on sale?" was a frequently posed question.

In some ways, Doom 2016 was one of the most important games for the Switch, bc it passed a litmus test in many eyes.
 
I will be honest. I did not understand some of those concerns regarding pricing? It was 299. 100 dollars more than the 3DS (sure, the small 3ds was cheaper, but those were non existent).
After the huge success of DS, a $250 price was still enough to make 3DS a turnoff early on, necessitating a fast and large price cut. I can totally understand seeing launching the successor to less successful platforms for even more as history repeating.
 
After the huge success of DS, a $250 price was still enough to make 3DS a turnoff early on, necessitating a fast and large price cut. I can totally understand seeing launching the successor to less successful platforms for even more as history repeating.

True, and they course corrected on the 3DS and it managed to become successful. But Switch was not like going from DS to 3DS. It was a whole leapfrog. It was a home console that can also be a handheld. Power wise, it was a stronger than the Wii U. I just think it was delusional to believe this woood be priced 200 the 3DS
 


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