A reader points out how console manufacturers always seem to have trouble following up a big success and suggests Nintendo could fall into the same trap as everyone from Atari to Xbox.
I have been reading bits here and there on the Switch 2; hearing opinions on YouTube, etc. from different people. I don’t have an interest in the console, I was never going to buy it, and it looks to me like they are just playing it safe with the same name and look of the console. But I’m a bit confused by their pricing strategy on games.
Some that seem like a reskin of old classics are bumped up to full price and what’s with charging for some upgrades, never heard of Smart Delivery? This happened before with Nintendo, over the 3DS price after the DS success, and lowering the price for GameCube. Perhaps they may end up doing the same with the Switch 2. What I don’t want is for this to set a precedent for game price rises, that publishers may jump on. Also, Nintendo need to be careful they don’t add fire to any negativity that can hamper their launch, especially in this internet age.
Here’s the thing, and it’s a warning from history. Gaming companies have, going back decades, shot themselves in the foot after having a successful product. Firstly, I’m thinking of the Xbox One. All Microsoft had to do was release a powerful Xbox 360 successor and all the extras would have followed with it. Heck, they could even have called it the Xbox 360-2 and it might have sold more than the Xbox 360. But instead they alienated gamers with always online, DRM controversy, performance issues, etc. and a launch event that looking back still makes me cringe.
The Xbox One reveal was an event I still feel to this day Microsoft did not need to do. It was only to copy Sony but in the end it ended up helping PlayStation’s cause and hurting Xbox one. And not to mention how fast they backtracked on used games and Kinect. The Irony being a lot of what they preached has come true today.
Sony, after the hugely popular PlayStation 2, almost botched the PlayStation 3 with its price and other issues. Nintendo, after the Wii, badly miscalculated the allegiance of the casual userbase it had and the Wii U flopped. Go back further and you get to Sega after the Mega Drive. The bloated add-ons for it and the Dreamcast. Everyone seems to fondly remember the Dreamcast but too bad that no one bought it when it was getting rolled over by the PlayStation juggernaut at the time.
Going further back: Atari sinking after failed consoles. I’m pretty sure they made big on the Jaguar being 64-bit and were then accused of false advertising by people saying it technically wasn’t. Plus, they only had awful games for it, and a strange joypad, and that failure pretty much consigned Atari to history as a console maker. Also, the fate of Commodore. They released a C64 console to try and cash in on the C64 computer, but it was quickly forgotten.
Lord knows how many other consoles have fallen by the wayside due to bad decisions and high prices that took out a large chunk of the market. Sometimes it just seems that companies routinely misjudge the mood of the gaming market and what consumers may want.
It’s always amazed me, in the gaming hardware industry, how companies, after having a successful product, then make some of these odd choices afterwards and almost ruin the brand name.
Now, I’m sure Switch 2 will sell very well but with what game attach ratio and how many will end up as used consoles in stores? If it’s a console relying on the casual market, Nintendo should already know how volatile that could be. I think Sony and Microsoft, who are rumoured to be working on handhelds, are watching the Switch 2 to see how it pans out and then make their plans. Also, as we have seen this console generation, the userbases have shrunk – will Nintendo buck the trend? [Well, they certainly have with the Switch – GC]
Sony have been the most consistent gaming hardware performer. But at times even they have made odd choices to ruin PlayStation. So many companies in gaming have ruined their success by a list of bungled decisions down the decades. So, this is just a little warning: no gaming company should assume success is guaranteed just because of an installed base, because in this industry it isn’t.
By reader Stephen
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