what the firm Kyoto has presented, Friday, its next console has troubling similarities with the previous one, to the commercial failure resounding.
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If the date and the price of the console is now official (3 march in the world, us $ 299, the european price is not reported), with big areas of concern around now, its catalog, and especially its ability to convince the public, out of the circle of fans of the brand and nostalgic.
Read also : The new console Switch to Nintendo will be more expensive than expected
For years, sellers have had to explain to customers that the Wii U was a console independent of the Wii and was not a tablet. The fault to a concept that is atypical and a communication failed, the machine has never been well understood. With the Switch, Nintendo has solved part of the problem by adopting a new name range.
But the concept itself is atypical : a home console that is also a portable console, a touch-screen tablet that has buttons, joysticks that attach and detach, take place with one or two hands, are spread in one, two, or eight, with or without a screen… Far from the simplicity of the Wii, the modularity of the Switch is as much its originality as its complexity, and explain this morning that the joystick allows you to feel the shape of a block of ice moving in a glass (it’s true) has not really simplified the task of the sellers.
329 euros in France, according to Micromania, without game : the Switch is already tied, the Nintendo console the most expensive at launch, far away from the Wii which had cardstock to 249 € with a game included. The firm of the Kyoto follows the same slope as the Wii U, set to 299 euros, in the nude its release, and earned him public criticism of the president of Ubisoft, Yves Guillemot. Nintendo is known, however, that coming out in march, the Switch will aim in a first-time enthusiasts, are less sensitive to price, and that the real test will be at Christmas.
- A catalog (too much ?) Nintendo
Zelda, Mario, Splatoon, Mario Kart… Without surprise, the japanese manufacturer is playing on its licences strong. A strategy which ensures him a certain success with his fans, but shows its limits at the time to convince a wider audience. In 2006, the Wii had a successful marriage between universes-traditional (Zelda at the launch, also), and new franchises to a wider audience (Wii Sports, Wii Play). By playing the card of the universe Nintendo, the Wii U has not exceeded the 13 million global sales. A must see if Minecraft, FIFA, Skyrim, Sonic, Dragon Quest, Bomberman and Street Fighter II, all also planned for later in the year, will broaden the audience for the console.
- A catalog rather scanty
at what point in the catalog of games the console will be he poor or rich ? Impossible to conclude anything on the basis of a presentation in January, while the bulk of the ads for the games of Christmas is traditionally done in June, at the time of E3, the largest annual trade show for video games. But on what Nintendo has shown and announced this Friday, the Switch is not appreciably different from the Wii U, the catalog not sufficiently provided since its inception.
Tatsumi Kimishima, president of the firm, spoke of the 80 games in development, while they were already 140 on the PlayStation 4 at the same stage. Nintendo has yet reorganized internally to alleviate this problem. But for now, many titles are re-releases of games old of sometimes several years, and available a little bit everywhere else, like Minecraft, Rayman Legends, Steep or Skylanders : Imaginators. Not ideal, for a console that needs to prove its ability to be powered by the games on the long-term.
- third-party vendors in withdrawal
It is little to say that the majors of the video game are always looking for an eye strange machines Nintendo. The major exception of Sega and Square Enix, who have often found their audience, publishers have a hard time with the ecosystem of the japanese manufacturer, and this was seen on Wii U, to be abandoned after only one year by the majority of actors.
Evidence of this distrust is persistent, Electronic Arts has just announced a port of the game FIFA on Switch, and Bethesda the role-playing game, Skyrim, already old of six years. Worst : the French Ubisoft, one of the traditional supports creative Nintendo with license-original (Just Dance and raving rabbids on Wii, Zombi U on Wii U, even if it was not the success) has not announced any title to unpublished. Just Just Dance 2017, Steep (already out on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 at Christmas), and Rayman Legends, already old four years.
For them, the caution is appropriate, even if a successful launch could reverse the situation. In 2006, they were few to bet on the success of the Wii. But the Wii left with less disability. The competition for a Zelda at launch has also been able to cool the ardor. It is truly at E3 that it will be necessary to take the temperature to see if the trend continues or not.
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