As discussed in class, PC gaming remains the most popular platform for modern gaming. With this tough competition, how do console companies continue to survive? Overall, consoles are losing interest from consumers throughout the years and sales are projected to consistently go down. Xbox and Playstation are both working on new releases in hopes to bring back attention to console gaming as a result of their declining sales. However, the Nintendo Switch has seen a steady trend of increasing sales since launch despite hardware spending with a 34% drop in the last year according to NPD analyst Mat Piscatella.
Nintendo Switch Sales
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/687059/nintendo-switch-unit-sales-worldwide/
One main aspect that can be contributed to Nintendo’s newfound success is innovation. After dealing with the failure of their past release, Wii U, they had to strategize in order to recover from the lack of sales. The Nintendo Switch differentiates itself from other consoles with its dual feature of being a home console and also a portable device. User can dock the video game system at home to project it onto a TV or attach the controllers to the screen to bring it with them wherever they go. This seems to have been a great move for Nintendo with the company struggling to compete with other giants before the release of the Switch. Another point that helps Nintendo bring in money is the exclusive gaming titles that can only be played on their device, forcing customers to buy a whole console to play certain games. While these sales are predicted to go up in the near future, it will be interesting to see how all of these companies will come up with new ideas in order to compete with each other and keep the industry alive.
What else can hardware and software developers do in the future to engage their audience and keep console gaming alive?
URL: https://venturebeat.com/2020/03/13/nintendo-switch-leads-february-2020-hardware-sales/
Nintendo Switch has been sold out everywhere in America due to the coronavirus effect. In State College, there is nowhere you can find that has Nintendo Switch to buy from. Before the social distancing started, everyone started buying switch because they want a sort of entertainment. The accessory fit ring was sold out long before all this started. Plus, the newest release for switch “Animal Crossing” has become another trending topic lately. All these factors combined, I believed the sales number for Switch will keep rising in the year 2020.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nintendo-switch-consoles-sold-at-us-retailers-coronavirus-pandemic-1286282
I do definitely agree that consoles are struggling and are going to continue to do so if there are not significant upgrades made. In my opinion, the Nintendo Switch is thriving because it offers games that are not found on other systems. For example, Animal Crossing is a game generating a lot of business for Nintendo. This game offers a different experience from many of the games people are playing on Xbox and Playstation. Also, I think you are correct when you talk about the Switch’s handheld capability, and how that is a reason it is doing well. In the gaming industry, uniqueness is essential, and Sony/Microsoft need to both take this into account in the development of their new consoles. Also, PC’s are definitely going to continue to dominate in the competitive gaming scene due to their ability to run such high refresh rates. After doing some research, I found that Microsoft plans to have the Xbox Series X run well over 60 frames per second, something that the Xbox One is lacking. This will make it much tougher for people to want to buy PC’s instead of a console because of the price difference. If somebody can get an Xbox for $300 less than a PC with almost the same refresh rate, it will make the decision a whole lot tougher than it is right now.
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/03/16/xbox-series-x-tech/