(https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=nintendo+switch&view=detailv2&&id=D7914462AD1BD45C43D8336044F6BA97E8FEBE29&selectedIndex=2&ccid=HlPJRmab&simid=608015496008239762&thid=OIP.M1e53c946669bd52938f46cca8fc9d3bco0&ajaxhist=0)
Nintendo has been an integral part of my childhood. I remember playing Mario Kart and donkey Kong (Nintendo games) with my friends when I was 7-8 years old. During the day Nintendo consoles were status of pride, as it made you the cool kid in India. However over time this craze died down and unfortunately nobody ever spoke about the console. This is because the constantly changing nature of technology gave birth to gaming giants like PS4 by Sony and X-Box by Microsoft.
Awkwardly, Nintendo console owners were made fun and it wasn’t something that would lye idle in the living room. Thus, Nintendo is ready to enter a new territory of high definition and graphic gaming by developing the Nintendo switch. This is piece of beauty is going to be available to the public on March 31st 2017, but the price and specifications have not yet been released.
In recent years Nintendo’s WII U has not done well in sales in North America in comparison to its competitors X-Box and PS4. The data released by the NPD group states that it sold a mere 57000 units last year. This poor performance was because the potential customers bought PS4 and X-box due to its better hardware and software. Therefore giving them a competitive edge over WII U and creating a barrier to entry. In this case the barrier to entry is the technology, because start-up companies will find it difficult to raise money and reach this level of technology. Hence reduces competition and makes the WIIU one of the worst consoles in the market in comparison to the other two. Also most of the games in WIIU was made for causal gaming. Furthermore WIIU got their marketing wrong because it was aimed at hard core gamers, but only appealed to causal gamers. Part of the reason was because it was not able to attract third party organizations to create its games, hence only Nintendo developed games could be played on the WIIU. However this was one of the value propositions to satisfy loyal users needs.
Adding to what my fellow Sauder student Osasogi Agbonlahor said” I think Nintendo have struck gold by announcing Nintendo Switch”. This is because the company has never produced a Hybrid console at this level, so it can achieve competitive advantage and open up opportunity in the hybrid console market. Also the switch attracts third party game developers as it uses UE4 and Unity, so there are more game choices for customers. Lastly, it will change the image of Nintendo from a causal gaming platform to a hardcore gaming one, and this is good for the company, as it will appeal to more individuals.
Bibliography
1) @KyleMHilliard. “Nintendo Switch Price, Launch Date, And Games To Be Revealed January 12.” Game Informer. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2016. <http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2016/10/26/nintendo-switch-price-launch-date-and-games-to-be-revealed-january-12.aspx>.
2) Edward Smith. “Wii U Sales Better Than PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.” International Business Times RSS. NPD Group, 01 July 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2016. <http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/wii-u-sales-outperform-playstation-3-xbox-446576#>.
3) Goodwin, Gabriel. “Nintendo Switch: One System, Two Functions.” Detroit Metro Times. N.p., 26 Oct. 2016. Web. 11 Nov. 2016. <http://www.metrotimes.com/Blogs/archives/2016/10/26/nintendo-switch-one-system-two-functions>.