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Matt Piscatella of NPD: P55 will likely be passed by Switch in "fastest launch sales ever" within the month

Marty-McFly

Banned
Edit: This is launch aligned sales measuring Switch in 2017 launch numbers vs PS5 launch sales.


I believe this is a result of Switch launching in March and PS5 at Christmas so Switch is reaching its Christmas period. He is talking about the US here but with Switch's strength of sales in NA during the holidays, and considering its sales in Japan and the rest of the world, I believe this will hold true worldwide.

Not that launch sales mean much as both were in exceptionally high demand during the launch phase and it's more about how much you can ship.

 
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Dream-Knife

Banned
I guess I don't really understand why this is a metric people care about. Markets are constantly changing.

If the GC came out today it would sell 40 million easily. Likewise, the market in 2021 is very different from 2017, where the only thing the switch was competing against was the pro systems that most people skipped.
 
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Marty-McFly

Banned
I guess I don't really understand why this is a metric people care about. Markets are constantly changing.

If the GC came out today it would sell 40 million easily. Likewise, the market in 2021 is very different from 2017, where the only thing the switch was competing against was the pro systems that most people skipped.a
True.

I'm posting this because it's news but launch sales are usually just PR optics.

What's more interesting is how well consoles sell when they not being limited by demand.

Switch had the best year ever in 2020 with 28.8 million sales, and 21 million in fy 2019. It's on pace to do over 20 million this year as well.

PS4's best year was 20 million out of its 8 years on the market, but with gaming growing, and covid inflating everyone's sales I can see PS5 passing that point of 20 million if there is enough stock to meet demand within the next couple years. They need to strike while the iron is hot though because Covid may be winding down.
 
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Marty-McFly

Banned
Sales threads are the best and worst of GAF. 99% of people don't care, except to console war. And the other 1% are actual investors.

Me on the other hand, I got my popcorn ready for the shitty takes.
I'm no investor but sales matter to me and many others because it determines what kind of games we get.

Switch owners have been getting preferential indie treatment along with PC and games like Hades a year before the other platforms because of how good indies are selling on the Switch. Install base helps software sales. We are even seeing a lot more franchises we wouldn't normally see on a Nintendo platform from AAA publishers.

The sales of Sony games are pushing a lot of third person cinematic games because they sell well. So if you like cinematic games this is a good thing.
 
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Marty-McFly

Banned
So in November it take it back?
It will probably go back and forth with the PS5 and Switch like a seesaw for a bit and then we'll see what it PS5 can really do when the shortages end. Can it reach Switch's likely three consecutive years of over 20 million, and high of 28.8 million? Personally I don't see it happening but I can see it selling better than PS4. I think PS5 will fall somewhere in between PS4 and Switch's sales lifetime. Xbox I see doing about 70-80 million.

We have to consider that Switch has had no price cuts yet or a Pro model to extend the console life like PS4 had yet. If Switch were to get a bunch of pricedrops and an Advanced (Pro) version, the numbers it could do would potentially blow away the PS2 and DS.
 
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I guess I don't really understand why this is a metric people care about. Markets are constantly changing.

If the GC came out today it would sell 40 million easily. Likewise, the market in 2021 is very different from 2017, where the only thing the switch was competing against was the pro systems that most people skipped.

You are delusional. No way the GC would sell 40 million today in any form. Nintendo home consoles don't sell.
 
🤔

Depends on the market at the time. Look at the Wii. That was a huge runaway success.

Wii was a cheap home console that had revolutionary controls that were played by heaps of families. And even that has been passed by the Switch.

A GC type home console is something Nintendo has no chance with/
 

yurinka

Member
Yes, this quarter of PS5 will be launch aligned with the first holidays quarter of Switch, so worldwide Switch will be ahead of PS5 launch aligned for the first time during a quarter or two unless Sony got the chips they secured for this fiscal year very fast and is able to ship a lot of consoles, which I think won't be the case.

So I think Switch will be ahead during a quarter or two, and then PS5 will be again ahead of Switch in the quarter that ends in March launch aligned worldwide if Sony achieves their target of consoles sold for the fiscal year. Which I think is very likely because they claimed to have secured enough chips to achieve it. And then after that PS5 will continue ahead of Switch launch aligned if they get enough chips.
 
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Marty-McFly

Banned
Because Switch lite is too small and hybrid functionality helps it.
It's only a difference of 5.5 and 6.2 inches. If that small a difference makes that big a difference Switch OLED sales should explode as it is not only 7 inches, but a much better screen.

Many people argue that Switch's size make it determental to handheld users, and a small screen never stopped the DS from selling 150 million.
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion

Gaming Discussion​

Video game news, industry analysis, sales figures.


I'll never understand why people come into NPD related sales threads to complain when it's an integral part of the discussion here.
Nah I didn't mean the thread
 

Concern

Member
The Joker Popcorn GIF


These threads always turn out great lol. Awesome for Nintendo tho.
 

Kilau

Member
Nah I didn't mean the thread
The Switch selling so much? lol

Thing is a beast, has done way better than I thought it could.

Anyway, since we are comparing sales it’s too bad they had different launch periods and that Nintendo themselves seemed to underestimate the Switch because it was impossible to find for awhile after launch.
 
It's only a difference of 5.5 and 6.2 inches. If that small a difference makes that big a difference Switch OLED sales should explode as it is not only 7 inches, but a much better screen.

Many people argue that Switch's size make it determental to handheld users, and a small screen never stopped the DS from selling 150 million.

DS had a better gimmick the first time that helped with brain training that made it sell so well. And peopel who say screen is too big are dumb honestly imo. Switch lite is made for kids and people with small hands and they dont even want it.
 

Marty-McFly

Banned
DS had a better gimmick the first time that helped with brain training that made it sell so well. And peopel who say screen is too big are dumb honestly imo. Switch lite is made for kids and people with small hands and they dont even want it.
The Switch Lite is bigger than the Vita. It's one of the biggest portables ever :messenger_neutral:

Also the second screen on the DS was not a gimmick. It was a huge innovation at the time and phones now feature touch screens.
 

Bragr

Banned
It will probably go back and forth with the PS5 and Switch like a seesaw for a bit and then we'll see what it PS5 can really do when the shortages end. Can it reach Switch's likely three consecutive years of over 20 million, and high of 28.8 million? Personally I don't see it happening but I can see it selling better than PS4. I think PS5 will fall somewhere in between PS4 and Switch's sales lifetime. Xbox I see doing about 70-80 million.

We have to consider that Switch has had no price cuts yet or a Pro model to extend the console life like PS4 had yet. If Switch were to get a bunch of pricedrops and an Advanced (Pro) version, the numbers it could do would potentially blow away the PS2 and DS.
It's never gonna blow away the PS2 or DS no matter what it does, those consoles had some very special circumstances. The Switch is extremely popular but at some point, likely in 2022, it's gonna start to align with the natural cycle of consoles that are entering the tail end of their course, meaning most people who want it have bought it.

You will start to see a decline unless Nintendo releases a new Mario Kart or something massive. Stuff like Ring Fit Adventure and Pokemon are the things that push the console right now, but I can't see that lasting far into 2022, especially when things like God of War 2 and GTA V remastered comes around and Series X and PS5 will become the norm.

The question is really have much it will decline because even if it declines 20%-30%, it's still gonna be a massive success, if it can push over 15 million in 2022, that's still huge.
 

Marty-McFly

Banned
It's never gonna blow away the PS2 or DS no matter what it does, those consoles had some very special circumstances. The Switch is extremely popular but at some point, likely in 2022, it's gonna start to align with the natural cycle of consoles that are entering the tail end of their course, meaning most people who want it have bought it.

You will start to see a decline unless Nintendo releases a new Mario Kart or something massive. Stuff like Ring Fit Adventure and Pokemon are the things that push the console right now, but I can't see that lasting far into 2022, especially when things like God of War 2 and GTA V remastered comes around and Series X and PS5 will become the norm.

The question is really have much it will decline because even if it declines 20%-30%, it's still gonna be a massive success, if it can push over 15 million in 2022, that's still huge.
With a pro model and price drops? If it sells over 15 million in 2022 that means it still has a ton of juice left in it.

PS2 already had price drops at this stage in its lifecycle. Sure, it sold off the back of being a good cheap dvd player but we have to consider the gaming market is bigger, Switch has an expanded audience, not a single price drop, and a bunch of evergreen titles that stay in the top ten month in and month out.
 
I'm no investor but sales matter to me and many others because it determines what kind of games we get.

Switch owners have been getting preferential indie treatment along with PC and games like Hades a year before the other platforms because of how good indies are selling on the Switch. Install base helps software sales. We are even seeing a lot more franchises we wouldn't normally see on a Nintendo platform from AAA publishers.

The sales of Sony games are pushing a lot of third person cinematic games because they sell well. So if you like cinematic games this is a good thing.
I am replaying TLoU 2 right now and honestly it has so many LONG interruptions that it lessens the experience, it was tolerable the first time through, but not all these useless flashbacks, extremely long dialogues, etc. Uncharted 4 has too much for my taste, but at least you are never watching or playing an intermission for what seems forever between two encounters. That criticism is good for FF VII as well.

The other studios don't drop the "game" portion nearly as much as ND.
Give me Dread
metroid GIF
Hidden load screen?
 

mejin

Member
I'm no investor but sales matter to me and many others because it determines what kind of games we get.

Switch owners have been getting preferential indie treatment along with PC and games like Hades a year before the other platforms because of how good indies are selling on the Switch. Install base helps software sales. We are even seeing a lot more franchises we wouldn't normally see on a Nintendo platform from AAA publishers.

The sales of Sony games are pushing a lot of third person cinematic games because they sell well. So if you like cinematic games this is a good thing.

Preferential indie treatment is a good one haha
 

Three

Member
If this is true then why is the Switch selling so much better than the Switch Lite even though the Lite is $100 cheaper when Lite is the fully portable SKU?
You keep creating Nintendo vs PlayStation threads to gloat about switch sales then keep posting this same comment. When people say handhelds sell well you bring up Vita. Let me ask you this then if nintendo home consoles sell well what happened to the Wii U? Switch's game library was mostly Wii U ports at the beginning anyway yet Switch still sold gangbusters in comparison.
 

Marty-McFly

Banned
You keep creating Nintendo vs PlayStation threads to gloat about switch sales then keep posting this same comment. When people say handhelds sell well you bring up Vita. Let me ask you this then if nintendo home consoles sell well what happened to the Wii U? Switch's game library was mostly Wii U ports at the beginning anyway yet Switch still sold gangbusters in comparison.

I'll let you in on a little secret, most people didn't even know the Wii U existed it was marketed so poorly, or thought it was a Wii (100 million) add on. Switch got the marketing down pat from the jump and another huge difference maker is Nintendo is putting all of their development power behind one platform.
 

Marty-McFly

Banned
Its like GTA V
You're not too far off.

GTAV sold 150 million units, Switch already has a bunch of 30, 20, 10 million sellers but they've been out only a fraction of the time on one platform and not released in a bunch of remastered forms.

These evergreen type exclusives make for enormous hardware sales, and they just keep accumulating and staying at the top of the charts.
 

Marty-McFly

Banned
So they're / he's comparing the cumulative first year sales of the PS5 to the Switch's back in 2017? Ok.
Yes.

To clear things up he's comparing their launch aligned sales.

In Sony's PR they have been saying "PS5 is the fastest selling console ever" comparing its sales to other consoles since the date of their launch, and since the Switch launched in March of 2017 with a smaller stock it was behind PS5, which launched in November with larger stock, but now that Switch is reaching its first holiday 2017 in the comparison, PS5 will fall behind the Switch again until PS5 approaches its second holiday in the launch aligned historical race. Both consoles will go back and forth for a while. I'm guessing until PS5 reaches Switch's 2019 or 2020 , where Switch sold 21 million and 28.8 million respectively, wherein I believe PS5 will stay in Switch's launch aligned rear view mirror.
giphy.gif



TLDR: This alternating timeline stuff can be bit confusing.
 

BadBurger

Is 'That Pure Potato'
Yes.

To clear things up he's comparing their launch aligned sales.

In Sony's PR they have been saying "PS5 is the fastest selling console ever" comparing its sales to other consoles since the date of their launch, and since the Switch launched in March of 2017 with a smaller stock it was behind PS5, which launched in November with larger stock, but now that Switch is reaching its first holiday 2017 in the comparison, PS5 will fall behind the Switch again until PS5 approaches its second holiday in the launch aligned historical race. Both consoles will go back and forth for a while. I'm guessing until PS5 reaches Switch's 2019 or 2020 , where Switch sold 21 million and 28.8 million respectively, wherein I believe PS5 will stay in Switch's launch aligned rear view mirror.
giphy.gif



TLDR: This alternating timeline stuff can be bit confusing.

Oh. Seems like a weird stat to keep tracking for so long. But, I guess this kind of minutiae is what business analysts do.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
The covid effect is reducing. Everyone benefitted from the covid bump. Sonys been doing an amazing job of getting stock out there but could hit a road block for the peak period. Its gonna be rough I think. I hope not though. Plus intel is manufacturing its gpus with tsmc I believe so that's going to only add to the pressure of manufacturing in the first half of 2022.
 

Kamina

Golden Boy
I dont get it?
How would that be possible when both are already out?

Edit: never mind, BadBurger BadBurger explained it.
This is a very nonsensical metric. But whatever, both consoles are awesome and i would not want to miss either.
 
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YukiOnna

Member
I'm not sure I follow what he's trying to say. Interesting nonetheless.

I'm more fascinated to learn some people don't consider Switch a home console?
 
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