“Some of those who have seen this lineup have expressed the opinion that the launch lineup is weak. Our thinking in arranging the 2017 software lineup is that it is important to continue to provide new titles regularly without long gaps.” — Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima explains the company’s strategy for the Switch launch. Interestingly, it is the same strategy the company embraced for the Wii U launch.
STAT | 13.5 million — Lifetime sales of the Wii U. In a post-earnings Nikkei interview, Kimishima said he expects the Switch to sell as well as the original Wii, which sold more than 101 million units.
QUOTE | “I’m sure the organisers of GDC, E3, WWDC etc. are mortified that their conferences are no longer global and held behind a Racist Curtain.” — Former Sony PlayStation strategic content director Shahid Kamal Ahmad, weighing in on Donald Trump’s executive order banning US immigration and travel for people from seven predominantly Muslim countries.
QUOTE | “The executive order strikes an incredibly sharp contrast with the values on which our company was founded. We are, and will always be, a company that strives for inclusion, embraces diversity and treats one another with respect. This is the very foundation of what makes not just our company — but America — great, which is why I am so troubled by these actions.” — Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime joins a number of voices throughout the industry speaking up against the travel ban.
QUOTE | “We appreciate the jury’s finding against the defendants, and the award of half a billion dollars in damages for those serious violations.’” — ZeniMax chairman and CEO Robert A. Altman hails the verdict in his company’s lawsuit accusing Oculus of stealing technology and code from ZeniMax subsidiary id Software to create the Rift VR headset.
QUOTE | “Being sued sucks.” — id Software co-founder and Oculus CTO John Carmack, in a Facebook response to the court’s decision.
QUOTE | “It won’t be about going to YouTube to watch a tutorial, or having to play for three hours to understand. I can’t afford that in a freemium sort of model, retention would be terrible, probably even with existing Paradox players. We know it’s going to be super tough, so we have to keep experimenting.” — Paradox Interactive’s Kim Nordstrom identifies the paradox he faces in making the company’s notoriously daunting strategy IP work for the notoriously finnicky and impatient mobile market.
QUOTE | “We still need great games to push other great games. Whenever you have really good mobile titles, people go back to playing on their phones and realise there is some quality content on there. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.” — Patrick Naud of Hitman GO developer Square Enix Montreal explains why he welcomes high quality competition in the premium mobile space like Super Mario Run.
QUOTE | “What we didn’t anticipate a year ago was just how much more of a burden Rock Band 4 was going to be.” — Mad Catz CEO Karen McGinnis explains the company’s grim financial position to investors.
QUOTE | “We did nothing the right way.” — Waygetter Electronics’ Ben Esposito reflects on the marketing plan for the PC horror game Tattletail, which was released the same day it was announced, December 28, during a Steam sale. (It has already made its money back.)
QUOTE | “In many ways, we feel the way games are made is broken. We put huge bets on making a game, and if that bet doesn’t work out… well, we see it all the time: studios are being shut down, or resized. It seems to always be the developer that gets the sharp end of the stick.” — Freestyle Games co-founder Jamie Jackson explains why he and David Osborne left the company last year to create their new studio, Slingshot Cartel.
Comments
8 responses to “This Week In The Business: Great Switch Expectations ”
Nintendo switch… Remember: No preorders!
Unless you want one on launch.
I’m sure it’ll be fine 😛
What could possiby go wrong?
More like a bridge too short.
And you like to dice with disappointment…
Oh, well since that worked so well, I can’t see any reason to change it.
Wait… but… hang on. Something doesn’t add up here. I think maybe there’s a missed decimal point on his sales figures. Right? Because I mean, if the Wii only sold about 10% of what the Wii did, they wouldn’t emulate the same strategies with the Switch, would they?
Would they?
*blinks* alright then. Definitely a glass half full chap.