Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima has spoken about the “all-important” second year that Nintendo Switch now faces, as the novelty around the portable home console wears off and it “is truly put to the test.”
That will see the company aim to keep consumers engaged and playing with the console, something that they will look to accomplish with their mascot brawler Super Smash Bros. and other games.
“In the dedicated video game platform business, the second year is all-important. The second year is when the
novelty has worn off and the hardware is truly put to the test. During this fiscal year, we will take advantage of the stage we set in the first year to further expand the installed base,” Kimishima explained.
“To expand the installed base of Nintendo Switch, there are a number of points to consider. The first is our goal of keeping consumers who have purchased or plan to purchase Nintendo Switch engaged and playing with Nintendo Switch.
“It is important that we deliver new titles in our key franchises to all game fans and Nintendo fans who purchased Nintendo Switch during the first year. That is why we announced in a Nintendo Direct presentation in March that we would release Super Smash Bros. (temp.) in 2018. We heard people clamouring for this series to come to Nintendo Switch, so the title announcement in March made a big splash.”
That momentum will continue with Mario Tennis Aces, a Nintendo Switch exclusive that Nintendo sees as being “perfectly suited” to sharing Joy-Con between two players, and a game that they will continue to actively promote with online battle events.
Kimishima added that they will also provide more downloadable content, like the Octo Expansion for Splatoon 2, and host events that will “build excitement” for the company’s games to provide “a fresh sense of enjoyment” and extend the time that players spend playing them.
