Why do Nintendo's games sell so much more than most of their contemporaries? Would more 3P support see lesser sales of their titles?

[Uniomni]

I've seen it said that Nintendo software sells so much because it is largely unchallenged due to the absence of major 3P titles in their ecosystem.

But even when they had a bunch of 3P support, didn't they still far and away sell the most software on their platforms?

From Nes to DS at least?

Thoughts? The latest financial report spurred this thread of musing

 

[IDontBeatGames]

When it comes to making games, Nintendo are masters at their craft. Nintendo first party games are legitimately fun regardless if they may not be made in the highest resolution possible like a lot of folks on Era want. Plus, we've all grown up with Nintendo games and have a nostalgic attachment to their mascots so that factors in too.

 

[Faces of Death]

I think people just buy Nintendo systems for Nintendo games. Third party support doesn't really matter because there's better places to play those games.

 

[Renna Hazel]

They make the most appealing software. People buy the hardware specifically for their games. It's really that simple.

 

[Meelow]

Are we still going with the narrative that Nintendo/Switch doesn't have third party support?

There are 4525 games on Switch. Not all of those are first party games

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Nintendo games have a good reputation, they don't get steep price cuts, and in general the people that buy Nintendo systems buy them for Nintendo games so they have been growing an audience for generations.

A lot of us have been playing Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Metroid, etc all our lives. The IP/Brand power obviously makes a difference as well.

 

[HMS_Pinafore]

This is completely backwards. People are buying Nintendo hardware because it plays Nintendo software. If the software wasn't appealing, the hardware would also flop.

 

[L Thammy]

I imagine whoever says that doesn't know what the NES or SNES were. Nintendo games selling well, even on platforms with strong third party support, isn't new.

 

[Rosebud]

due to the absence of major 3P titles in their ecosystem

Click to shrink...

not true at all anymore

 

[Greywaren]

I buy Nintendo hardware exclusively for the software, because their software is, more often than not, pretty damn good. And I assume most people do too.

 

[Cordy]

They're that dope. We've trusted them since the 80s and quality-wise they haven't failed us.

 

[Phendrift]

Extremely strong IPs, many of which have built their reputation and maintained an extremely high quality standard for over 30 years, will do that.

 

[Powerofthecloud]

Are we still going with the narrative that Nintendo/Switch doesn't have third party support?

There are 4525 games on Switch. Not all of those are first party games

Click to shrink...

Not that they don't have 3rd party support, but 99.99% of those are not AAA 3rd party games. Switch is Nintendo games, indies, or mostly watered down AAA ports. Which is fine, I mean its one of the most successful consoles of all time.

 

[Var]

I think people just buy Nintendo systems for Nintendo games. Third party support doesn't really matter because there's better places to play those games.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, it's been this way since the GameCube. I buy a Nintendo system every gen just for their games.

 

[IamPeacock]

I can't think of any other publisher that has such memorable games and characters in their genre.
It has an universal charm and is mostly timeless.
It appeals to a lot of people.

 

[g-m1n1]

I think people just buy Nintendo systems for Nintendo games. Third party support doesn't really matter because there's better places to play those games.

Click to shrink...

+1

It's hw for the Nintendo games mostly.

And also the natural and only choice if you have kids.

 

[Zeal543]

Mix of high quality, consistent first party titles with a lack of (very) large third party titles

 

[Neoxon]

I think people just buy Nintendo systems for Nintendo games. Third party support doesn't really matter because there's better places to play those games.

Click to shrink...

Basically this, it's not uncommon for Switch owners to have another system for third-party games. There are exceptions to this, such as how Sonic sells better on Nintendo than elsewhere.

 

[JoRu]

 

[ArmadilloGame]

Switch has exclusives (or timed exclusives) from Square, Capcom, Sega/Atlus, Ubisoft and more. They have basically everything AA or below in size, and also getting basically every AAA multiplatform game that can run on the system. What lack of support is there?

 

[AgeEighty]

The kings of a small pond argument ignores the consoles on which they had great third party support but first party still sold like crazy. Like Switch for example.

Their games don't sell because of the state of their consoles. Their consoles sell because of the state of their games.

 

[Spinluck]

It's a mix of creating desirable hardware and appealing games.

Wii U proves that 1st party cannot carry their systems alone. They have to make hardware people actually care to own as well.

You mix that with good games and they create situations where games sell like crazy.

 

[L Thammy]

Even when their consoles didn't have third party support, their handhelds did. So at any given point you can see how they perform when they're not holding up the fort entirely by themselves.

 

[ghostcrew]

They generally make very very good games. Like, very good. And everyone knows it.

And they also appeal to a really wide demographic. Kids to older people and every taste.

They've got it nailed. Nothing to do with third party software. If Mario Kart 8 and Animal Crossing and TOTK were on PlayStation or Steam they'd sell tens of millions too.

 

[Adulfzen]

so is the implication that if Nintendo Switch received games like COD and Assassin's Creed on their platform, their first party software would suffer (significantly) in sales ?

I'm not convinced honestly.

 

[ghibli99]

I have more games on my Switch -- both first-party and third-party -- than on any other platform (except PC, but that library dates back to at least 2004 when Steam became a thing).

 

[Marmoka]

The Switch has a great third party support and both 1P and 3P games are selling really well.

More third party support from those developers that didnt care about the console might have made the system to sell even more but 1P games would not have been affected with this at all. Switch users after all own both 1P and 3P games and enjoy playing with all games.

 

[Neiteio]

Click to shrink...

*family turns around and looks at Reggie*

Family: "Who are you and what are you doing in our home?"

 

[GDGF]

I actually have far more third party games on my switch than first party.

 

[03-AALIYAH]

In one word : quality - from gameplay to art direction and fun. They rarely miss.

3P support is probably of non consequence for them - but the reverse isn't probably true, I think sales cannibalism was a problem for 3P back on Wii IIRC ?

 

[thecaseace]

The market values Nintendo content more. Not only more than 3rd party offerings on Nintendo platforms. But more than 1st party offerings on non-Nintendo platforms.

3rd party offerings on Nintendo platforms and 1st and 3rd party non-Nintendo platform content consistently falls in price after a period of time.

If it weren't the case Nintendo that consumers value Nintendo content higher they would find it impossible to maintain launch pricing 7 years after release of a game and still sell it.

 

[Cali32]

I have 33 games on my Switch (all physical). Out of those, 8 are first party and the rest 3rd party. :P

 

[lordmrw]

Cmon man how many more years are some of you going to parrot the people just buy Nintendo systems for Nintendo games narrative? They've sold over a billion units of software and counting, publishers wouldn't go through the trouble of porting their high end games if they didn't sell

 

[Bobson Dugnutt]

I've only bought Nintendo's home consoles" since the Wii U and honestly it's probably fifty fifty when it comes to the distribution. It helps that the switch (and the wii u gamepad to a lesser extent) are great for indies. Obviously Nintendo's first party stuff was a huge draw but is still a big library wade through and their prices stay expensive too.

Will more than happily buy third party stuff on the switch unless the port is really bad, and devoured whatever I could get for the Wii U. Black Ops 2 of all things being a highlight.

 

[Kahhhhyle]

In a lot of cases there really isn't anything like what Nintendo does at the quality Nintendo does. They have very recognizable characters. They don't over saturate the market of these games.

Not all of these are true for all theie franchises, but for a lot of them all of them are true.

 

[The Boat]

Their games are just that good.

 

[MikeProtagonist]

Are we still going with the narrative that Nintendo/Switch doesn't have third party support?

There are 4525 games on Switch. Not all of those are first party games

Click to shrink...

You do not want to play that numbers game with Switch. Like 50 of those are first party games, 500 are legit third parties and (mostly, to be fair) retro titles, and the rest is absolutely garbage tier shovelware.

 

[Justin Bailey]

Simple answer: people buy Nintendo systems for Nintendo games. Any third parties that also benefit there are riding the coattails of that sentiment. Nintendo have built brand loyalty by putting out a diverse bit distinctive style of high quality, family-friendly games for decades.

 

[zero_suit]

Nintendo is simply the GOAT.

 

[SupersonicHypertonic]

Nintendo simply makes quality games that most people want. I mean they can make a console that's underpowered, has funky features that are hard to utilise or lack of 3rd party giants like FIFA and they can still sell the console purely because of Nintendo games. That's insane brand strength

 

[BlueStarEXSF]

To an extent with the Switch, the quality of the game and the IP does not matter that much. As long as it's a reasonably appealing IP and the game isn't straight up bad, the Nintendo brand will boost the majority of their game sales. The strength of the IP will determine the magnitude of the sales though. It's impressive Nintendo has reached this point. Also, this is not to say they don't make quality games. They do, but let's not pretend like everything they release has that high a bar.

 

[SunBroDave]

Outside of like Mario Kart and like Wii Sports, did Nintendo games even sell that much pre-Switch? Switch has been a combination of a device that people really like using, and some incredible must play titles like BOTW and Animal Crossing that massively drove adoption especially in the Switch's early years, and all franchises are benefitting from that, even franchises that have historically sold poorly, like Metroid Dread

 

[Oscarzx n]

I feel a relatively high percenage of the games that skip the Switch every year are not really to the interest of most of NIntendo's userbase, like most EA games or Ubisoft's open world games to name a few, if those were on Switch or it's succesor they would sell well but would not generate a lot of interest, so nah, I don't think it's that important.

 

[Breadfan78]

Their games are different each time and usually introduce some form of new gameplay instead of just changing what the long grass and talent trees look like.

 

[eraFROMAN]

Not at all to disparage any other devs or publishers in any way

A lot of regular customers that buy video games on Nintendo machines, especially, buy maybe 5 games max. There's only 1 place to get NINTENDO games, and when given the choice between Mario Kart and another game from another publisher, at full price specifically, they're gonna buy Mario Kart. They might give other games a try, but they'll always bounce back to the 1st Party Nintendo games when they're looking for something new (to them.) Most of the other heavy-hitter IP simply aren't on Nintendo's machine, either, so people that only have "a nintendo" only have so many options when it comes to the big franchise games they may hear about.

That's my perspective, of course! I have no real data to back all that up lol

 

[Oscarzx n]

Outside of like Mario Kart and like Wii Sports, did Nintendo games even sell that much pre-Switch?

Click to shrink...

On the Wii, DS and 3DS I feel there were the Nintendo games that sold really well, like 6 million+ (Pokémon, Mario platformers, Wii-series, Animal Crossing or some Mario spin offs), and the ones that barely hit 1 million and in a quite lot of cases not even that, with very few games in the middle.

 

[GameOver]

You do not want to play that numbers game with Switch. Like 50 of those are first party games, 500 are legit third parties and (mostly, to be fair) retro titles, and the rest is absolutely garbage tier shovelware.

Click to shrink...

 

[Oscarzx n]

I imagine whoever says that doesn't know what the NES or SNES were. Nintendo games selling well, even on platforms with strong third party support, isn't new.

Click to shrink...

Yeah that too, the SNES first pary support was legendary, but iirc the top ten or even twenty of best selling games is monopolized by Nintendo games.

 

[genericbrand]

I have 33 games on my Switch (all physical). Out of those, 8 are first party and the rest 3rd party. :P

Click to shrink...

Made me look at what I have. I have 13 Nintendo first party games. 55 3rd party games. DS and 3DS, I had more 3rd party games. Gamecube I had more 3rd party games. Skipped the Wii and Wii U

 

[level]

Simple answer: people buy Nintendo systems for Nintendo games. Any third parties that also benefit there are riding the coattails of that sentiment. Nintendo have built brand loyalty by putting out a diverse bit distinctive style of high quality, family-friendly games for decades.

Click to shrink...

This is pretty much the answer. Nobody's buying the switch to primarily play third party games so when they get the console, their money goes on mostly first party games.

Family-friendly also contributes to it. It offers wide appeal through the ages. Bigger pool of interest means more sales.