Nintendo’s Switch is the latest craze in the gaming world, and it just surpassed the Wii in popularity. It made its appearance in March, quickly disappearing from store shelves. People who wanted the Switch waited in anticipation, only to find out they sold out a couple of days after they arrived in stores.
According to Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime, in the first two days of sales in the U.S., the Switch sold out faster than any Nintendo system, including the Wii. In addition, “Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” is the best-selling, standalone title in the history of the company. The record numbers are especially extraordinary, because the Nintendo Switch did not come out during the busy holiday season.
What is the Nintendo Switch
The Switch is portable and can be connected to a television through a game dock. Users can play in their homes on a large-screen television. For those who are out and about, the Switch can be used by removing the tablet from the dock. It has a high-definition display and offers the same gaming experience no matter where they are. With the Joy-Con controllers that can be plugged into the portable system, people can indulge in games with two players.
People are waiting to get their hands on the Switch because of the titles. The Nintendo Switch’s, “Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” is being touted as the best game in the series in years and a nostalgic take on Nintendo’s classic game, “Legend of Zelda”
According to Engagdet reviewer Aaron Souppouris, the newest Zelda contains much of the original game’s style. He has played for about 45 hours—and he is just about half of the way through it. “That’s partly because this is the biggest game Nintendo has ever made, but it’s also because Zelda just begs you to explore,” he said.
The downside of the Switch is that there is a short supply of the gaming system. However, Nintendo has plans to keep up. Nintendo executives said gamers will not have to wait too long to purchase their Nintendo Switch, because production is being increased.
How Nintendo is Using Psychology to Sell the Switch
Is the Switch the Answer to Nintendo’s Financial Losses in 2014?
The Switch was created at the right time for Nintendo. It saw several quarters of financial losses in 2014, which were caused by the flailing sales of its console, the Wii U. In addition, Nintendo had fierce competition from mobile gaming.
The Switch, which is relatively modestly priced at $299, has been created to appeal to a wider number of video game players with its variety of modes of use. It still maintains Nintendo’s unique hardware and creativity. Nintendo uses more standard electronic components for programmers to be able to use it with existing game engines.
The Wii U had a weak software library, so Nintendo retained the support of third-party developers and publishers to help build the Switch’s games with the company’s own first-party titles. Before it was released, the company’s executives said that more than 100 titles were in development by nearly as many developers.
More than 2.74 million units of the Switch were shipped to stores during March. That number even surpassed Nintendo’s estimates of selling two million units. It has become the quickest-selling home console in Nintendo’s history.
According to Shinya Takahashi, managing executive officer with Nintendo Co., the company wants to give the audience that played Wii another chance to use Nintendo software with the Switch. Because it is portable, and players can invite others to join in the games, it means more people will use it.
In a nutshell, Nintendo has a goal to get as many people as possible to buy it.
Is it a Coincidence that the Nintendo Switch is Sold Out?
The people who were able to get a Nintendo Switch are a few of the “lucky” ones. Those individuals who want to pre-order the Switch at GameStop, but have not yet, are going to have to wait a while longer.
GameStop announced that it was completely sold out of the pre-order allotment of Nintendo Switch consoles in just a few days both online and in its nearly 4,000 stores across the country.
GameStop Senior Vice President of merchandizing Bob Puzon said what everybody in the gaming world already knew. “There is a desire among gamers for this ‘fun and revolutionary gaming system’.”
In the meantime, GameStop is working with Nintendo to get more Nintendo Switch units on the shelves. Customers are being told to visit www.gamestop.com/switch and sign up to get news about when it will be available. GameStop executives have also been talking the Switch up for a while and touting it as having the “tremendous potential as a game changer.”
With all the hype about the Switch from Nintendo and GameStop, people are bound to want to purchase it. GameStop can benefit by the physical sales, and the cartridges open up a huge refurbishing business opportunity.
The following is how Nintendo is ensuring the popularity and sales of the new Switch.
1) Scarcity.
Have you ever visited a website searching for hotel rooms, and there is a bright sign displaying the fact that there are “Only 2 Rooms Left!?” The scarcity of rooms left relates to the psychology principle of supply and demand. The scarcer it is to get the hotel room or product, the more it is valued. People are led to believe that if they do not get the rooms now, they will lose out.
Stephen Worchel, Jerry Lee and Akanbi Adewole conducted a study on scarcity that appeared in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 1975. The study’s subject was chocolate chip cookies. The same cookies were placed in two jars to find out how scarcity and people’s perception played out. One jar held 10 cookies, while the other jar contained only two cookies. When people were asked to rate the cookies, those in the jar with only a couple were given two times better ratings than the other cookies. And, these were the same cookies.
The approach, which Nintendo seems to be using, is that there were a few million units of the Switch, but its popularity caused them all to fly off the shelves. People are receptive to that approach, and once they can get their hands on the Switch they will purchase it or else “lose out.”
2) With a product that is seen and talked about everywhere (online, in newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and television, etc.)
The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon seems to be at work. After people initially see or hear about something, they have sightings and it pops up in conversation just about everywhere—advertisements on television and in magazines, at the store and owned by friends.
When you hear a new word or find out about something new, you may unconsciously keep looking for it. The result is that oftentimes you do see or hear about it. Because you see the product often, it makes you think it has become popular quickly.
Marketers capitalize on this. When people notice a brand on a website, in a magazine or another location, the marketers want to make sure that the brand is seen everywhere. By sending people targeted emails and ads, the chance that they will buy a product (or whatever the brand happens to be) becomes greater.
3) Because of the strategic marketing of the Nintendo Switch, there is a good chance that its price tag of $299 will rise.
Nintendo waged its bets on the popularity of the Switch to build momentum and cause it to be in such high demand that it will sell for much more. (It seems that the marketing is working.) This would boost the company’s sales and may help it recover from the losses it faced in 2014 with the Wii U.
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