Nintendo President Calls 2018 A "Crucial" 2nd Year For the Switch

By now, you may have heard about Nintendo's projection of 20 million Switch units to be sold in [...]

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(Photo: Nintendo)

By now, you may have heard about Nintendo's projection of 20 million Switch units to be sold in 2018. Now, it's president has explained exactly how the company plans to capitalize on the console's success, in what he calls a "crucial" second year for the Nintendo Switch.

In an interview with Mainichi, Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima explained the challenges the company faced when thinking about long-term shelf life for the Switch, and how they'll resolve it. "In order to be playable in the long term, the second year is crucial," said Kimishima. "Our task is to add more users, including people who barely touch game consoles." The company's focus on the casual market over the past year has become prominent, with bridges into mobile gaming and ports of titles to the Switch that come in a wide variety of genres. Kimishima noted that the Switch's games have a focus on a "family demographic," and that third-parties game developers are beginning to cover a wider base of players beyond that.

Kimishima, as interpreted by the team at Nintendo Everything, believes that the worldwide momentum for the Switch is beginning to rival that of the Wii, noting that its ability to go portable has been one of the driving factors of its success.

While he seemed to acknowledge that the industry is always in motion, Kimishima credited success to creativity and the ability to maintain unique ideas. He noted that early adopters of the Switch pre-ordered the console because they already loved Nintendo's various video game franchises, and it looks like when the company focuses on that, they score big: both Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild have topped sales charts and end-of-the-year awards lists because the teams behind the games brought new and innovative ideas to long-beloved franchises.

The Nintendo Switch is now available everywhere.

Source: Mainichi via Nintendo Everything

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