Nintendo Switch: Redefining The Way We Game
The Nintendo Switch released in March of 2017 as Nintendo’s step into next-generation consoles. It sought to bring the best out of Nintendo’s previous gaming consoles, the WiiU, and the 3DS. The Switch took WiiU’s home console style and 3DS’s portable handheld gaming and blended them perfectly together to create a console that allows players to have the option to enjoy games in both settings. The Nintendo Switch has since sold over 65 million consoles worldwide and has over three-thousand games both created for the Switch and ported over from past consoles for players to enjoy. The old and new age of games that can be found on the Switch shows how Nintendo knows that a majority of Switch users have been lifetime fans of Nintendo’s games and characters. Some of Nintendo’s most popular franchises such as Mario, Kirby, The Legend of Zelda, and Pokemon have all received next-gen console titles that are exclusive to the Nintendo Switch.
Target Market:
The Nintendo Switch is a console that is easy for any casual or competitive gamer can pick up and have an exciting gaming experience. With this is in mind, Nintendo primarily targeted the Switch to be made for individuals with busier schedules that fall under Generations Y and Z. Being able to bring a Nintendo Switch to work or school gives players the option to pull out their Switch for a quick gaming session wherever they may be. This is a great feature that appeals to a younger age demographic of players that enjoy Nintendo games, but may not have as much time to play for long hours in front of a television.
A game that greatly encapsulate’s this type of quick and easy to gameplay is Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH). The main appeal of ACNH is that you are rewarded for playing on a daily basis for usually no more than an hour at a time. Players of ACNH will pop into their island to do daily tasks such as searching for fossils, visiting the local shops, and speaking to fellow villagers to boost friendship levels with them. These tasks are relatively quick and simple which allows players to feel rewarded for remmbering to check in on their island daily. It is a great way for gamers who desire to get in their daily dose of gaming to do so from anywhere.
Nintendo has also stated that they desired to target families that want to connect with one another more in a gaming setting that is safe and enjoyable to play with younger children and adults alike. Nintendo consoles have always created games that appeal to a wide audience by keeping a majority of their most popular franchises family-friendly and safe for younger children. Some family friendly games include Super Mario Party, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and 1–2-Switch.
How Nintendo Reaches their Target Market:
Thankfully for Nintendo a majority of the Switch’s target demographics include individuals who happen to be on several of the largest social media platforms on the internet. This makes marketing and advertisements quite straightforward. Whenever a new game is announced or other company-wide changes are unveiled to the public, Nintendo portrays this information through their social media profiles along with their main website that holds information and is an online shop where games can be directly purchased.
Nintendo’s posted the photo above on their Instagram profile as a reminder for gamers that their newest title, Pikmin 3 Deluxe, would be released to the public on the Switch. Posts similar to this one consist of the majority of posts that can be found on Nintendo’s social media across their various profiles. These posts are great ways for Nintendo to hear from their consumers directly as to how they are enjoying the newest games and receive feedback and statistics on how their social posts are performing. Nintendo also knows that it is important to not only include advertisements for upcoming products and periodically will post photos on their feed and update their stories as a means to increase engagement directly with their playerbase.
Unique Selling Point:
The unique selling point of the Nintendo Switch comes from the brilliant original concepts that Nintendo has continuously introduced to the gaming industry for several decades. Some of Nintendo’s largest competition such as Sony (PS4) and Microsoft (Xbox One) have continued to unveil newer consoles with increased hardrives and graphic capabilities, but have still fallen behind Nintendo in the creativity department. The ideas behind Nintendo’s consoles really took off with the 2006 release of the Nintendo Wii. This console was the first of its kind to bring motion sensor technology and base an entire gaming system around it. Sony and Microsoft attempted to jump on board with motion sensor technology by introducing the PS Move and Xbox Kinect respectively, but both were considered an inferior version to the Wii’s capabilities. The Wii’s innovation has helped bring Nintendo to where we are today with the Switch. The Nintendo Switch has continued to redefine the way so many gamers enjoy their games by bringing the newest triple-a titles anywhere they can play.
The importance of Nintendo’s creative innovation is used to continue to build brand loyalty with nostalgic fans that have played Nintendo games their whole lives. Personally, I have been a huge fan of Pokemon ever since I was in elementary school. I played my first Pokemon game, Pokemon Ruby, on the Gameboy Advance when I was just five years old when it released in 2002. I have such fond memories of training up my starter Pokemon Mudkip and the rest of my team that I used to beat the Elite Four and Champion. To this day, I have purchased every main series Pokemon game that has released ever since. These memories from my very first Nintendo game have been with me my whole life and I am not the only person to hold memories of Nintendo games so closely. This nostalgia for Nintendo games is felt by millions of players around the world and is the main reason why myself and others will favor Nintendo titles over any other gaming platform.
Conclusion:
Nintendo’s target demographics will most likely see an increase in the age range of gamers who purchase their games and consoles since long time fans of Nintendo will get older and will introduce Nintendo games to a younger audience. The innovation and nostalgia that Nintendo games bring to the lives of their consumers will continue to be their driving force in building brand loyalty with players around the world.
References:
https://www.instagram.com/nintendo/
Image References:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/393783561164999420/
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