Nintendo announced they will be unveiling their games and the price of the system on January 12, 2017. Here’s the link.
Now, I will say I’m not a big fan of this move. You buy systems for games, so not showing off the games is the same as showing off the system. Moreover, if the system launches in early March, it’s not a lot of time to build interest and show off the system. Of course, it’s a moot point now.
I think what’s more interesting is that Nintendo missed a huge opportunity to promote their system: a holiday mall tour.
Nintendo is launching this system at a unique time. Most consoles launch at the end of the year in order to get the system out before Christmas. Nintendo, however, is releasing their system in March and are skipping the holidays all together. Perhaps it’s not a great idea, but it opens up this unique opportunity.
Nintendo, like with the Wii and Wii U will be demoing the system after the presentation in January. But consider if they demoed the system during the holiday rush instead. Malls will be the busiest during the holidays. You have a prime time to show millions of people this new system as they shop for Christmas gifts. The amount of attention Nintendo would be able to attract would be astronomical. It would also help address the fact Nintendo is releasing the system at a slower time of the year (though everything is slow compared to the last three months of the year).
Nintendo could have even use this to show off other products. Why not show off the NES Mini, which I’m sure is going to be a huge holiday item. Maybe show off Super Mario Run or Pokemon Sun and Moon. Unlike the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo is selling these products during the holidays. Essentially, they kill two birds with one stone.
Of course, one thing I’m not considering this is if the malls would allow this (as it can take up quite a lot of store space) or if it could be cost effective (malls may charge more to do this during their busiest time of the year). Nintendo may have considered it, but we’ll never know. Nevertheless, it would have been a great opportunity.
If you want more, follow me on Twitter @Spoogymonkey. Also check out Sourcegaming.info as well.
Antithesis Analysis 