Nintendo, which crashed into a struggling situation after it released the failed Nintendo Wii U in 2012, may finally be back in the game.
After the success of the Nintendo Wii, the company has long languished behind Sony and Microsoft as they grew their PlayStation and Xbox businesses. However, with the early success of the Nintendo Switch and the mostly positive reviews for the upcoming New Nintendo 2DS XL, Nintendo is finally pulling itself back into relevance in the lucrative video game industry.
The Success Of The Nintendo Switch
Nintendo's new hybrid console, the Nintendo Switch, has had its fair share of issues upon its launch, but nobody can doubt its early success.
The hybrid console, with a price tag of $299.99 and the advantage of portability, has been able to compete with the offerings of rivals Sony and Microsoft. In fact, it outsold the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One in March and grabbed the title as the fastest-selling Nintendo console, beating even the Nintendo Wii.
Last month, Nintendo revealed that 2.74 million units of the hybrid console have been sold, with the company expecting to sell about 10 million more units for the fiscal year ending in April 2018.
Leading the surge for the Nintendo Switch is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which curiously sold even more units than the hybrid console. This might be because some gamers purchased a collector's edition of the title to keep and a regular edition to play. It is also partly due to some purchasing a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild despite not yet having their own Nintendo Switch, due to one of the issues that have surrounded the hybrid console.
The most notable issue with the Nintendo Switch so far has been the supply shortage, which might last throughout the rest of the year. There have also been other problems such as the hybrid console warping after being docked for a considerable amount of time and connectivity issues with the left Joy-Con controller.
However, despite these problems, the Nintendo Switch was still able to make history, and recently released games such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and upcoming titles such as Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle will likely continue to generate interest for the hybrid console.
The Upcoming New Nintendo 2DS XL
Nintendo announced the New Nintendo 2DS XL out of the blue late last month, offering the handheld gaming console as a smaller device that carries the same power as the New Nintendo 3DS XL.
The device, which will go on sale starting July 28 with a $149.99 price tag, has received mostly positive reviews due to its modernized design without sacrificing the capabilities of its predecessor. The 3D feature is gone, though for most gamers, they will likely not miss it.
While sales for the New Nintendo 2DS XL could not yet be predicted, the death of Sony's PlayStation Vita means that Nintendo has no competition in the handheld gaming market.
Nintendo Back From The Brink
After five years of tanking hardware and software sales, Nintendo is finally starting to turn it around with the Nintendo Switch and the upcoming New Nintendo 2DS XL.
Nintendo has carved its name as an icon in the video game industry, and it looks like it will be here to stay for the foreseeable future.
