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Veteran analyst is optimistic about Switch 2, hopes it will "more clearly communicate how this is different than the Switch" than the Wii U did with Wii
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With the follow-up to the Nintendo Switch reportedly set to release in 2025, Nintendo will be looking to avoid repeating the mistakes made during the Wii U's launch, according to one games industry analyst.
The Wii was an astounding success for Nintendo, having sold more than 100 million units across its lifetime, with its sales making the relative commercial failure of its successor, the Wii U, all the more apparent. Over a decade on, many now blame Nintendo's inability to effectively communicate the Wii U as a successor console, something that Mat Piscatella, executive director of games industry market research firm Circana, claims Nintendo will be keen to remedy with the Switch 2.
"I'm assuming that they're going to do well", he begins, "because, according to all the rumors, it looks like another hybrid type device that's going to be backwards compatible. Those are all the kinds of things that will help, and hopefully, more clearly communicate how this is different than the Switch than the Wii U communicated how it was different than the Wii."
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Piscatella explains that, while the Switch 2's success may seem to many like an inevitability, Nintendo is unpredictable. "Nintendo has had a lot of hits. They've had some misses. Which one is the next thing going to be? Who knows. I don't know anybody that's gotten rich trying to successfully predict what Nintendo is going to do and how successful they'll be at it."
The Switch currently sits behind only the PlayStation 2 as the second-best-selling home console of all time, making the Switch 2's release a pivotal moment for Nintendo. Another Wii U-esque flop could see them return to the up-and-down pattern that has become somewhat of a hallmark of Nintendo in recent years. On the other hand, another success on the same scale as the Switch could comprehensively re-establish the company as the industry leader it has been so many times in the past. Only time will tell.
Alex has written all sorts of things for websites including VideoGamer, PCGamer, PCGamesN and more. He'll play anything from Tekken to Team Fortress 2, but you'll typically find him failing to churn through his backlog because he's too busy playing whatever weird and wonderful indie games have just come out.
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