Despite being disregarded and scoffed by many in the gaming community, the Nintendo Switch became the top selling console in the USA. The Switch had many disadvantages in comparison to its competitors in graphic capabilities and other areas, but one big advantage – portability. The fact that you can “game-on-the-go” especially with AAA games was a huge selling point and lured in many gamers. The Switch has been reported to sell 10 M units within 9 months which is quite impressive, but is pale in comparison to Nintendo’s original console the NES which sold a total of 61 M units.
It is important to remember that back in the late 80s Nintendo had a near monopoly on video games. Competition from other companies such as Sony and Microsoft might be a factor in the decline of Nintendo’s market dominance. It is also important to note that PC gaming grown quite a bit since the early 90s, and currently accounts to a third of all game sales revenue.
Mobile gaming has exploded since the 2000s and currently accounts to 40% of the gaming market. This includes both mobile phones and tablets. There is no need to purchase an expensive home console or gaming PC and seeing that nearly everyone owns a mobile phone. This makes it is easy to understand the expanse of mobile gaming.
Even though many consider mobile gaming to be “casual” and noncompetitive form of gaming for house-wives, a few major titles have made their way to mobile phones and tablets. This includes Player Unknown Battlegrounds (PUBG), Fortnite, Tekken, Need for Speed, and many others. For the 1st time ever, mobile gaming can give consoles and PCs a run for their money.
Many in the gaming community have compared the Nintendo Switch to mobile phones prior to its release. It appears that most high-end phones can provide better graphics than the Switch. One can only wonder if mobile gaming will be the primary gaming outlet for gamers in the future.
If mobile gaming does continue expanding at its current rate, mobile gaming will become the default for gamers. One can only wonder how Nintendo, Sony, & Microsoft with their market dominance percentage. A very probable possibility is that rather trying to fight change, these companies might embrace it. Just as Nintendo released Mario Run & Pokemon Go in the past, it is possible that they will release full length games on mobile platforms.
