Interest

Opinions in Japan Divided on Nintendo Switch

The Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun (The Nikkei) surveyed 50 people at the demonstration of Nintendo's new, innovative video game system, the Switch, at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center on January 14. Their response to Nintendo's latest product was highly positive: 48 answered that they "wanted to buy it." 33 felt that the price was "appropriate," while of the remainder, 14 decided it was "cheap." (Note that they were reacting to the rumored price of 25,000 yen, not the current price, which is 29,980 yen.) A 50-year-old man felt that it was "perfect" for the times; others were eager to try 3-D action games that used its gyro sensor, and looked forward to a version compatible with LTE, or that had video upload options.

Still, the newspaper noticed that when it asked video gamers who didn't attend the show, opinions were more mixed. One gamer was impressed at the amount of software available but had no strong feelings on the hardware. "Stationary, portable, it doesn't matter; I'd rather they lowered the price," he said. Another felt that it was "just another console." Even some of the attendees of the demonstration had concerns, like running out of battery power or memory.

For our columnist Dustin Bailey's opinion on the Switch, see This Week in Games. Nintendo's newest console was first demonstrated in America in December on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, where Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé let host Jimmy Fallon try it out, with legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto watching in the audience. It will be released worldwide on March 3.

Source: Nihon Keizai Shimbun via Yaraon!; Image from Nintendo