Sony Tackle Nintendo Switch Head On; Microsoft Not So Much
Sony have kicked off strong in 2017 haven’t they? Microsoft, on the other hand, seem to be taking a more subdued approach. With Nintendo Switch launching today, the former has been fighting fire with fire, while the latter has remained silent but not so deadly.
From reviews so far, it’s fair to say Horizon Zero Dawn is at least critically successful. That puts the PS4 in a position where just two months into 2017, there has been at least three critically successful exclusive games out: Yakuza 0, Nioh, and Horizon Zero Dawn. If a consumer doesn’t yet have any of the consoles, and sees a distinct lack of launch titles for the Switch but three recent and critically applauded titles on PS4 – a system with three and a half years of support and an array of titles to boot – which one are they most likely buy?
The base PS4 is objectively a better machine in terms of hardware power, and the Pro boasts more on top of that. You can get a brand new base PS4 model cheaper than the Switch on launch, and this is bundled with at least an extra game too. The Switch’s unofficial bundles raise the price of it and its prominent title, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, to above £320; then if you want a pro controller as well, that’s another £65.
Nintendo have a recent history where the amount of stock made available for their products doesn’t match demand. Some might say that they’ve been taking a path of making those that have their products feel special over everyone else. Personally, I highly doubt they’d intentionally send out low stock for a console launch because that’s just bad business, but humour me for a second; I am still expecting some gamers to be left out in the cold today. NowInStock.net shows it currently relatively well available in the UK as opposed to the US where it’s supposedly out of stock everywhere. For those who don’t already own a PS4, both the base and pro model will be sat on a full shelf nearby showcasing their newest games, and at more reasonable prices to boot. That gamer may start thinking “Oh I can wait for a Switch, it only really has Zelda anyway. Maybe I should get a PS4”.
In the meantime Microsoft sit in the corner like a spider that thinks it has been seen. Sure, Halo Wars 2 is out, but it’s also available on Windows 10. You can read GameSpew’s review of it if you’d like. Then again, maybe almost entirely avoiding the Switch is the best way to not be lost beneath it. My Xbox One is used solely an Amazon Video machine – I want to like the Xbox One, but I’ve found it to be an awful machine that struggles to do the basics half the time. Before you shout “Sony fanboy!” the PS4 isn’t exactly perfect either; basic functionality was absent for far too long, and the overdue external hard drive support is only just coming in the next update. But just look at the amount of exclusives it has over the Xbox One. There’s a feeling Microsoft are now just waiting for Project Scorpio, and if it is as big a hardware upgrade as Phil Spencer keeps telling us then great, because the more choice there is for consumers the better.
Either approach from Sony or Microsoft to the Switch launch could work here. Sony’s recent games could get drowned in the behemoth that will be Switch’s launch, and perhaps that’s something Microsoft were comfortable enough to avoid. At the same time, Nintendo’s recent stock allocation practices could play right into Sony’s hands. Horizon Zero Dawn could even be a complete flop for the public, so who knows?
I’m not getting a Switch just yet, but I do hope it gets some success as it may be the first Nintendo console I actively seek to buy a little further down the line once it has more games. Zelda’s reviews are incredibly promising, but we still have to see what the general consumer response is. Whatever happens, the next couple of weeks are sure going to be interesting.
