Apparently, Pokemon CEO and president Tsunekazu Ishihara didn’t always believe in the Nintendo Switch. In fact, prior to its release, he believed that “in the age of the smartphone, no one would carry out a game console.”
But Switch ended up being a success, with close to 20 million units sold at the end of Nintendo’s last fiscal year. And through this success, Ishihara began to understand that “the key to a successful game is quite simple: software with absolute quality leads sales of hardware.”
Ishihara spoke more on the success of the Switch in a recent Famitsu interview.
“I don’t know if this has the ability to persuade the people who said a year ago that the Nintendo Switch wouldn’t sell [laughter], but up until that point a machine that integrated both handheld functionality and a home console was unheard of, so to be honest it was hard to know how it would sell,” he said. “I didn’t see it selling. However, the overwhelming fun of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild made it popular. I think that had a big impact.”
“Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Super Mario Odyssey as well as other titles also had great timing and is helping widespread adoption,” he continued. “On top of that there are games like Nintendo Labo that include elements you don’t normally see in games, so it’s the ideal environment for a platform. I think this is a great opportunity for us to introduce new games and bring new experiences that will earn even more fans.”
When asked about the timing of Pokemon games, which tend to coincide with the hardware’s popularity level, Ishihara said the following:
“Exactly. However, the reason that we can release a title at this point in time is that we already had begun development at the time that the Nintendo Switch launched. That’s the point where thoughts like ‘maybe the hardware won’t sell?’ changed to a feeling of ‘our game will give the platform traction’. In a way, our second title this time around will be one of the driving factors behind that.”
Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! are set for release on November 16, 2018.