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Nintendo expectations for Labo launch in France

Lelouch0612

Lelouch0612

Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,200
The 17th of January, Nintendo revealed to the world its new concept : Nintendo Labo. The reveal trailer was very well-done and showed the 3 strenghts of Nintendo's new concept : Make, Play & Discover.

The trailer has been seen more than 12 millions of times, only on the Nintendo US Youtube account, and generated a lot of curiosity among both gamers and the mainstream. Soon, one of the biggest question was how Nintendo Labo was going to sell and will it push hardware in a significant manner ?

Now we might have an idea of Nintendo's expectations about its two Labo titles : the Variety Pack and the Robot Pack. Nintend'Alerts, basically the French Nintendo Wario64, disclosed the number of copies printed day one for the two titles, like he does for every major release.

Day One, in France, there will be 30k copies of the Variety Pack and 15k copies of the Robot Pack. For the sake of comparison, here's some other games' first print:

Kirby, DK : 70k
Bayonetta : 45k + 5k
Dark Souls : 30k
DQB : 12k

These Labo's numbers might appear, for a lot of us, pretty low given the buzz/expectations surrounding the title. However Labo is both a game and a toy, so it is still undecided whether it'll follow a typical game's sales trend or a toy's one. Toys are mainly sold during the Christmas period.

So what are your expectations regarding to that ? Do you think that Labo will sell mainly at the end of the year or will it sell amazing right from the start ?
 
Phendrift

Phendrift

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,304
I think it will be a success, but I can't even begin to predict how big. It's truly an untapped market
 
ghibli99

ghibli99

Member
Oct 27, 2017
17,818
It'll probably be tough to find the variety kit, which I think will be the more popular seller. If Nintendo supports it well throughout the year with new kits -- especially if they cross-promote it with Nintendo IPs -- it will do well. Much of it will come down to how the first two kits are received once in the hands of consumers in April.
 
MP!

MP!

Member
Oct 30, 2017
5,198
Las Vegas
I think labo will be sold out like amiibo and old ladies will be punching young dudes to get them and sell them online for a high price
 

Deleted member 2791

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
19,054
The real reason as to why they're shipping less Labo copies is that the boxes are fucking huge and retailers only have so many space.
 
Deader2818

Deader2818

Member
Oct 25, 2017
714
New Jersey
Small Market sample but at least in my area no one seems to care about it. I havent heard any customers even talk about it or inquire about it. In general pre-orders are very non existent in my district. My store currently has none.
 
Cronogear

Cronogear

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,985
I see Labo becoming a bit of a cult success. It's not going to set the toy world on fire, but it will have a decent amount of dedicated users.
 
Skittzo

Skittzo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
41,037
I foresee some nasty shortages if those numbers are representative of global production.
 
Phendrift

Phendrift

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,304
Deader2818 said:
Small Market sample but at least in my area no one seems to care about it. I havent heard any customers even talk about it or inquire about it. In general pre-orders are very non existent in my district. My store currently has none.
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I feel like it's a thing that will catch on after the fact, once users have it in their hands and upload videos and impressions etc.
 
Mr Pricklefingers

Mr Pricklefingers

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Nov 4, 2017
397
The question for me is whether enough young children own a Switch at this point. No parent will buy a Labo kit if they have to buy a £300 console with it.
 
CloseTalker

CloseTalker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
30,663
Bandage said:
This seems very unlikely given consumer response to the reveal.
It might not be a Wii sports style hit, but it'l do numbers.
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YouTube views to not equate to $80 product sales.

I think it'll do well, but the anecdotal fact that, at least here in Canada, the pre-orders haven't sold out at any retailer (and have actually been discounted by $15-20 at Amazon and Walmart) paint a very different picture compared to almost every other Nintendo product launch.
 
Plankton2

Plankton2

Member
Dec 12, 2017
2,670
If you go by the limited stuff Nintendo has said, they made it sound like they are not expecting Labo to substantially carry the Switch. Maybe some day with third party stuff added but right now it just seems like it's a new initiative and they want to test the waters with it.

I think the expectations really just came from fans who are assuming this is a "new direction" or a "main focus" for them.

If the translation of Kimishima is right and this is one of a a few new ways to play the switch, then it seems like they will try a couple new ideas and hope one of them strikes gold, which makes the most sense since they are all new IPs/

I think Labo easily exceeds over 1M sold in units, tho
 

srtrestre

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,971
I think it will be successful. Whether it will become a phenomenon (personally I don't think it is being positioned that way, more like a fun side project) remains to be seen.
 
MisterMangu

MisterMangu

Banned
Feb 12, 2018
724
low-G said:
I think Labo will flounder and be forgotten by the holidays.
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I second this.

Anecdotal, but none of my 7 little cousins found it interesting after watching the reveal and went right back to robloks, Minecraft, and or clash of clans.

Kids these days aren't fond of that kind of thing. Shit, not even legos are as popular as they once were now that we kind of have virtual legos (Minecraft).

If it becomes the next big thing I'll eat as much crow as possible.
 
Gobias-Ind

Gobias-Ind

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Nov 22, 2017
4,025
Is there a bot that makes the first post on all these "will Switch product succeed" threads because lmao it's like clockwork.

I think Labo is an easy business success because, I imagine, they're going to push a pretty cushy profit margin on them.

I think the key that could separate it from "nice little profitable experiment" to something that really really drives business is whether or not they can sell it to schools. Even including a Switch, the price isn't prohibitive for STEM/educational toys and Nintendo could very easily bring eBook apps and educational software into the fold to make the Switch an attractive devices for schools even beyond Labo.
 

Dark Cloud

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
61,087
MisterMangu said:
I second this.

Anecdotal, but none of my 7 little cousins found it interesting after watching the reveal and went right back to robloks, Minecraft, and or clash of clans.

Kids these days aren't fond of that kind of thing. Shit, not even legos are as popular as they once were now that we kind of have virtual legos (Minecraft).

If it becomes the next big thing I'll eat as much crow as possible.
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I've seen plenty of parents say their kids are interested in this. So looks like kids are fond of this these days.
 
OP
OP
Lelouch0612

Lelouch0612

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Oct 25, 2017
21,200
The key for the Switch is to expand its retail space. Labo will help it is not confined to videogame stores.
 

Deleted member 24550

Ac
Banned
Oct 29, 2017
2,398
Labo will be a huge success but not off the bat. It's a bit too expensive to sell gangbusters in April. Will just light up some birthday parties, until Christmas when it will light up the charts.

(This all depending on how well they plug that reveal ah-ah-ah-ahh music, I haven't heard it in any of the other videos so this has me worried)
 
eseqko

eseqko

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,390
I think this will do well for the "maker toys" market. Which will be a little under/close to a million sales WW.

This will not be Wii Sports. I don't think Nintendo has those expectations either.
 
schuelma

schuelma

Member
Oct 24, 2017
5,901
Plankton2 said:
If you go by the limited stuff Nintendo has said, they made it sound like they are not expecting Labo to substantially carry the Switch. Maybe some day with third party stuff added but right now it just seems like it's a new initiative and they want to test the waters with it.

I think the expectations really just came from fans who are assuming this is a "new direction" or a "main focus" for them.

If the translation of Kimishima is right and this is one of a a few new ways to play the switch, then it seems like they will try a couple new ideas and hope one of them strikes gold, which makes the most sense since they are all new IPs/

I think Labo easily exceeds over 1M sold in units, tho
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At least in Japan I suspect they expect big things- its being positioned as their big Golden Week release.
 
OP
OP
Lelouch0612

Lelouch0612

Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,200
I feel like the new title is a little bit too restrictive ? I used french data as a starting point, given that it is a strong Nintendo Market, it is not meant as the meat of the discussion.

Some markets might react more enthousiastically than other I agree. Japan has a great potential imo and the US might surprise in that regard.
 
darkside

darkside

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Oct 26, 2017
11,303
poptire said:
Labo doesn't seem expensive to me. You're buying a retail game plus the cardboard hardware for like $80 US. The engineering involved and hands-on accounts make this seem worth the price tag also.
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And you have to buy a Switch if you don't own it. Thats a pretty significant cost to people who they're advertising this to honestly. Saying its just an $80 toy is kind of disingenuous.

That said I think this will sell okay because really anything with the Nintendo name these days does okay at the very worst.
 
Dany1899

Dany1899

Member
Dec 23, 2017
4,219
Well, after all Nintendo made clear from the beginning that Labo isn't for everyone, but it's mainly for children. So it's natural that they will ship less copies than games like Kirby (which is at the moment advertised as the main Q1 game for Nintendo) which appeal many targets (2D platform lover, Kirby fan, children, etc.).
 
ronpontelle

ronpontelle

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,645
Mr Pricklefingers said:
The question for me is whether enough young children own a Switch at this point. No parent will buy a Labo kit if they have to buy a £300 console with it.
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That's the key thing for me too.

If enough kids have access to a Switch, I think it'll do well.

I think it has the potential to do really well, but I think the relatively small numbers of Switches out there will hold it back from being massive.

Of course the joycons are central to the whole thing, otherwise it would be a smash on the tablets!
 
LightEntite

LightEntite

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
3,079
Peripheral Storm 2018 : Cardboard Edition

It's neat, but that's about it...and it's pretty expensive for what it's worth too.

If they made some kind of collectible out of it, i could see it maybe blowing up, but as it is now? Meh, it'll take the luck of the draw IMO
 
Patch13

Patch13

Member
Oct 27, 2017
398
New England
Mr Pricklefingers said:
The question for me is whether enough young children own a Switch at this point. No parent will buy a Labo kit if they have to buy a £300 console with it.
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The Switch already appeals to lapsed gamers who don't have a lot of time to game, and value flexibility and portability over raw horsepower. There's a lot of overlap between that demographic, and people who have kids.

And the kids are probably already playing Minecraft on the thing, anyway; Labo is just another neat addition.

I suspect that it is going to do well. Regardless, we'll all find out soon :-)
 
poptire

poptire

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
9,982
KALOSMANI said:
I betted against Wii U
I betted against GameCube
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Those were different times.

darkside said:
And you have to buy a Switch if you don't own it. Thats a pretty significant cost to people who they're advertising this to honestly. Saying its just an $80 toy is kind of disingenuous.

That said I think this will sell okay because really anything with the Nintendo name these days does okay at the very worst.
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Considering the Switch is the fastest selling console of all time in France I don't think that's an issue either.
 
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