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Nintendo : Labo is off to a strong start, will sell for a very long time, broader demographic target

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In an interview with The Verge, Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils-Aimé and general manager of Nintendo EPD Shinya Takahashi both commented Labo's start so far and what's the objective for the future.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/19/...ales-future-reggie-fils-aime-shinya-takahashi

While more typical games like Breath of the Wild or Super Mario Odyssey tend to have a surge of sales at launch, Nintendo believes Labo will have a longer lifespan. "Labo represents something else entirely," says Shinya Takahashi, general manager of the company's software division, Nintendo EPD.

"Labo is the type of game, much like Brain Age for the Nintendo DS, much like Wii Fit, it's a game that's going to sell for a very long time at a very steady pace," says Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé. "Which is a different curve than a traditional video game. And so from that standpoint, our focus is on how we can continue to support it, how we continue to help consumers understand the proposition. There's a lot of activity happening with Labo around the summer, especially as kids are out of school, we think it's a prime opportunity. Labo is off to a strong start and in our view is going to continue to get a lot of support."
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Hoewever, Takahashi-san think that so far Labo has mostly sold to the circle of game fans in general and their objective is to reach a broader demographic.

"We want to get to a demographic that's not traditionally reached by games at all," he explains. "I think the case with Nintendo Labo right now is that there are some people who know about it, and quite a lot of potential still for us to explore. The people who are aware of Nintendo Labo right now I think are still in the circle of Nintendo fans and game fans in general. We're really interested in how we can go beyond that, to people who aren't really in the loop of game news."
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There's more in the article that I linked, I only quoted some keypoints. Lock if old.
 
cw_sasuke

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Will be tough to go beyond that console audience anytime soon considering it requires a 300usd console.
 
Dr. Mario

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It's a fantastic product that deserves a much wider audience than it is currently getting. But it completely dropped off the UK top 30 a few weeks in, so I'm not sure how steady those sales really are. Interested to see how they are going to promote it for the summer, there's a lot of stuff they can do of course.
 
ElectricBlanketFire

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Wii Fit and Brain Age moved 20(ish) million units each. There's zero chance Labo comes close.

I say this as a fan of Labo.
 
cardboardboxer

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cw_sasuke said:
Will be tough to go beyond that console audience anytime soon considering it requires a 300usd console.
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Meh, Apple convinced the Los Angeles Unified School District to try and buy an iPad for every student.

That ended up being a disaster for the district, but it shows there is a lot of money is parting school administrators from the tax dollars they wield.

If they can sell this thing as "the next hot learning tool in Stem!" then they might sell a lot of Switches to rich school districts or magnet schools that don't know any better.
 
Andri

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So still the same logical thing Nintendo of France said.

But its gonna be fun when we get the shareholder meeting in a week, and people still keep asking about how Labo will sell.
 
Corporate Clown

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Nintendo: "We think Labo is a big success! Please continue to dedicate shelf space to it!"
Retailers: "Nah, we good."
 
cw_sasuke

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LordKano said:
That's why it's a product that will sell for the entire Switch's lifespan, including when the system will pricedrop.
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I know ..my post was more in regards to Labo expectations you read on ERA. Some had completely unrealistic ones....it will be a while until Labo can sell to it's full potential on Switch.

Turrican3 said:
Wii Fit did exactly that though.

Ok, not 300usd but you get the point. :-)
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The Wii as a system already attracted a broader audience - Wii Fit felt natural.

Switch is pretty much a core/gamer system only as of now and the price point makes it less attractive for small children. 2 years from now things will be different.
 
Renna Hazel

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cw_sasuke said:
Will be tough to go beyond that console audience anytime soon considering it requires a 300usd console.
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I agree that it would be a hard sell to someone who doesn't play game consoles at all, but there is a big market that LABO can sell to that does play consoles but doesn't own a Switch just yet. LABO is one of many things that can convince people to buy it and I think that will be the extent of it's reach.
 
Apa504

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I wonder if they are gonna release another kit for christmas or just go with the two they have right now.
 
cw_sasuke

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Renna Hazel said:
I agree that it would be a hard sell to someone who doesn't play game consoles at all, but there is a big market that LABO can sell to that does play consoles but doesn't own a Switch just yet. LABO is one of many things that can convince people to buy it and I think that will be the extent of it's reach.
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Yeah I completely agree.
Still lots of untapped potential.
 
Turrican3

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cw_sasuke said:
Switch is pretty much a core/gamer system only as of now and the price point makes it less attractive for small children. 2 years from now things will be different.
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I guess that's where parents can affect Labo sales.

But you have a point, if we are strictly talking about price the Wii offered a better value proposition (50 dollar cheaper and a game bundled)

We'll see.

Poutine Runner 2049 said:
I doubt soccer moms and retirement homes are itching to play 1-2 Switch or Labo like they were Wii Sports and Wii Fit so no, I don't get your point.
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I didn't say I expect it to become as popular.
 

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*Guaraná said:
I don't think they would say it was a big failure...
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Sure they would, they outright have admitted to failures in the past. unlike with Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo can't mask its high profile failures, because it is a publicly traded company that deals in only one thing, and it needs to be transparent to investors about that one thing.
 
ghibli99

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If they can appeal to me the same way the more advanced (expensive) Lego sets do, while integrating Nintendo franchises into the mix, I'll be there man.
 
SnatcherHunter

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Phantom Thief said:
Sure they would, they outright have admitted to failures in the past. unlike with Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo can't mask its high profile failures, because it is a publicly traded company that deals in only one thing, and it needs to be transparent to investors about that one thing.
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They wont say is a failure so quick into its lifetime. They will PR it for a while then down the line admit it didn't work out the way they envisioned it.
 

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PositiveGamer said:
They wont say is a failure so quick into its lifetime. They will PR it for a while then down the line admit it didn't work out the way they envisioned it.
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They can and will still say something like "it is off to a slower than expected start, but we intend on doing so and so", which, again, is similar to statements they made about Gameboy Micro or Wii U within months from their launches. If Labo was underperforming, they would have said it is underperforming. They say it is in line with their expectations so far, which means we have no reason to assume otherwise.
 
TheMisterManGuy

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PositiveGamer said:
They wont say is a failure so quick into its lifetime. They will PR it for a while then down the line admit it didn't work out the way they envisioned it.
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That's a assuming Labo doesn't end up doing well at Christmas. Right now, they're basically saying its doing well for a toy released outside the holiday season, and that they want to expand it to people who aren't really gamers.
 
Barrel Cannon

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With a price drop or cheaper model the Labo sales will probably jump a lot. I expect a cheaper value bundle a LABO Kit and a switch alongside new kit launches.
 
BriGuy

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I don't get why some folk are so invested in Labo. It's like they need it to succeed in order to validate themselves. And yes, I realize you can turn that statement around to be about people who want to see it fail. I just don't get why Labo has become this line in the sand. The Switch is still a big success whether Labo takes off or crashes and burns.
 
SnatcherHunter

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Point taken

If is meeting their expectations, the true question is what were their expected numbers for Labo? I assume it had to be modest numbers.
 
TheMisterManGuy

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BriGuy said:
I don't get why some folk are so invested in Labo. It's like they need it to succeed in order to validate themselves. And yes, I realize you can turn that statement around to be about people who want to see it fail. I just don't get why Labo has become this line in the sand. The Switch is still a big success whether Labo takes off or crashes and burns.
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I personally want it to do well to encourage more creativity from Switch developers. Much like how Nintendogs demonstrated the full potential of the DS, Labo demonstrates the full potential of the Switch. So when making unique exclusives, developers can look to a product like Labo for inspiration and a reminder that innovative uses of the hardware can sell on the platform.
 

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BriGuy said:
I don't get why some folk are so invested in Labo. It's like they need it to succeed in order to validate themselves. And yes, I realize you can turn that statement around to be about people who want to see it fail. I just don't get why Labo has become this line in the sand. The Switch is still a big success whether Labo takes off or crashes and burns.
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It's the other way around- there are people invested in Labo's failure, and discussion and rhetoric like this serves to set the record straight regarding it. People are personally invested in Labo failing- they are offended it exists, offended Nintendo would market it, pleased it is apparently not doing well, outraged that it has managed to do well after all, and flat out unwilling to believe statements from Nintendo themselves that it's done fine.

The "invested" discussion in Labo comes from those who want it to fail. Everywhere else, the discussion surrounding it is no different than discussion you might get for any other mid to high tier release.
 
TheMisterManGuy

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Phantom Thief said:
It's the other way around- there are people invested in Labo's failure, and discussion and rhetoric like this serves to set the record straight regarding it. People are personally invested in Labo failing- they are offended it exists, offended Nintendo would market it, pleased it is apparently not doing well, outraged that it has managed to do well after all, and flat out unwilling to believe statements from Nintendo themselves that it's done fine.

The "invested" discussion in Labo comes from those who want it to fail. Everywhere else, the discussion surrounding it is no different than discussion you might get for any other mid to high tier release.
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This. People keep begging for this thing to fail so that Nintendo makes hardcore mature games for mature gamers like myself /s.
 
Skittzo

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PositiveGamer said:
Point taken

If is meeting their expectations, the true question is what were their expected numbers for Labo? I assume it had to be modest numbers.
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Like they've said multiple times, expectations were always apparently for a modest launch followed by a huge spike in the holidays. Nintendo France said they expect 20% of the yearly sales between April and September, with the remaining 80% in the holidays.
 
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