NX will release in Japan before Europe and US, analyst predicts

Nintendo will shun a global rollout in favour of releasing the NX in its home country of Japan first, DFC Intelligence expects.

The platform holder yesterday announced that it will not be releasing the NX until March 2017, and will not be revealing any details about the machine at E3.

DFC previously said that it believed a 2016 rollout for the machine would be a mistake under any scenario”, so it’s no surprise that it is broadly in favour of the 2017 launch.

The fact they are delaying until 2017 is seen by DFC as a positive for the potential of the NX,” it has now said. Nintendo has simply not had its act together for new product launches and rushing a new product to market in such a highly competitive 2016 environment would be a mistake.

Getting away from the crush of holiday marketing could be an astute move. Nintendo has not devoted sufficient creativity or resources to promoting its wares in recent years, and not having to compete with Sony or Microsoft’s holiday marketing could be a plus. But much still remains unknown, including which territories the NX will initially launch in. Although the practice has been to release new systems globally for several cycles, we can see a scenario whereby Nintendo goes back to tradition to release the NX first in Japan.

There is a great deal of pressure for Nintendo to rush the NX out the door but we see a wiser path in a more gradual rolling out of the system. DFC believes there is more early growth potential for a new Nintendo system in Japan than other markets. Launching in Japan exclusively would lead Nintendo fans elsewhere to pine away for the NX.

Waiting six or more months for a Western launch would build more anticipation and demand than a simultaneous worldwide launch as consumers are forced to salivate while watching YouTube videos of Japan consumers playing NX games. Furthermore, the delay would give Nintendo more time to bring together a marketing message and get more titles in shape for the launch in Western markets.”