Octopath Traveler and Nintendo Switch’s Triumph in July’s NPD Is A Reminder to the Game Industry

The success of Octopath is another reminder that quality single player games will sell well.

[SuperSonic91]

0cctoparh Traveler is a reminder that a well timed rekease on a dry spell will guarantee sales coz there is nothing else to play on Switch.

[fungusar]

Like the ps4.... nothing to play. F****** Troll

[-Foxtrot]

Nothing to play? Lol 😂

[Brazz]

A bit too offesive, don't ya think?

[G3ng4r]

I mean you can only beat gow so many times before you're over it. Need games with legs.

[SuperSonic91]

Nintendo killing off retro ROM sites sure boosted Switch software sales

[SuperSonic91]

Sure. Nintendo killing off retro rom sites sure help move Switch game sales coz there aint no nothin to play on emulators either

[Redemption-64]

@G3ng4r
GOW seem to have more legs than both SOT and SOD

[ChickeyCantor]

`Sure. Nintendo killing off retro rom sites sure help move Switch game sales coz there aint no nothin to play on emulators either`

The delusion.

[himdeel]

Its a reminder that people have money all year to buy good games NOT just September to March. Good games sell year round game industry.

[michellelynn0976]

It was number 1 because it was a quality game. Not for the reasons you mentioned. It must kill you Sonic sells more on the Switch than he does on the PS4. Oh, GOW has been out (but it's been out for months), so? Mario and Zelda have went number one months after their release, so are you saying GOW isn't real compition? That it isn't an evergreen title? Sony don't have evergreen titles right?

[jznrpg]

I think it was both

[EddieNX]

There is loads of stuff to play on the switch, I'd go as far to say it probably had the best first year of games than any console, certainly way better than the PS4 and Xbox one's first year

[jznrpg]

Mostly ports of old games and I love my Switch it just needs NEW games not games I’ve played on PS3 and PS4

[King_Noctis]

@jznrpg

I didn’t realize you could play games like Bayonetta2, DK Tropical Freeze, Captain Toad, and Mario Tennis on your PS4.

[Concertoine]

I think Octopath would've done fairly well any time of the year. It is a very eye-catching game and it was pushed hard in directs.

Looking at how many copies were shipped out Square obviously didn't anticipate the attention it got.

[King_Noctis]

What?

And those upvotes 🤦‍♂️

[jznrpg]

That is a big part of it but it’s also a great game . But yeah , Switch needs more games no doubt. Lots of indies and ports but mostly not interested in most of those.

[Shiken]

"Switch needs more 3rd party games"

*Switch gets more 3rd party games*

"I already played those games so they do not count, they need more exclusives"

*Switch has more exclusive content in one year than the PS4 and X1 did in over 2*

"Yeah, but those third party games..."

-_-

[Neonridr]

oh my god, grow up. Games don't sell because there is nothing else to play. If you weren't a fan of traditional turn-based RPG's you wouldn't go and buy this game now would you? The sad thing is there are so many people that agree with your line of thinking.

[michellelynn0976]

Because the fans of a certain system will agree with anything anti-Nintendo. It doesn't matter how wrong their statement is.

[Sirk7x]

Geez dude, the game was shown when the Switch was announced and people had been waiting a whole year for it. Do you actually believe the stuff you say or do you just like to get reactions from people?

[michellelynn0976]

I honestly think they just want Nintendo fans to get upset.

[ChickeyCantor]

Man you that bitter Sega no longer being part of the console race?

LMAO

[Mr_Writer85]

I don't get how MS don't get what makes a console sell well.

It's like they forgot why the 360 had such a great start.

Price and great games will ALWAYS get get gamers, some consoles have at least one of these. For example the Wii, it only had a handful of great games. But was priced amazingly well.

The WiiU suffered the same lack of quantity of quality titles and had a ridiculous price.

The Switch, whilst not priced for the mass market like the Wii, has hit the sweet spot on price and has already built a library of quality games.

Sony learned the lesson in the Ps3 life cycle. It's funny how after the price drop, and games like Uncharted 2 started dropping that sales massively improved.

Thankfully they stuck with the great price at launch, and people can scoff at the launch exclusives, but that's a Sony thing, start of slow, the occasional gem, then diamond after diamond drop.

Fingers crossed they keep it going for PS5.

Then you have MS, who at the start of 360, had a great price, and quality exclusives. Yet took their foot off the gas and have never recovered.

They have the weakest line up of exclusives of all 3, and the X1X whilst has fantastic specs, has a price that rules out a lot of people.

MS should of taken a gigantic hit and launched the X1X lower than the Pro and the X1s lower than a PS4.

They didn't and are going to pay the price long term.

[RosweeSon]

Exactly not only does the price put people off with X it seems pretty redundant when there’s not a single game that uses all that extra power.

[Weeblordbad]

"Using all that extra power", it depends on the developer and it also depends on what you mean by using that power. Higher resolutions, better shadows, better textures (Depends on the game) are all using that "extra" power, it would be naive to think developers would spend the time creating specific higher quality art assets specifically for the One X and Pro. The Pro and the One X were never built to fundamentally change how a game looks, simply higher resolutions, stable framerates and perhaps some better textures/lighting/particle effects.

Running something like Shadows of War, or Forza 7 at 4k on a PC at console detail settings is not a simple trivial thing. You have to give the Pro and the One X credit for doing what they do at the price that they do it, both machines are far more impressive than people give them credit for.

Also, you could argue consoles are redundant as 95% of things come to the PC now.

[Mr_Writer85]

@weeblord

But consoles offer much more pick up and play, and cost significantly less.

That's why consoles aren't redundant.

It's like saying a Ford fiesta is redundant because there are Ferrari's.

That's the way I see console and PC gaming as cars. Console gaming is a decent car, nice ride, smooth, and comfy.

PC gaming offers great control, even smoother ride, a few luxuries that make driving it all the better, and all in comfort.

Neither is the "right" way it's just some want their drive to have a little more umph.

It's why I don't get the PC vs Console, in reality, even more so now, they're actually helping one another. Developing for both PC and console = more sales, which means that creativity is *hopefully * rewarded. I for one (as a console gamer) hope both markets go from strength to strength.

[Stanjara]

Great post, but I have to add something. Microsoft is a software company, but in their Xbox division they are not concentrated on how to make profit on software, but more on how to make more profit on more software. You can make profit on your own IP but that includes cost of studios, people, research, development and time. Having others to do software for you gives you less money , but no cost of studios, people, R&D and time, so at the end it gives you more profit.

With the X they just gave third party developers place for best version of their IPs and, of course the best place to play. Sadly, quality of IPs is not up to par with first party studios and competition. Having absents of time they are focused on games as service so that development continues. The only reason to have Xbox now is for hardware and performance - strange for a software company, which is connected with the cost - actually pretty good. New IPs and quality of software is left for someone else.

[Weeblordbad]

Why do you double space every sentence?

[gangsta_red]

Congrats to Nintendo. Really heading good things about Octopath. Haven't seen a trailer for it too. So it will definitely be a purchase when I get a switch.

[Fraggle1987]

Let's be honest, if this had came out on ps4 or Xbox the release wouldn't have registered anywhere near as much due to the variety and quality of software on those consoles. Due to the switch really struggling for software it was always going to find a bigger audience there. People just want something to play. It makes sense.

[DefaultComment]

No, it's just you, it's like people hate Nintendo can't get nice things because its downvoted by people like you, couldn't bec becasue the game is actually good, riight? Did any big game from ps4 or xbox was released that month? Yeah that's what I thought.

[Question_Mark]

So you’re saying that Sony and Microsoft fans are so shallow that they wouldn’t give a good game like Octopath Traveler a chance?

[RedDevils]

Yeah that exactly it. Are you saying octopath is not deserved it cause it on Nintendo?

[King_Noctis]

“Due to the switch really struggling for software”

Exclusive-wise the Switch has much more games than the PS4 or the X1 this year you know.

[Fraggle1987]

Quality software. The switch is still the botw and Mario Odyssey machine. There's no denying that nintendo have not produced anywhere near enough quality first party software or even wii u ports. Couple that with the usual 3rd party black hole and u have problems.

Has always been the case with nintendo consoles that u wait 6 months or more at a time for a great game to play. It's surprising though with switch, as they don't have two consoles to support like usual, just one.

[King_Noctis]

Are you saying games like Splatoon 2, Xenoblade 2, Octopath Traveller, Mario+Rabbids and all the remastered games like Mario Kart 8D, Donkey Kong TF, Bayonetta 2, and Captain Toad have no quality?

If so that is a biased way of looking at things.

[Aenea]

Splatoon 2, Mario Rabbids and Mario Kart released last year.

I love my Switch but the amount of exclusives isn't more than on PS4...

[King_Noctis]

@Aenea

Exclusive-wise (if you count remaster) so far this year the Switch has Bayonetta 1+2, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, Captain Toad, Mario Tennis, Octopath Traveller, and Kibry Star Allies.

The PS4 have God of War, Shadow of the Colussus, Yakuza 6, and Detroit.

You do the math.

[Neonridr]

yet ironically Splatoon 2 is the highest selling software in Japan week in and week out. MK8 is the highest selling software in the UK week in and week out.

For a console that has sold the least out of the three. Selling more than the competition in both hardware and software must mean something huh? I mean why would this game move consoles if it wasn't that great and people were just starved for something to play? Think about that before you post next time.

[PhoenixUp]

Since when did we need a reminder for common sense

[michellelynn0976]

@SuperSonic91 wrong. The way the battle system is set up, you didn't do that in FF, also, of course it's a throwback lol it's meant to be. Also, I didn't realize FF had 8 independent stories? Oh wait, it didn't. Also, just ignore him people, he is only out to get a reaction, he's upset Nintendo is winning. Also, you say there is no console war, when all your comments are console war comments. Sounds contradictory huh?