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Irish Examiner

Nostalgia, fun, and FOMO: How Nintendo Switch 2 captured generational appeal

Nintendo's new Switch 2 console has been a blistering sales success globally, setting a new record for the fastest-selling video game device in US history. The Japanese company sold 1.6m units of its console in the US in June, the highest launch month for any console in the US, according to market tracker Circana. That success of the Switch 2 has been mirrored in Ireland. On launch day, June 5, and after a restock a week later, on June 12, the Switch 2 console and its bundle sold out within three hours, a Currys Ireland spokesperson told the Irish Examiner. It was a similar situation in Smyths. The game has revived the fortunes of Nintendo. The new device, of existential importance to Nintendo, has been an instant hit with users in its most important markets. The Switch is back in stock in Ireland and continues its strong sales. The basic Switch 2 console pack starts at around €469, and the Mario Kart World pack costing €35 to €40 more. The Switch 2 is 'backwards compatible' for most games, meaning original Switch games can be played on the new device. The original Switch is believed to be the most successful game ever in Ireland. Mario and Zelda So what makes the Switch 2 such a hit? Research by GEM Partners in Japan found the average age of players of Super Mario was between 30 and 32, and players The Legend Of Zelda had an average age of 35. David Alton, a lecturer in marketing at the Business School at UCC, believes that this generational appeal that is key to the success of the Switch 2. Super Mario features on an Irish postage stamp. The brand has generational appeal. 'The Nintendo Switch 2 appeals to multiple target markets and multiple generations," he said. "If you look at the games that are associated with Nintendo, a lot of these are very, very nostalgic brands, for multiple generations. "The key Nintendo games that are released would have been the Zelda brand and Mario Kart. Mario and Zelda are very, very nostalgic, and in many ways they are everyone's childhood games. "If we look at the last survey conducted by Nintendo, 43% fell into the 25-34 age group and 20% were in the 19-24 category, and 20% 35+ so it really is multigenerational. People have affinity for those brands, and with Nintendo specifically." Mr Alton said general cultural trends are also very important. 'A lot of Gen Z consumers aren't going to bars as much as previous generations would. So with technology, it's not necessarily replacing interaction, but it's changing how interaction is taking place. "You can see that with the kind of features and functionality that's kind of built into Nintendo. They have got a hybrid design where they've got the home console and then you've got your kind of online 'take it away with you' functionality as well. And they're all built into the one platform. "So this allows for multiple types of interaction — on one hand, you can connect with your friends or online communities who could be living in a different country or they could be living down the road. "The interaction is more of an online one than an in-person one. But, because of the design of the product, you could also see a parent sitting down and playing with their child as well. That is really important — a father can associate with Mario Kart and they can almost be involved in the play rather than feeling a bit of an outsider or having a bit of impostor syndrome. Gaming has changed considerably from Nintendo's 1980s and 1990s early boom, with a cultural shift in gaming culture. Mr Alton notes that one of the fastest growing gaming apps in recent years was Twitch – effectively a Gogglebox for gamers. 'In 2024, Twitch received over 17.1bn monthly visits, with more than 2.5m people tuning in at any given time. If you said to someone 15 years ago that you are not going to be playing the game yourself, but you are going to be spending a lot of your time watching other people game, people would probably find that very strange but Twitch is one of the biggest platforms out there globally." Nintendo's Switch 2 is a hit in Ireland as elsewhere, and set a new record for the fastest-selling video game device in US history. Picture: Noel Campion. Gaming is no longer about the single front facing form of play. "The platform blurs the line between creator and audience, appealing to a generation that values participation, authenticity, and live experiences. It's all a constantly evolving ecosystem.' The boom of the Nintendo Switch 2 saw midnight openings at stores in Ireland, some combined with in-store launch parties. The Nintendo Switch 2 launch nights were not unlike the rush for tickets for concert goers – and this has been another hallmark of the Switch 2 launch success. FOMO — fear of missing out Just like logging in and waiting in line for tickets for Oasis, Taylor Swift, or Coldplay, the Nintendo Switch 2 launch captured a very modern entertainment emotion: FOMO (fear of missing out). Mr Alton notes on the Switch2Ireland hashtag on TikTok, one of first videos was one of a queue of Smyths outside Dublin, which in the week after the Switch launch clocked up more than 400,000 views. 'It's the nightclub situation. You're going to go to the one where people are queuing because that one's obviously better. It's the exact same idea here. 'The same fomo is created online where content showcasing queues results in more hysteria — fueling more consumerism. "Younger consumers are lot less materialistic and are more about the experiences. So by seeing something that they can be involved in and to say that I'm one of the first people here that's very attractive to them, from a consumption perspective.' Additional reporting by Bloomberg