Iwata says that “Same-Generation Hypothesis” is part of the reason for Pokemon and Smash Bros success
Since it’s release back in September 3rd Super Smash Bros 3DS has sold extremely well and gamers are currently clamouring for more information about the upcoming Wii U version. On top of this pre-orders for the upcoming Pokemon ORAS are going very well and in the Nintendo Financial Results Briefing, Iwata claimed this success is due in part to something he called “Same-Generation Hypothesis”.
In the report he stated that:
Well Pokemon ORAS has had more work put into it then most remakes in the industry.
“The “Super Smash Bros.” series had not been considered as a dominant title for which we could forecast huge initial sales until we released the second instalment of the series, “Super Smash Bros. Melee” for Nintendo GameCube. It was released in November 2001 in Japan, in December 2001 in the U.S. and in May 2002 in Europe“.
“Afterwards, “Pokémon Ruby” and “Pokémon Sapphire” for GameBoy Advance were released in November 2002 in Japan, in March 2003 in the U.S. and in July 2003 in Europe. For reference, it took longer to localize games then and we could not realize a simultaneous release at that time.”
“Those who were elementary school students when “Super Smash Bros. Melee,” and “Pokémon Ruby” and “Pokémon Sapphire” were released have grown up and they are now 18 to 25 years old. Our research in each part of the world commonly indicates that consumers between the age of 18 and 25 represent a large percentage of those who purchased “Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS” in the release period. It is approximately 30 percent in Japan, which is twice the overall average of Nintendo 3DS software, and has even reached 50 percent in the U.S. and Europe. This great momentum for the game in the initial stage was supported by this generation.”
Did you buy Super Smash Bros 3DS and pre-order Pokemon ORAS because of nostalgia?
Iwata then went on to state that due in part to the release of Super Smash Bros for the 3DS, gamers are now paying more attention to the 3DS and are pre-ordering Pokemon ORAS because of the memories they had for these games , back when we were in school.
The report ended with Iwata claiming “that taking into account both the trend of pre-orders and the same-generation hypothesis, we anticipate that “Pokémon Omega Ruby” and “Pokémon Alpha Sapphire” to be released next month will have more sales potential than just another remade game in the industry“.
So what’s your opinion on what Iwata has called the “Same-Generation Hypothesis”? Did you pre-order Pokemon ORAS or buy Super Smash Bros Melee because of nostalgia?
In the recent Nintendo Financial Results Briefing, Iwata said that due to the memories gamers have of playing Super Smash Bros Melee and Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, this has had an effect on how well Super Smash Bros 3DS has sold and how many pre-orders Pokemon ORAS has received in what he has named “Same-Generation Hypothesis”.
The original source of this article is Nintendo Life and you can read it here.