Christopher Dring in conversation with Ralph Egas, CEO of Abstraction Games:

He continues: “Performance is not really the issue. The issue instead is in the size of carts. The 32GB carts are expensive, you shouldn’t be wanting to do that. So we need to fit everything on 16GB, whereas the standard game on PS4 is much, much larger. It’s a crazy ratio we’re talking about. However, thankfully, there are a lot of opportunities for reduction without changing anything anyone will notice. Another thing we can do is do a cartridge version and then do staggered downloads to make the game complete. That’s probably the hardest part. Finding all the new technicalities and quirks that you get with a new platform.

Interesting and somewhat encouraging that performance isn’t the primary challenge of porting to the Switch. Also encouraging that dual-layer DVDs — the ancient technology used by the PS2 and Xbox 360 — maxed out at 8.5 GB. (Apparently, Xbox 360 discs topped out at 7.95 GB.) Thus, I remain hopeful for Final Fantasy X and Kindgom Hearts ports.

Please forgive me for the headline.

GamesIndustry.biz:

According to data from the NPD Group, the device has now achieved more year-one sales than any other console in history. While no figure was specified, it’s likely to be well over five million, as Nintendo reported 4.8 million sales in the US by the end of 2017.

John Ballard, The Moty Fool:

The best-selling console ever is the PS2, which launched in 2000 and sold 157.68 million units over its life cycle, according to VGChartz. Sony shipped 10.61 million units in the first year of  PS2 sales.

Nintendo’s all-time best-selling game console — Wii — sold more than 4 million units within the first 10 months, and totaled 101.63 million units over its life cycle.

As for Switch, management says it expects Switch sales to reach 16 million by the end of Nintendo’s fiscal year in March 2018. That puts Switch way ahead of PS2, and on pace to be the best-selling console ever.

Big-N’s Big Year, indeed.

Christopher Dring, GamesIndustry.biz:

Nintendo’s share have risen more 4.2% and hit an almost ten-year high following the reveal of its Labo concept.

Nintendo Labo is a toys-to-life style Switch project, which combines the Switch hardware with DIY cardboard models to create new gameplay experience. The concept is targeted at younger gamers, although judging by the online reaction, is going to appeal quite broadly.

We’re not entirely convinced by its commercial potential (although it does look great), but Nintendo shareholders clearly are. At the time of writing, Nintendo’s share price is the highest it has been since 2008 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It currently sits at ¥48,320, which is the highest since September 2008, during the initial comedown of the Wii and DS.

Cardboard — overhead: low; margin: very high.

Michael McWhertor, Polygon:

Labo will let Nintendo Switch owners build cardboard versions of real-world items like a 13-key piano, fishing rod or motorbike. Nintendo calls those cardboard creations Toy-Cons. And, by inserting Joy-Con controllers into those Toy-Cons, players will be able to play games themed to the cardboard creations.

“With each Nintendo Labo kit, kids can transform modular sheets of cardboard – specially designed to interact with the Nintendo Switch console and Joy-Con controllers — into creations called Toy-Con,” Nintendo said. “As you build, you will have fun discovering how the technology works, and might even invent new ways to play with each Toy-Con!”

No one could have predicted Toy-Con. Try as you might, cardboard attachment kits for the Switch are not just out of left field, they are on a different pitch altogether.

There is an increasing wealth of junior robotics and toy-to-life experiences on the market. This is a clever, unique take on that market — and does Google Cardboard one better.

When folks call Nintendo a crazy toymaker, they’re not joking.