After the sales trouble that Nintendo found themselves in with the Wii U, they seem to be going all out for the Switch. This has been evident with their initial ads and the lavish unveiling event they hosted in Japan, and it just got even bigger with the announcement of the company’s very first Super Bowl ad. Nintendo’s Super Bowl LI ad has been revealed, and you can check it out below, giving a look at both the Nintendo Switch and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
As everyone knows, Super Bowl ads don’t come cheap. This 30 second spot likely is costing Nintendo over a million dollars, possibly multiple millions. It shows that they have high confidence in the Switch and Zelda though, and it should serve as a gateway into an audience that might have missed all the hype and anticipation surrounding the release of this system. It also helps that the Super Bowl just happens to be less than a month before release, allowing the ad to hit right when people should be deciding if the Switch is something they want to buy.
Of course, to do that, there need to be Switches available for them to purchase. Currently pre-orders have sold out everywhere they’ve been available, with many speculating that this is more of Nintendo’s limited stock, rather than an actual frenzy of sales. The console does seem to be selling well though, with stores reporting it as their top sold item over the period when pre-orders were available.
Nintendo has promised to ramp up production to meet demand, but it looks like we’re in for another Wii, amiibo, and NES Class Edition shortage here. Whether or not it will continue for many months is anyone’s guess, but likely Nintendo hopes it will.
