From our other sites
The story
Reports that the Switch version of “Elden Ring” has been selling out at some stores right after launch became a hot topic in a forum thread. Sparked by a post noting that GEO (a Japanese game retailer) had run out of stock, the discussion snowballed into comparisons with how many PS5 physical copies remained on shelves, data claiming the game is trending more overseas than in Japan, and a debate over loading times based on a Famitsu review. Posters also weighed in on Nintendo fans’ buying habits and speculated on why other publishers can’t pull off similar ports, with the conversation branching off in all directions.
What people said
They'll just resell it right away lol
Mario: "Well, obviously." (meme reference)
What about Orbitals, the Switch 2 third-party exclusive (200 points on Amazon)? Not buying that one?
The bar's already too high if it's two-player only
Being serious for a sec, the visuals look incredibly interesting, but two-player-only is kind of a dealbreaker for me
I probably won't even get to play it, but I'm thinking of buying it just to support it
The PS version of the MGS Collection was still sitting on the shelf though
Don't tell me PS5 is losing even to Metal Gear now
What does PS5 even sell at this point
They probably barely stocked the PS5 version to begin with
and it's still not selling out — that's kind of embarrassing
It's getting more buzz overseas than in Japan
Russia
South Korea
USA
Japan
Canada
Norway
Sweden
UK
Germany
New Zealand
Australia
Come to think of it, Switch does pretty well without China at all
Retailers probably didn't expect it to sell
Personally I'm suddenly really interested in the weekly sales chart now
It's not just raw units sold or shipped — I think this could tell us a lot at once about Switch users' habits, From Software's brand value, and demand for physical copies
There are plenty of PS5 physical releases that don't even sell out despite limited print runs
If this sells better than expected, that's a win
Just buy the damn thing already. "Pigs" (5ch slur for Nintendo fans) are all talk
Looked into it a bit — seems like that guy's pretty much the only one who can't get invasions to work
Everyone else seems to be invading just fine, so it's probably an issue on his end ("your setup" problem)
This guy's only level 100
The question is how many other players are even at level 100 to match with right now
He probably hasn't even narrowed the matchmaking range either
Did he actually buy the game just to fake this? lol
Actually, we don't even know if he really bought it, or if it's even the Switch version
apparently getting rave reviews
Why couldn't Bandai Namco or Kadokawa pull this off?
It's kind of unsettling that people won't buy it unless Nintendo blows the dog whistle first
Doesn't seem like they can make up their own minds
They should make a "My First Onimusha" too
Why does Nintendo keep picking on Capcom?
Bandai's heyday of selling to the general public on its own was back with the original Gundam; the last time they pulled it off was the original Tamagotchi
Kadokawa's current mainstream is a clique built entirely around light novels and late-night anime, so they have zero ability to reach general audiences
Honestly, if either company actually had the ability to sell to mainstream consumers, the PlayStation platform they've both focused on for years would be selling a lot better than it is
Meanwhile Capcom's Resident Evil (which bombed on Switch) got featured twice
Nintendo's PR team really has zero sense
That's a flat-out lie
This is exactly why people who obstruct the discussion like this get hated
Are you seriously trying to disrespect Famitsu, the long-running dedicated gaming magazine!?
https://www.famitsu.com/article/202608/84590
Famitsu: "The loading time for fast travel is admittedly a bit longer than the PS5 version. Personally it felt about on par with the PS4 version."
Byline "Ichigou": "Loading times are about the same as PS4"
Switch 2 loading times: ~7 sec for fast travel, ~9 sec to respawn
PS4 loading times: ~28 sec for fast travel, ~35 sec to respawn
Wow, you're really desperate huh
Doesn't matter how much you two screech — I've been obsessing over loading times for 35 years, you can't fool me
and the amiibo that doesn't seem to have any actual use
Just as I predicted, the Nintendo fanboys couldn't understand the story after all lol
It's getting more buzz in the US than in Japan
It's getting more buzz overseas than in Japan
Russia
South Korea
USA
Japan
Finland
Canada
Norway
Sweden
UK
Germany
New Zealand
Australia
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
It’s worth noting that the “shortage” claims raised in the thread amount to little more than one person’s sighting at a single GEO store, not data confirming a nationwide supply shortfall. On loading times, one set of figures cited from a Famitsu article (~7 seconds for fast travel versus ~28 seconds on PS4) was presented, while another poster claiming to have tested the game firsthand argued the difference felt smaller in practice — opinion was split over whether to trust the review outlet’s numbers or individual impressions. Several posts also cited overseas search trends to claim the game is “bigger news abroad than in Japan,” but the methodology behind the cited images was never disclosed, so those claims should be taken with a grain of salt. That said, the discussion around how a high-difficulty action game is being received on a Nintendo platform, and speculation on why other publishers haven’t managed similar ports, offers some useful perspective on broader industry trends.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “Switch Version of Elden Ring Out of Stock wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww” (the string of “w”s is Japanese internet shorthand for laughter, like “lolololol”).
Leave a Reply