Nintendo is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of gaming consoles and you’ve probably heard about them in the past. In India, Nintendo is not officially present in the gaming console market but has been selling their consoles through third-party sources. In 2024, Nintendo is expected to officially enter the Indian gaming market. 

But the question arises: how and when will they be launching their first gaming console in India? Let’s go ahead and learn more about it in this blog. 

Did Nintendo Try To Enter The Indian Gaming Market In The Past?

Yes, Nintendo once tried to enter the Indian gaming console market in 2020 but the attempt was unsuccessful. Due to the Indian Bureau Of Standards (BIS) standards, the console maker found it difficult to enter the market. Things have been changing in the Indian gaming market since 2020, which is long gone now. 

As per some official reports, Nintendo is trying to make a comeback into the Indian gaming industry. Some Nintendo employees have visited Mumbai during the start of this year to analyze the Indian gaming industry. Officially, no deal has been inked yet. 

Nintendo’s Issues: Indian Gaming Market

Nintendo does not like the way Indian standards (BIS) work, as they fear that it could reveal their manufacturing secrets. The issues that Nintendo faced in 2020 exist till date and no solution has been found yet. But it is interesting to see that other players in the gaming console market, like Sony and Microsoft XBOX, have been bypassing the Indian-BIS regulations since a long time ago.

Nintendo And India: A Bittersweet Story

Nintendo gaming consoles have been sold in India through the gray market and third-party channels for many decades. Nintendo hasn’t entered the Indian gaming console market mainly due to heavy taxes imposed on electronic imports. But soon the situation can change as the growing popularity of console gaming in India catches the attention of Nintendo.

Although Nintendo unofficially entered the Indian gaming market a long time ago, without an official presence, the market cannot be captured. Nintendo did actually enter through a sideline too, with the name “Samurai,” which was a third-party license to sell the Nintendo NES gaming consoles in India.

Nintendo’s Support To Indian Gaming Community 

Nintendo has shown a lot of support for the Indian gaming community by helping the game developers. They have supplied gaming developer kits and supported the developers to release titles like Raji, Almightree, Mystic Pillars, Krystopia and much more. These gaming titles have been published on Nintendo gaming consoles.

Can Nintendo Switch Compete With PlayStation?

Nintendo Switch and PlayStation Portal are both hand-held gaming consoles but both have a huge gap between them. Firstly, PlayStation Portal is well capable of running games in 1080p but Nintendo Switch can run games only up to 720p. This difference is due to the better processor and hardware in the PS portal. 

The Nintendo Switch uses old hardware but has its own library of visually appealing games. Plus, the PS portal can give you a better battery life of 7-9 hours as compared to Nintendo’s 5-6 hours. But the Nintendo Switch has a better OLED display as compared to the PS Portal’s LCD display. 

The actual issue with Nintendo in India is its low popularity. As Nintendo has never officially entered the Indian market and hasn’t run any official promotions, it’ll be hard for them to compete with Sony and its PlayStation series. It will surely take time for Nintendo to give tough competition to other console makers in the Indian gaming industry.

Conclusion

2024 will be an interesting year for console gaming enthusiasts in India, as Nintendo is planning to make an official entry into the Indian gaming market. They are exploring ways to bypass the Indian-BIS and launch their first console in India. Nintendo employees arriving in Mumbai is a good sign for the future, as small things make a huge impact. 

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