The Nintendo Switch is out, and it’s a major success. It’s set sales records in most places worldwide, it’s managed to outsell five years’ worth of Wii U sales in one month, and it will probably end up as the fastest selling console of all time in its first year by the time said year is up.
In all of this, the 3DS, Nintendo’s other system on the market, has continued to be supported, in spite of the fact that the seven year old handheld is now showing its age. Initially, this made sense- until Nintendo was sure that the Switch would be a success, why kill their only successful platform on the market? But now that it is clear the Switch is doing well, surely it is time to retire the 3DS, right?
It doesn’t seem like that will be happening. Speaking at their investor meeting, Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima confirmed the company’s intent to still keep the 3DS around, citing its value proposition as a budget priced Nintendo device.
“A multitude of titles across a wide variety of genres have been released for Nintendo 3DS, creating one of the strongest lineups ever. We are, of course, continuing to develop new software, but we believe it is important to leverage the rich library of Nintendo 3DS series titles to drive sales with Nintendo 3DS owners, as well as consumers who recently purchased Nintendo 3DS hardware,” Kimishima-san said.
“The affordability of the Nintendo 3DS family of systems places it in a critical position as the first dedicated video game platform for children who have no prior experience with dedicated video game systems. It is also positioned as an affordable product for budget-conscious consumers. We will continue working to promote Nintendo 3DS to these consumers.”
So, there you go- the 3DS is going to stick around for a while. I wonder what major games Nintendo will announce for it for this year?