Nintendo pledges continued support for the 3DS
"We believe it's a great entry point for young gamers," says NOA president Doug Bowser
Nintendo has pledged to continue its support for the 3DS, despite having no new games to announce for the platform at E3.
Speaking with Time, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser responded to a direct question about "the fate" of the 3DS, which was conspicuously absent from the E3 Nintendo Direct.
Bowser admitted that Nintendo had "no games to announce on 3DS at this show," but he claimed that the absence of 3DS titles was down to a calculated decision to focus on the Switch.
"But our 3DS business continues to do quite well. Retailers continue to support both the hardware and the software," he said. "And as long as there's consumer demand for 3DS, we'll continue to support it.
"In fact, we believe it's a great entry point for young gamers. A 2DS at $79 with a game included is a great value proposition for a young gamer coming into the Nintendo ecosystem."
This pledge of support comes at a time when many believe that the 3DS is close to redundant. Our own Chris Dring recently looked back on the legacy of the handheld, due to Nintendo indicating that no first-party 3DS software was due before the end of this fiscal year -- despite forecasting 100,000 unit sales of the device, and 500,000 software sales.
There is also the looming spectre of a new model of the Switch, which will sell at a lower, more accessible price than the current version. Nintendo squashed rumours that the new hardware would be announced at E3, but Chris Dring argued yesterday that its absence was keenly felt.
"If you look at the Switch line-up at E3, you'll note the games all have something in common: they're almost all sequels to 3DS games," he said.
"It's possibly more a quirk of the development cycle than a deliberate strategy, but this creates a decent opportunity for Nintendo to upgrade its 75 million-strong 3DS fanbase to its new console. The content certainly enables them to do that."