Reggie on why the New 2DS XL exists, 90% of 3DS unit sales have been with stereoscopic 3D
To some, the announcement of the New 2DS XL may have seemed out of place. It’s yet another iteration of the 3DS, and the news comes at a time when there has been much excitement surrounding Switch.
While speaking with TIME, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime discussed the purpose of the New 2DS XL. In his explanation, he pointed to the fact that some consumers are interested in a model that sits between the 2DS and New 3DS XL.
Reggie’s full words:
“There is a visual impact difference between these different items, and we believe in our market by having these three different variants. The Nintendo 2DS really focused on that entry level gamer, the four-, five-, six-year old that is just getting into gaming, but wants to play Mario Kart, wants to have a Super Mario Bros. experience, wants to play Pokémon. And we feel with Nintendo 3DS XL at $199 that it’s a fully-featured product, that it is, if you will, the Cadillac of handheld gaming. And then we heard from consumers, ‘Boy, I wish there was something in between.'”
Even though the New 2DS XL isn’t far off, the stereoscopic 3D feature offered on most 3DS models may still be important. Reggie told TIME that Nintendo doesn’t have data on how much 3D is being used, but “almost 90% of the unit sales have been with 3D visual capability.”
Reggie said:
“If you look life-to-date at the overall performance of the platform, almost 90% of the unit sales have been with 3D visual capability. So maybe said a different way, 2DS to date has represented only 11% of the total volume base. What that tells me is that for the vast majority of consumers, 3D is an important feature.”
Reggie also highlighted sales of 3DS during the past year. It’s growing, as “in the Americas, our financial year-on-year 3DS hardware grew by 13% and 3DS software grew by 28%.”
