Reggie on the lack of certain features for Switch, will talk 2018 plans after the holidays, more
Fast Company is the latest outlet to have shared an interview with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. Reggie was asked about the lack of certain features for Switch, what people should be getting excited about for 2018, the Universal partnership, and more.
We’ve posted these highlights from the interview below. For the full discussion, head on over to Fast Company here.
On whether Reggie had a feeling that Switch had potential before it was revealed…
Reggie Fils-Aimé: Yeah, absolutely. You know, I was fortunate. I saw early prototypes. I held a plastic model of the device and gave input. And I can honestly say that when I first saw the games, the experiences, like 1,2, Switch , and Legend of Zelda, I had the same feeling that I did when I saw prototypes of the Nintendo DS or prototypes of the Wii. I knew that we had something that was differentiated out in the marketplace that would be compelling to the consumer, and would provide experiences that they’ve never had before, and that was very exciting.
On who’s buying Switch…
RFA: We look at our demographics constantly and certainly there’s a group that are Nintendo fans. There’s a very large group that are new to Nintendo, and that’s very exciting to see. For these consumers to get exposure to our intellectual property, to be able to play games that they can’t play anywhere else. That’s another signal to us that we’ve really struck a chord with the Nintendo Switch.
On the lack of certain features like Virtual Console and general entertainment beyond gaming…
RFA: Absolutely. Let me address those in reverse order. We just did a network update that continues to give additional features. Now it’s easier to transfer content from one Switch to another, and so we’re going to continue to build out the infrastructure for the system just to make it easier and easier for our consumers to utilize.
In terms of other entertainment, we were clear, at launch, that we wanted this to be a gaming device and to deliver on that proposition, but we also said that VOD [Video on Demand] services would come in due time. And they will.
In terms of Virtual Console, we’ve said that with the launch of Nintendo Online and that service, that there will be executions on legacy content as part of that, and that’s something that’s going to launch next year. And so we’ll detail that at the appropriate time.
But we’re aware of these criticisms and certainly, our focus is to continue making Nintendo Switch a product that people want to spend time on and can say, “This is a great innovation and something I’m proud to have.”
On the collaboration with Universal…
RFA: A very active collaboration. The Universal folks understand theme parks and theme park technology better than anyone else in the world. We understand our intellectual property. We understand what makes them fun better than anyone in the world, and that collaboration is what’s making this special.
On what’s coming for Switch…
… Right now our focus is on this holiday, so we really haven’t talked about details of games coming next year, other than that we showed off a Yoshi experience; we showed off a Kirby experience. We’ll be talking about 2018 after the holiday season is over. But the good news is we’ve got more great games coming, and we’re going to work very hard to make Nintendo Switch a vibrant platform for many, many years.
