At Nintendo’s recent corporate management policy briefing, which detailed the prominent game company’s semi-annual financial results for the fiscal year (ending in March of 2015), Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, elaborated upon wide range of topics, however one subject in particular may pique the curiosity of Western gamers – especially those anxiously awaiting news regarding the release of Nintendo’s new 3DS in western territories – Iwata’s explanation of why Nintendo’s new 3DS will not be coming to the West anytime soon.
Read more details on Iwata’s explanation after the break.
New 3DS Isn’t Coming West Anytime Soon, Iwata Explains
The following comes from Satoru Iwata’s presenation at Nintendos corporate briefing:
“When it comes to the overseas markets, we do not plan to launch the New Nintendo 3DS/3DS XL for the U.S. or Europe this year.
Additionally, there are only a couple of big titles, such as Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, and Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire overseas, as no Yokai Watch franchises or Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate will be scheduled this year there.
Based on these observations, some might wonder if, apart from the domestic market, the sales of Nintendo 3DS will really be able to gain momentum in the overseas markets.“
Essentially, Nintendo and Iwata believe that current 3DS models’ sales in the West haven’t slowed down enough to warrant the release of a new 3DS/XL model, alongside the fact that there may not be adequate momentum for the new device due to only a few big games coming out for it this year.
Iwata continued his explanation with the following:
The overseas markets are different from the Japanese market in both their stages of popularization of the Nintendo 3DS and their market characteristics. The stage of popularization of the Nintendo 3DS means the degree to which we have turned potential purchasing power into actual sales of the product in a market.
In Japan, the total number of sales of the Nintendo 3DS has reached nearly 17 million in the three and a half years since its launch. It is almost the same as the lifetime sales of GameBoy Advance released in 2001, which implies that it is reasonable that the sales of Nintendo 3DSs have been temporarily slow-moving in the Japanese market. This is one of the reasons we needed to bring New Nintendo 3DS/3DS XL to the Japanese market this year.
To the contrary, neither of the cumulative sales figures of Nintendo 3DS in the U.S. nor Europe is more than that in Japan despite, based on the historical performance, bigger sales potential. In short, Nintendo 3DS is still at an earlier stage of popularization in these two markets.
Also, the difference in market characteristics shows up in the software sales pace. In the Japanese market, both hardware and software tend to sell during a short period along with a quick spread of information on them. In the U.S. and Europe, on the other hand, highly acclaimed games are likely to be longtime sellers.
If you are interested in reading up a bit more on what Iwata had to say in regards to the new 3DS and Nintendo’s reasoning behind its western launch delay, you can click the source link at the end of this article.
For those unfamiliar with Nintendo’s new 3DS, the company revealed redesigned models for both the 3DS and the 3DS XL back in late August.
The new 3DS models will feature an additional direction button and trigger, alongside NFC support. The new 3DS and 3DS XL will sport a new screen allowing gamers the opportunity to enjoy the handheld’s 3D effect from a variety of angles. A faster, improved CPU will be integrated into the system, which will make loading various games and applications faster. Furthermore, the new 3DS’ internet browser will support HTML5.
If you want to learn more about the specific details of the new 3DS models, you can do so here.
What are your thoughts on these developments? Do you agree with Iwata’s explanation? Does it make sense to you? Do you think the 3DS really needs a new model? Why or why not?
Let us know in the comments section below! As always, stay tuned to GamerHeadlines.com for the latest in video game and technology news.
Source: Nintendo.co.jp
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