Nintendo has a very loyal fanbase, one that's been cultivated since the days of the NES and Game Boy. The recent 3DS price cut may have left some early adopters feeling "betrayed" though, and Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata now acknowledges in an investor Q&A that he's concerned about what will happen with the Wii U when it launches next year.
"With regard to the influence on the Wii U, what we have to take most seriously is that the price markdown could damage the trust of the consumers who bought the Nintendo 3DS just after the launch," Iwata commented. "I feel greatly accountable for it. Our decision of the price markdown this time has a side effect that, at the launch of the Wii U, people may feel that the price might drop in the near future if they wait."
Iwata added that Nintendo will reveal the exact price and launch date for the Wii U next year and they'll be paying very close attention to consumers' reactions.
"What we will be able to do to recover the consumers' trust before the launch of the Wii U is very important to us. Since the Wii U we showed you at the E3 show in June was still in the development phase without very specific proposals on the software titles, we are going to announce the release date and the price next year when we are able to explain the specific proposals. Anyway, the biggest influence is on our consumers' trust, I think," he said.
IndustryGamers thought at the time of the 3DS price drop news that perhaps it would actually influence Nintendo's thinking on Wii U, but EEDAR's Jesse Divnich disagreed, telling us, "These two markets really do operate independently from each other, despite both sharing similar brands/titles. We've seen in the past where Nintendo's home consoles failed to become successful, while their portable market thrived (Gamecube vs. GBA)."
