Though the 3DS has underperformed compared to Nintendo’s expectations, the company has been working to boost the system’s profile to the consumer. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime believes that Nintendo has fixed two of the prevailing problems that have been dogging the system since launch.
"When we launched, we had a fantastic day one and a very strong week one," Reggie told Kotaku. "We talked to consumers. Consumers were highly satisfied with the device. They loved the built-in applications. They loved the game experiences. We had high levels of awareness. We had high levels of intent-to-purchase.”
"But when we started talking to consumers who were aware or interested, but hadn't yet bought, they told us two things: first, I need a big Nintendo franchise for our purchase. The second thing was I need the network to be up. I need the connected experiences to be there,” he said.
The big Nintendo franchise that just hit the system was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. The game came out on Sunday and combined with the recent launch of the 3DS eShop, Nintendo has sewn up both problems. Nintendo held off on releasing the 3DS with any marquee franchises in order to give third-parties some breathing room to flourish.
Following Ocarina will be Star Fox 64, Kid Icarus, Super Mario 3D, and Mario Kart for this calendar year, with Luigi’s Mansion 2 planned for next year. "I think we've got that issue not only identified but addressed,” said Reggie on the topic of software.
"We've just done the first network update. We've got the eShop up and running. We've got the 3D movie service still on track for the summer. We've got Netflix still on track for the summer. So I think we're well underway to having that addressed as well. My expectatio is that with the adjustments we've made, we're going to be back with strong momentum on the 3DS,” Reggie closed.
Is it enough for gamers? What’s holding you back from picking up a 3DS if you haven’t already?
