Reggie Builds Nintendo 3DS Hype

Nintendo of America head, Reggie Fils-Aime, has been talking about the 3DS system recently, helping to start the massive build up of hype. The 3D portable platform is, according to the Nintendo chief, set to be the biggest handheld product release since the original DS back in 2004, stating,

We have ideas of what we want to bring to the consumer that we can’t do with the current DS model. The Nintendo 3DS for us is our next handheld platform.

Fils-Aime refused to go into details about how the 3DS set-up will actually work, instead telling everyone to keep an eye on the announcements coming at the E3 show in Los Angeles, US this June. He also went on the put the transition from DS to 3DS as being just like that of the Game Boy to the Nintendo DS. Clearly he forgets that the Nintendo DS was only meant to be a third pillar system for Nintendo and that Satoru Iwata actually proclaimed that if a 10%-15% market infiltration rate was achieved, the DS move would have been a success.

Apple has announced that in less than a week of release in the US, its iPad platform has sold more than 450,000 units, with the aim to sell over seven million units globally in the first year. To combat this, Reggie confirmed that Nintendo will continue to focus on strong software to go hand-in-hand with the Nintendo 3DS, an area where many believe the iPad is currently lacking:

Fundamentally, this business is about software, not hardware. Software is what drives engagement by the consumer. For us technology is not the end, it’s the means to an end, which is around a great consumer experience.