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Report: Nintendo President Kimishima Confirms The Switch Won't Replace 3DS
The Nintendo Switch's reveal this month has created a crazy amount of buzz and a lot of questions. Because it's being marketed as a "unified" console that blends on-the-go gaming with console gaming, many have wondered how Nintendo plans to move forward with the 3DS after the Switch's launch.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima confirmed that the company has no plans to discontinue the popular handheld console. "Thanks to our software, the 3DS hardware is still growing," he says. "So that business still has momentum. And certainly rather than being cannibalized by the Switch, we think the 3DS can continue in its own form."
Kimishima further explains that the team "didn't just want a successor to the Wii U or the 3DS," but rather an altogether new experience of its own, which is how they came up with the concept of a unified platform that is "both stationary and one you can take outside to play with anyone you want."
The interview also touched on the subject of virtual reality, which Kimishima says Miyamoto in particular has brought up frequently. "It's not that we’re uninterested. In fact, we have a lot of interest," Kimishima says. "VR offers the experience of playing in a new way. But that depends on the software and how you use it to play."
You can watch the Nintendo Switch reveal, how it works, and more by heading here. You can also read up on what the Game Informer staff hopes to see from Nintendo's new console. On January 12, Nintendo will be revealing more information, including launch date, games, and price, surrounding the Switch. The Nintendo Switch will release in March 2017.
[Source: Bloomberg]
Our Take
The 3DS is one of Nintendo's great successes, so it seems like a safe bet that they will continue to support the handheld device for a while longer despite the launch of the Nintendo Switch. Particularly with big games like Pokémon Sun and Moon releasing next month, the 3DS still carries a lot of weight in terms of profitability for Nintendo.
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