In a recent interview with Asahi Shimbun, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima has touched on Nintendo NX.
His discussion with the Japanese newspaper revolved around multiple points, whether that be the reasons behind their delayed launch, how it will impact Wii U sales, and that it won’t be sold at a loss.
“It’s something very new,” Kimishima began. “The hardware, the software lineup, all of it is something I’d like to play for the first time myself.”
Asked as to why Nintendo decided to postpone the console’s launch beyond the Christmas window that was anticipated, he continued: “When people finish the launch titles, they will want things to buy in spring, on summer break, at Christmas. As such, it’s not simply a question of when the hardware’s ready; rather, we need to ensure our software lineup is also in a good place.”
The conversation moved on to how Nintendo NX would impact on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, with Kimishima indicating that “the Wii U business will slow” once it is released. But, with Pokémon Sun and Moon seeing release this autumn, he doesn’t expect that it will have “a negative impact on the 3DS.”
When the interviewer implied that the reason the Wii U would be affected more was because the Nintendo NX will be a home console, Kimishima reiterated that it isn’t a successor to either it or Nintendo 3DS.
“I suppose it can be seen that way,” Kimishima admitted. “However, the NX is neither the successor to the Wii U nor to the 3DS. It’s a new way of playing games, which I think will have a larger impact that the Wii U, but I don’t feel it’s a pure replacement for the Wii U.”
That being said, Nintendo NX still remains an “uncertain quantity” for even the company. While they hope that it will be met with strong sales at launch, that isn’t guaranteed and therefore their expectation is tentative at this point in time.
“The NX is still an uncertain quantity, so any numbers are tentative,” he added. “However, it’s true it will be difficult unless we foster a strong interest in the NX in our customers. In addition, I have high hopes for the sales of our smartphone apps.”
With the interviewer’s closing question, Kimishima touched on the Nintendo NX price point and that, even though it is a new platform, it needn’t be more expensive.
“It’s true there is a certain expectation for the prices of Nintendo consoles,” Kimishima agreed. “Our developers put a lot into them, but we can not sell at a loss. The final price is determined by balancing these two conflicting ideas. I don’t believe it’s as simple as ‘because this is a new platform, we can make it more expensive.'”
Nintendo NX won’t make an appearance at E3 2016, and will instead be revealed later this year.
[Thanks Perfectly Nintendo]