The Nintendo 3DS’ initial struggle was due to a lack of quality software and the delay to the Nintendo eShop, according to comments made by Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime.
However Fils-Aime echoed the sentiment previously expressed by Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata, in that the company had learnt valuable lessons from such mistakes and that they’d wouldn’t be repeated with the release of the Wii U next year.
During an interview with Brazilian website UOL Jogos, Fils-Aime explained “The launch of 3DS was very interesting: it caused a great impression at E3 in 2010, had excellent pre-orders and sold more in the first week of release than any other handheld. So, we had many successes with the 3DS.
“But in terms of lessons learned, we need to ensure we have a strong line-up of games when we release hardware – especially titles from Nintendo. Looking back, maybe we did not have the best lineup of games on 3DS. It is also important that the digital resources are available right away. With 3DS, these came after.
“And that’s why sales were not so good, which forced us to make some drastic decisions and reduce the price. Since we did it…our sales have been very good. And we have high expectations for the 3DS this Christmas.”
Nintendo of America president admits 3DS launch mistakes
