Price point trumps 3D support for budget-friendly device
While the Nintendo 2DS will play 3DS games, it won’t support 3D. It stands to reason that such functionality isn’t nearly as important as Nintendo made it out to be. That’s not how Nintendo executive VP of sales and marketing Scott Moffitt sees it, though. Speaking to GamesIndustry International, he says that “our fan feedback, gamer feedback, has been that they very much enjoy 3D as a feature. Games like Super Mario 3D Land play fabulously well in 3D. There’s a lot of great 3D experiences that gamers have come to love. We don’t want to walk away from that at all.
“They also will play well in 2D, and it allows us to get to a price point that we couldn’t get to with the 3D screen,” he continued. “If we can get to that in another way… If you’re asking me if we could get to a price point of $129 with 3D functionality, it didn’t look like it was possible. That’s the reason. It’s less about wanting to have 3D in and it’s more about trying to get to the value price point that’s going to allow us to open up that next part of the market.”
There are indeed some games that greatly benefit from 3D, but, more than anything, it’s the 2DS’ physical design, not lack of 3D, that has me scrunching my face in horror. Asked if Nintendo had any plans for people who want both systems and the option to transfer digital purchases between them, Moffitt said “We haven’t solved that yet.”
Further pushing the point that the 2DS isn’t intended for many of us, the executive went on to say “I would just challenge… If you have a 3DS and you enjoy playing it there on a bigger screen… I wouldn’t think we would expect you to be part of the buyer base.”
Nintendo: “We don’t want to walk away” from 3D gaming [GamesIndustry International]
