Upsetting the core audience was expected.
Nintendo has finally explained why the company decided not to bring the smaller, standard model of New 3DS that supports swappable face plates to North America.
Damon Baker, the Senior Manager in Marketing and Licensing at NoA, told Nintendo Life that it came down to making things as clear as possible for consumers in the North American market.
"Look, the face plates are super cool, but we're a different market. And now we have clear differentiation between those three systems," he explained. "Before, there was a very limited difference between the 3DS and 3DS XL: other than size. It was the same resolution, same functionality... now, there's the 2DS, 3DS, and New 3DS XL, all of which have their own functionality and features. The different price points give it a clear message for consumers."
Naturally the company knew it would upset hardcore Nintendo fans, but that was a sacrifice the company was willing to make. "The core audience... we weren't going to win with them on that decision. But we had to think about expanding the user base, we had to be able to market it and make it easy to pick up for consumers."
Are you disappointed the smaller model isn't available in North America or are you more than happy with the XL? Let us know in the comments below!
A better, clearer message for consumers would be to not name your darned systems so stupidly that it confuses them-- and gamers, too.
That's true. I'm not always thinking about those kinds of things. That's why I'm really happy you're there to help me out, Khush.A better, clearer message for consumers would be to not name your darned systems so stupidly that it confuses them-- and gamers, too.
If they did that, then marketing wouldn't have a job. By having to explain and make clear to consumers what the differences are between all these similar sounding products, then they are able to stay employed and have a large marketing budget to accomplish this difficult task. C'mon Phil. Think of the marketers.
Soooo..expanding the user base is fine and all but, uh, why isn't there a charging cable included then? Maybe I'm misunderstanding something. Feel free to let me know.
NOA is rudderless at the moment. Do you want a larger user base or do you want to appeal to your core market?
Also, this is hilarious coming from the same division that has no problem fragmenting the user base with retail-exclusive Amiibo.
I hope they are making their research accurate enough. I'M NOT BUYING.
I've been waiting for years to get a 3DS, I wanted all this years the smaller model, with better 3D and better battery life, and now with a decent library. I'm all about portability, and I travel a lot due to my work.
I have money to spend in lots of games, I would have bought 10 brand new games initially.
But I won't....good luck Nintendo
Cheers
A very disappointed costumer
I hope they are making their research accurate enough. I'M NOT BUYING.
I've been waiting for years to get a 3DS, I wanted all this years the smaller model, with better 3D and better battery life, and now with a decent library. I'm all about portability, and I travel a lot due to my work.
I have money to spend in lots of games, I would have bought 10 brand new games initially.
But I won't....good luck Nintendo
Cheers
A very disappointed costumer
You're only hurting yourself. Good games are good games and they work just as well on the old 3DS as the new. I haven't played the NEW 3DS yet but I've had plenty of fun and enjoyment from my launch day 3DS up to now.
I forgot to say that I like most of Nintendo novelties, including the wii-remote. I don't consider myself a conservative gamer, am always willing to try something new...so I love the no-3D-glasses idea, but I also make my research before buying. At launch, too many ppl complained about the 3D effect losing it's strength at very minor shake. If I buy a 3DS I would play mostly with 3D on....so there you go, I want a portable clam-shell no-3D-glasses handheld that play amazing games and who also has a decent processing/loading speeds. The New 3DS XL doesn't do the portable with me, also I heard comments from "perfectionists" that the pixels are more noticeable on the XL, which makes sense.
Did I say 10 games?, I just counted my WiiU games. I have 15 full-priced hard-copies!!, 5 digital retail, 15 VC, 6 indies....sorry Nintendo, it seems you don't want my money!....maybe one of my travels will take me to Japan....maybe region lock will be gone before the small New 3DS comes, who knows....only then I will consider to buy.....oh and I also find cool the plates!
To avoid confusion, when they do release the standard New 3DS here it's going to be called the New 3DS XL Micro.No, no, no... that's too confusing. They'll have to go with "New 3DS XL Pocket Lite SP".
It seems like Nintendo is really the only one who sells multiple variants of a console concurrently. Sony stopped making the old PS2 when they introduced the "slim line" model, so there's no reason to call the new one anything different.The thing is, the slim PS2 didn't offer new functionality in the way that the New 3DS does, and the DSi did. When Nintendo released the remodeled NES and SNES, they also didn't change the name since nothing new was added. I think it's a good idea to add something to the name to signify that there is new functionality and some new games that will only work on the new model.
