Nintendo Of America President Praises 3DS, Considers Wii U Launch ‘Slower Than We Hoped’

The amount of high-quality games launching on the Nintendo 3DS this year has made us believe it will be the console to beat this year with games like Mario & Luigi Dream Team, a new Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, a new Yoshi’s Island and Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D. That’s why we’re not surprised to hear Nintendo of America president Reggie FIls-Aime has been praising the system in a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz.

During his interview, Fils-Aime said game sales on the Nintendo 3DS have “surpass[ed] 20 million units” since its launch in 2011. He also pointed out 11 percent of all 3DS software sales have been digital sales. “So far in 2013 — through April 15 — 3DS game sales are up 55 percent versus last year, counting both physical and digital,” Fils-Aime said in the interview.

On the other side of the spectrum, Fils-Aime did comment on the Wii U, saying, “What I would say about Wii U — and what Mr. [Nintendo President Satoru] Iwata has said — is that the pace of launches has been slower than we hoped. But as we prepare for E3, the pace of launches for Wii U is going to dramatically increase.” “Slower than we hoped” is a bit of an understatement as the Wii U continues to struggle with only 55,000 units to be sold in March, according to an analyst.

Daniel Perez
Categories: Gaming
Tags: 3DS (Nintendo), Nintendo, nintendo 3ds, nintendo wii u, Wii U