Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. That Switch he’s holding in his hand is not actually a handheld. Not primarily anyway, he tells us.
Don’t call the new Nintendo Switch a tablet.
And don’t assume the shape-shifting device for gamers will replace the company’s popular 3DS handheld, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said in an interview with CNET.
With its latest gadget, Nintendo is playing to win the same game it has for decades: the one that takes place in your living room.
Revealing the $300 (£280 or AU$470) Switch on Thursday, the company hyped the modular device as part home console, part handheld and part tablet.
Leave the Switch Console holstered in the Switch Dock, hook up the two Joy-Con controllers with cables, and plug the whole setup into a TV. Voila: You can play on a big screen. Undock the Console — which boasts its own screen — and attach the Joy-Cons directly to it. There’s your handheld. Use the Console’s kickstand to prop it up like a tablet, then connect the controllers with cables. You’ve got a kind of portable, mini-TV setup.
With its morphing skills and ease of portability, the Switch seems primed to take over the handheld market, perhaps even biting into sales of Nintendo’s own 3DS. But Fils-Aime stressed that the Switch, due in early March, will be a home-oriented product first.
“The form factor may be that it looks like [a tablet],” he said. “But…it’s a home console that you can take with you and play anywhere with anyone. ”
Nintendo needs that message to resonate with consumers. The company’s most recent home console, 2012’s Wii U, never came close to the megahit success of the original Wii, released back in 2006. In the meantime, the company has continued to build a solid business on its 3DS portable platform, even as it’s experimented with releasing games like Pokemon Go, Miitomo and Super Mario Run on iOS and Android mobile devices.
To reassure 3DS owners that their beloved handheld isn’t doomed, Fils-Aime said Nintendo will still be creating games for the 3DS, with its spring and summer lineup set to be announced at the E3 gaming conference in June.
Besides, with the Switch, Nintendo is envisioning a different target audience.
Fils-Aime with an old pal.
