While we didn’t see many Nintendo 3DS activities at E3 2018 last week, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé had a few words to share on its continued support, and a Mario Kart Tour update in an interview with IGN.
Speaking at E3 2018, Reggie talked about Nintendo’s continued support for 3DS:
“We’re going to continue [focusing on the 3DS], we’re going to continue to have some new games on that platform. We’re going to announce [them], and we will over the next number of months, but it’s going to continue to be a vibrant piece of our overall business, certainly here in the Americas.”
Reggie didn’t share more about whether these announcements will be first or third-party titles, but he mentioned the continued success of the 2DS and 3DS saw an uptick in sales year-over-year in December 2017 and year-to-date so far in 2018 over 2017.
We haven’t heard much about Nintendo’s next mobile game Mario Kart Tour since its announcement, but Reggie shared a few words on that in the interview:
“Depending on the game, E3 could or could not be a place to shed light on mobile activity. In the case of Mario Kart Tour, we made the decision that there’s going to be another opportunity to shed more light on that app, especially shedding light when it’s closer to its launch. We continue to be on track to launch it in this current fiscal year for Nintendo.”
Reggie said Nintendo continues to see “tremendous opportunity” in the mobile space to introduce franchises to new players, and used Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp as an example.
The Nintendo 3DS was unveiled at E3 2010 in June 2010 and released in Japan in February 2011 followed by a Western release in March 2011. A complete redesign minus the 3D functionality, the Nintendo 2DS, released in October 2013. Mario Kart Tour is in development for iOS and Android and expected to launch by fiscal year ending in March 2019.
