Since the Nintendo Switch released back in March, many consumers have noted the extreme difficulty of getting their hands on the much sought after console. In a new interview with Mashable, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime addressed concerns about the scarcity of the system, as well as spoke a bit about why Nintendo doesn’t run their business according to suggestions from fans.
First off, in response to why Nintendo doesn’t run its business based on fans’ suggestions, Reggie said the following:
“The fans should know that we are not a company that is sitting in a little ivory tower and not thinking about all of these dynamics. [We’re] a company that likes to keep our information very close to the vest, and announce information when it’s ready and when all of the elements are fully fleshed out.”
“We love to surprise people. We also believe that the consumer should have the information when they’re ready to act on it. Telling someone about a game that’s four of five, six years away from actually launching? Just doesn’t make a ton of sense to us. But sharing information in order to frame how we are looking at a franchise, looking at an IP, that’s something we do very thoughtfully.”
“A hypothetical on one message board gets picked up on another message board as fact. That is the nature of the state of the industry today. And that’s why we do want to manage our messaging so closely.”
Next, Reggie discussed the Switch. While some believe that Nintendo did not supply enough consoles to begin with, Reggie conversely stated that the company “over delivered.” Here are his full comments:
“As we look at the overall business, we’re constantly looking to do the right thing for the consumer. We actually sold through almost 2.8 million (Switch) units, so we dramatically over delivered. And yet, demand outpaces supply. So what do some of the consumers on Reddit say? ‘Gosh, Nintendo, if you would’ve made more you would’ve sold more.’ Well, we did make more! And certainly we’re on a pace to supply in the current fiscal year 10 million units.”
“I think if you were to go back and look at some of these comments, you would actually see that the issues have been resolved, but it’s happening at a pace that is later than maybe where the commenters would like the resolution to be.
But it happens. And the solution is there.”
To check out the full interview, you can go here.
