This year's E3 is coming to a close today, and the last bits of information from the event are still coming through. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé - who just yesterday argued that multi-platform games should start arriving faster on the Switch in the near future - responded to an interview by Bloomberg covering a range of important topics for Nintendo.
Fils-Aimé started by commenting on the lineup of upcoming Switch games, as some followers were concerned with the lack of major titles shown at E3. The executive said that there are a lot more games in the works which will be shared over the coming weeks and months and further stated that Nintendo's strategy for E3 is to show games for the next six to nine months. In response to the company's stock dropping as analysts fear that it may not have much to offer in the near future, Fils-Aimé simply says:
Why the analysts reacted the way they did, who knows. But we know from a company perspective there’s a lot more up our sleeve and a lot more we have to show in the weeks and months ahead.
The executive also commented on the possibility of services such as Netflix and YouTube coming to Nintendo's hybrid console, saying that conversations are still on-going while reinforcing that the company has wanted to promote the Switch as a gaming device above everything else. Still, services like Hulu have found their way to the system, and Nintendo doesn't seem to oppose the idea of more services joining the fray.
Loot boxes, which were a major topic of discussion due to games like EA's Star Wars Battlefront II, were also discussed in the interview, with Fils-Aimé stating that the concept has gotten a bad reputation, but some of that isn't necessarily justified:
Loot boxes, broadly speaking, have gotten a bit of a bad rap. The game mechanic of buying something that you’re not sure what’s inside is as old as baseball cards. What we believe at Nintendo is that a gameplay mechanic that offers the consumer something to buy that they’re not sure what’s inside can be interesting as long as that’s not the only way you can get those items. And that’s where some developers have made some mistakes. For us, its one of many mechanics we can use to drive on-going engagement in the game.
Lastly, president and COO of Nintendo of America commented on the state of the Nintendo 3DS hardware, saying that the business for that console has shown a 10% increase in American regions in 2018 and that the company isn't completely ready to give up on it:
It’s getting some very strong support by a dedicated handheld business here in the Americas. And for us we want to continue driving both of those platforms. 2DS and 3DS are for kids and families to get engaged for the first time potentially in video games, and Nintendo Switch is going to be that game where consumers want to play Smash Bros., Zelda and all of those big epic games.
The star of Nintendo's show at this year's E3 has undoubtedly been Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but the company seems confident in its lineup for the Switch in the coming months, so it will be interesting to see what secrets the company might be keeping to itself.
Source: Bloomberg via GoNintendo
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