14 DAY TRIAL // After the company events on January 19, we know that the Nintendo 3DS will be launching in North America on March 27 while Europe will be getting it two days earlier, for prices set around 249.99 dollars, but the leader of Nintendo of America was keen to emphasize that the new device was not just for the niche gamer but it aimed to create a new market and to dominate it.
Reggie Fils-Aime, the president of Nintendo of America, has told the audience, “This is the next big step in the modern era of video games. The Nintendo 3DS is 3D games, plus 3D video, plus 3D photography. There are no special glasses or skills required to enjoy it... And above all, the Nintendo 3DS is distinct. It's a breakthrough. There's nothing else like it. It is truly a category of one.”
Nintendo seems to have carefully balanced the expectations of possible buyers with the need to make a profit on the new device and analysts are saying that the 3DS will be a success in terms of sales while also creating profit for the manufacturer on each device.
Apparently Nintendo is also working with big Hollywood players to get 3D movie and television content on its new handheld, making it more than a gaming device.
Fils-Aime said, “While Nintendo is recognized by so many people as a game company, we’ve always seen ourselves as a part of a much larger entertainment industry.”
Nintendo says that it will support the launch of the 3DS with a complex marketing campaign that will be on the scale of that financed by Microsoft for the launch of the Kinect motion tracking add-on.
The company also plans to get 5,000 units in game stores to allow players to see what the 3D gaming effect is all about, with more than half a million people expected to see it in the first months the device is one sale.