Nintendo's presentation at E3 Earlier this week was quite well received by the company's fans, although some analysts criticised the lack of surprises in the announcements. The company opted to release a long video rather than hold a live event and focused on the games it knows will be a big hit, with the Switch version of Super Smash Bros taking centre stage.
Nintendo understandably focused its presentation on the upcoming games for its latest hit console, the Nintendo Switch. The complete absence of the hugely successful 3DS portable console took many by surprise and left fans fearing that the company could be turning its back on the popular system. However, the head of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aime, explained this week to Bloombergthat there are no such plans and that the company sees the 2DS and 3DS as affordable options for children, families and people looking to get into video games - a gateway drug for budding gamers, so to speak.
As the following chart shows, it would not be a smart move for Nintendo to leave the 3DS family behind anyway. With more than 70 million devices sold to date, the portable gaming system has a huge installed base that Nintendo would be foolish to neglect. In the past two financial years, gamers have bought more than 30 million software titles for the 3DS/2DS family, more than for the Switch and the (now discontinued) Wii U combined.
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