Nintendo Switch and 3DS to coexist says Reggie Fils-Aime

Reggie Fils-Aime says the Switch and 3DS will live side by side.

In an interview with WIRED, Fils-Aime spoke about the future of the Nintendo 3DS family of systems now that the Switch is nearly in the market. He had the following to say about the 3DS and the Switch:

3DS has a long life in front of it. We’ve already announced games that will be launching in the first couple quarters of this year. There are a number of big games coming. And in our view, the Nintendo 3DS and the Nintendo Switch are going to live side-by-side. You’re going to be meeting different price points, you’re going to be meeting different types of consumers, you’re going to have the newest, freshest content available on Nintendo Switch, you’ve got a thousand-game library available on Nintendo 3DS, plus some key new ones coming. They’re going to coexist just fine. We’ve done this before, managing two different systems. I think there’s a sense that Nintendo Switch is a portable device. It is portable. But at its heart, it’s a home console that you can take with you on the go.

This is interesting because even though Nintendo is marketing the Switch as a home console first, it can be played almost completely as a portable as well. Another interesting point of contention is how some of the biggest supporters of the 3DS have been absent when it comes to anything Switch related like the Monster Hunter and Ace Attorney teams at Capcom or Level 5. Yokai Watch is a huge deal on 3DS and Monster Hunter is arguably bigger. Both were nowhere to be seen at yesterday’s event. Nintendo is releasing a few Wii U game ports or versions for Nintendo 3DS early this year but it remains to be seen how 3DS is supported after. Atlus announced a new 3DS project for the 25th anniversary of Shin Megami Tensei as well. There’s a rumoured Pokémon game releasing on the Switch but that is big enough to warrant its own announcement or event.

Nintendo Switch will be available from March 3 and it is region free.

Thanks, WIRED.