Nintendo still considers the 3DS a viable market leader. Why wouldn’t they? Since launch, the 3DS has sold over 72 million units worldwide. Indeed, the 3DS has been in strong form this year in terms of sales. Nintendo has seen a general uptick in sales this year compared to last. It’s no surprise that there are new 3DS games on the way. Despite all this, however, Nintendo refrained from showcasing any new 3DS titles at E3 2018.
The spotlight at E3 was largely pointed towards the upcoming Super Smash Bros Ultimate and a number of other Switch titles such as Fire Emblem Three Houses. There was no room for the 3DS, nor Nintendo’s efforts on mobile titles. Reggie Fils Aimé (Nintendo of America President), has provided IGN with the logic behind this, and has promised that Nintendo will announce new 3DS titles in the coming months, and properly show-off Mario Kart Tour.
“We’re going to continue [focusing on the 3DS], we’re going to continue to have some new games on that platform. We’re going to announce [them], and we will over the next number of months, but it’s going to continue to be a vibrant piece of our overall business, certainly here in the Americas.”
What Could the New 3DS Games on the Way be?
Nintendo believes that the 3DS is a great place for children to get into gaming. Its focus has recently been on providing classic 3DS titles at a cheap price and remakes. We know that Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and the Gamecube classic Luigi’s Mansion are seeing remakes on the 3D handheld. Indeed, so too is DS classic Mario & Luigi Bowser’s Inside Story. Titles such as Pokémon have moved onto the Switch. It will be interesting to see what kind of games Nintendo has lined up for the 3DS.
Speaking on Mario Kart Tour, Reggie says that Nintendo still sees “tremendous opportunity” in the mobile market. Titles such as Super Mario Run, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, and Fire Emblem Heroes have proven solid successes for Nintendo, and adequate gateways into Nintendo’s core console market. Reggie hopes that Mario Kart Tour can be another success but decided that E3 was not the time to focus on mobile titles.
“Depending on the game, E3 could not be a place to shed light on mobile activity. In the case of Mario Kart Tour, we made the decision that there’s going to be another opportunity to shed more light on that app, especially shedding light when it’s closer to launch… We continue to be on track to launch it in this current fiscal year for Nintendo.”
It will definitely be interesting to learn exactly what Mario Kart Tour is, and when we can play it. Hopefully, it won’t be long before we learn more about Mario Kart Tour and what these mysterious new 3DS games on the way are. Nintendo have a history of springing surprise Nintendo Directs on us, so we could be seeing all this very soon indeed.
