Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime hopes to sell the company’s new handheld to kids ages five to seven.
In addition to announcing that the Wii U would be getting a price cut, Nintendo recently revealed a new addition to its hardware library: the 2DS. Priced at a $129.99, the 2DS will drop the 3D functionality of the 3DS and repackage the handheld as an always open gaming device available in red/black and blue/black when it launches on October 12th. With the 3DS already selling well and priced only $40 higher than the 2DS however, some were perhaps confused as to who this new handheld was aimed at.
Speaking in an interview with CNBC, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime offered some clarification. “What we did here was we focused in on a key consumer segment, the consumer that right now for the standard 3DS, $170 is a bit of a higher price point,” he said. “So this device… it fits that consumer and also by taking out the 3D feature it allows us to target very young kids: five, six, seven years old.”
When he puts it like that, the 2DS almost makes sense. While the 3DS was initially sold on its 3D screen, it was a feature that required a certain level of physical control. To use it you had to hold it at just the right position in front of your face, something that could arguably be difficult for a younger child. Likewise, the clam-shell design of the 3DS, drawn as it was from the monstrously successful DS, could also be fragile at times. While the 2DS arguably resembles an Etch-a-Sketch, it also can’t have it’s screen bent back too far and broken by a rough child.
