Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has likened the 3DS launch to that of the DS in 2004.
The company believes the 3D-capable device’s arrival marks as significant a transition as the move from Game Boy to DS six years ago.
“We have ideas of what we want to bring to the consumer that we can’t do with the current” DS model, the executive told Business Week, “The Nintendo 3DS for us is our next handheld platform.”
Declining DS sales suggest it might be the right time for Nintendo to introduce a new platform. In January the firm said that DS hardware sales were expected to fall 3.8 per cent and software sales 24 per cent in the 12 months ended March 31.
“Fundamentally, this business is about software, not hardware,” Fils-Aime added. “Software is what drives engagement by the consumer. For us technology is not the end, it’s the means to an end, which is around a great consumer experience.”
Announced last month, the 3DS will allow games to be "enjoyed with 3D effects without the need for any special glasses". It will be released during the fiscal year ending March 2011 and will feature backwards compatibility with DS and DSi software.