As of right now, the Nintendo Switch has been a major success for Nintendo. The device is passing major sales records with ease and doesn’t look like it is stopping anytime soon. Nintendo must be relieved with the reception it has received, especially after a comment by Nintendo of America’s former president Reggie Fils-Aimé.
The former president appeared on a New York Gaming Awards Twitch stream earlier in the week. He was asked what his defining achievement was during his tenure at the company. On top of that, he touched on the transition between the Wii U to the Switch.
Reggie stated: “You know, Nintendo has done so many innovations in the space… I think what Nintendo did with the Switch, after the poor performance of Wii U, I think to me and what I was part of, that’s my lasting memory.”
He continued on and noted just how poor the Wii U did for the company. Reggie even alluded to the disastrous Virtual Boy. “People forget, when the Wii U launched, the performance over that life cycle was so poor, I mean it was the worst-selling platform, I think maybe Virtual Boy was a little bit worse, but Wii U underperformed pretty radically in the marketplace,” Reggie stated.
The former president continued: “And when your only business is video games that next had to be successful and the Switch continues to be a dynamic platform – selling exceptionally well. And the ability for the company to come up with the concept, to bring it to life, to bring it to the marketplace, to have not only great first-party content but great third party and independent developer content – that is going to be something I will always be proud of.”
He concluded by stating just how important the launch of the Switch was for Nintendo. “Along with so many of the other things I was part of, but the Switch really was a make or break product for the company and luckily it was a hit.”
As noted by Nintendo Life, the Switch has run circles around the sales of the Wii U. The hybrid device is closing in on 70 million console sales in just about 4 years on the market. The Wii U only sold a little over 13 million units since its release back in 2012.
Everyone now knows just how disastrous of a time it was to be a Nintendo fan from around 2014-2016. However, Reggie notes just how bad it was if the next console was a “make or break” for the company.
At the time, the Wii U was an underpowered console that nobody other than Nintendo wanted to develop games for. On top of that, nobody wanted to play Nintendo’s games either. It was such a strange time for the company that I am happy to say is in the past.
The post Reggie Fils-Aimé Admits the Switch Was a “Make or Break Product” After the Poorly Received Wii U by Grant Huff appeared first on DualShockers.