To some, the announcement of the New 2DS XL may have seemed out of place. It’s yet another iteration of the 3DS, and the news comes at a time when there has been much excitement surrounding Switch.

While speaking with TIME, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime discussed the purpose of the New 2DS XL. In his explanation, he pointed to the fact that some consumers are interested in a model that sits between the 2DS and New 3DS XL.

Reggie’s full words:

“There is a visual impact difference between these different items, and we believe in our market by having these three different variants. The Nintendo 2DS really focused on that entry level gamer, the four-, five-, six-year old that is just getting into gaming, but wants to play Mario Kart, wants to have a Super Mario Bros. experience, wants to play Pokémon. And we feel with Nintendo 3DS XL at $199 that it’s a fully-featured product, that it is, if you will, the Cadillac of handheld gaming. And then we heard from consumers, ‘Boy, I wish there was something in between.'”

Even though the New 2DS XL isn’t far off, the stereoscopic 3D feature offered on most 3DS models may still be important. Reggie told TIME that Nintendo doesn’t have data on how much 3D is being used, but “almost 90% of the unit sales have been with 3D visual capability.”

Reggie said:

“If you look life-to-date at the overall performance of the platform, almost 90% of the unit sales have been with 3D visual capability. So maybe said a different way, 2DS to date has represented only 11% of the total volume base. What that tells me is that for the vast majority of consumers, 3D is an important feature.”

Reggie also highlighted sales of 3DS during the past year. It’s growing, as “in the Americas, our financial year-on-year 3DS hardware grew by 13% and 3DS software grew by 28%.”

Source

http://nintendoeverything.com/reggie-on-why-the-new-2ds-xl-exists-90-of-3ds-unit-sales-have-been-with-stereoscopic-3d/

Reggie: Everyone knows that the 3D is rarely used. Might as well make a version without 3D and a nice price tag

I'm fine with it being for 4,5,6,7 year olds.

2DS is good enough for them, it gets them introduced to all the Nintendo IP, they don't need a $300 game machine that's so powerful it needs to be actively cooled even in portable mode.

There are plenty of back catalog 3DS and DS games that are perfectly fine to play and enjoy for a say 6 year old, what does a 6 year old care if the game came out 4 years ago or last month. 

This!

Reggie, don't you know that four and five year olds aren't supposed to be playing Mario Kart and Pokemon? Rated E is for everyone 6 and up! And that you're supposed to be 10 to play Super Smash Bros.? Such a bad role model!

Anyways, we'll see what comes of this. I am still confused as to its existance. Also, yes, 89% of sales may be a 3D-enabled unit, but I have one and I never use the 3D feature on mine.

"The Cadillac of handheld gaming"

As a 26 year old I can confirm that I don't care whether a game came out four years ago or last month.

"And then we heard from consumers (editor's note: these are what Reggie calls the voices in his head), ‘Boy, I wish there was something in between.'”

I'd be fine to be honest with 2DS/3DS being kept around for another 2-3 years even, so long as the focus is clear that this is a product for entry level kids and cheapskate parents.

This lets kids get hooked on the Nintendo IP and as they get older, they can graduate to Switch, which should maintain it's current marketing scheme at a older audience which is working great.

Switch is the Maserati of handheld gaming

She's got a few miles on her, but she's a classic!