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Reggie defends Nintendo stock decline

Analysts doubt they have the line up to hit sales predictions.

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Everyone's favourite Nintendo rep, Reggie Fils-Aimé, has hit back at analysts who are suggesting that Nintendo is running out of surprises and will struggle to make their Switch sales targets in the coming months.

The company's stock has taken a bit of a dip following its E3 presentation, ending in its worst stock rout in almost three years. Fears that Nintendo may have front-loaded all of its big announcements to coincide with the reveal of the Switch have impacted this with many people thinking they've left themselves with nothing interesting to show off. Analysts believe this will not attract gamers to the system with their competitors announcing big titles for the year.

"As you look at Nintendo over these many years, if you look at the number of analysts who have actually gotten it right, it's fairly small. And it's because we as a company, we hold things close to the vest. We love to surprise the overall community and environment, and when we surprise, we surprise big," said Fils-AiméIn in an interview with Bloomberg on the sidelines of E3.

It seems words have done little to reassure analysts, but they have been wrong in the past. Nintendo is a company known to play their card very close to their chest. They're also not particularly known to announce games years in advance, although recent launches such as the Nintendo Labo have not done as well as predicted.

"When we approach an event like E3, we show content that will launch over the next six to nine months, and no more," explained Fils-Aimé. "It's the pacing of news, the pacing of launches that will drive the business forward."

Fils-Aimé also suggested that the potential impact of the game's that have been announced is being undersold. Pokémon certainly has the audience to drive more sales for the company as well as the recent Smash Bros. reveal. Let's also not forget Fortnite is now on the console as well.

"Right now, Fortnite arguably is the most popular game in the world," said Fils-Aimé. "You've got Nintendo Switch right now as the most popular piece of hardware in the world. So from our perspective, that combination is magical."

Fils-Aimé also seemed keen to outline Nintendo's stance on loot boxes not foregoing the idea but explaining that it has to be done right.

"Loot boxes, broadly speaking, have gotten a bit of a bad rap," explained Fils-Aimé. "The game mechanic of buying something that you're not sure what's inside is as old as baseball cards."

"What we believe at Nintendo is that a gameplay mechanic that offers the consumer something to buy that they're not sure what's inside can be interesting as long as that's not the only way you can get those items. And that's where some developers have made some mistakes. For us, it's one of many mechanics we can use to drive ongoing engagement in the game."

Overall, it would appear Nintendo isn't overly concerned about the recent drop in share price, but only time will tell if it turns around as they reveal more titles towards the end of the year.

Reggie defends Nintendo stock decline


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