Gaming

Why the president of Nintendo America is not worried about the Xbox One X

Key Points
  • In an interview at E3, Nintendo America President Reggie Fils-Aime says he's not worried about the Xbox One X.
  • "Our demographic is much wider. ... We're much more family-friendly," he told CNBC.
Nintendo America prez not worried about the Xbox One X
VIDEO6:5006:50
Nintendo America prez not worried about the Xbox One X

Nintendo shares are up some 50 percent so far this year on surprisingly strong sales of its new Switch gaming console and the games it launched with.

The Switch sold 2.74 million units worldwide in less than a month, and the "Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" game for the console has sold just as many copies.

This week at E3, the company unveiled a lineup of games it hopes will keep up that momentum.

"Our focus is making sure we launch great games — making sure that we continue to support not only Nintendo Switch, but also the Nintendo 3DS family of consoles," says Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo America.

"If we do our jobs with great games as well as making sure there's enough hardware out in the marketplace, then the stock price will take care of itself."

As for Microsoft's recent announcement of the high-powered XBox One X, Fils-Aime says it doesn't pose a threat: "Our demographic is much wider. We want consumers from 5 to 95 playing our games," says Fils-Aime.

"And by doing that we go down a path that makes our IP much more accessible. We're much more family-friendly. We have a range of content for the most core gamer to a child who is wanting to get into gaming for the first time. So it's a different approach for us, and that approach is winning."

Nearly a year after the runaway success of Pokemon Go, which Nintendo produced in collaboration with Niantic, Fils-Aime says the game wasn't a one-time phenomenon.

"We are fortunate that we have had a series of phenomenons," Fils-Ami said. "Whether it's been Pokemon Go, or our NES classic that we launched last holiday season, and now Nintendo Switch. What we want to do is create these games and these new executions that the consumers feel they absolutely have to go buy."

Fils-Aime wouldn't say what other augmented reality games could follow Pokemon Go, but he did say "there's much more that we'll be doing in this space."