Nintendo Exec on NES Classic Shortages, Nintendo Switch Supply

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has responded to the NES Classic shortages and discussed the company's plans for the Switch launch in March as it relates to supply.

Discussing the NES Classic shortages (the system remains sold out basically everywhere following its November 2016 launch), Fils-Aime said it was simple matter of demand outpacing supply. But why?

"When we looked at that proposition what we believed was the adults, 30-40 years old, who grew up playing NES as a kid, 10 years old or so but had stepped away from the gaming category--that was going to be the buyer [of the NES Classic]," Fils-Aime said.

"As we thought about that, that led us to a certain level of supply."

The reality, however, was that the lapsed gamer and the "more active gamer" bought the NES Classic, leading to a demand that Nintendo didn't fully anticipate and in turn the supply issues.

"That was the maketplace disconnect that happened," Fils-Aime said. He added that Nintendo continues to make more NES Classic systems available. He said the supply issues for NES Classic have been "largely addressed," though not everyone may agree, considering the console continues to be sold out basically everywhere.

We also talked to Fils-Aime about the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo's supply plans. He reiterated that Nintendo has said it will have 2 million units in the wild, worldwide, for launch in March. The executive told GameSpot that this is a "huge amount" of volume, especially considering the Switch is not launching in a holiday month.

"We're working to make sure that the supply chain [for Switch] is robust and there is a steady flow of hardware," he said. "The one piece we can't anticipate is the demand side of the equation but certainly from a supply, we feel like we're going to be well-positioned."

Also in our interview, Fils-Aime provided a glimmer of hope about Mother 3. Maybe.

Check back soon for GameSpot's full interview with Fils-Aime.