For a few years now, Nintendo execs have been talking about passing the torch. Younger developers are starting to take the reigns on new intellectual property like Splatoon and ARMS, as well as helping more seasoned devs shake up existing franchises that have stagnated.
These youthful employees are of a new generation, cut from a different cloth than Nintendo management has typically been made up of.
They’re Nintendo fans.
Kids who grew up a couple decades ago have been playing the company’s games their whole life, learned how to design and code, then landed a job at the Big N itself.
There’s a lot of respect for Nintendo’s stable of franchises, yet, the new employees aren’t as emotionally attached. That distinction allows for more change, experimentation, and advancement than we have previously seen.
When Nintendo fans run the company, you start seeing decisions that make more sense (to us fellow Nintendo fans). Things that we would actually come up with! Like naming a two-dimensional 3DS the 2DS. Like bringing back Star Fox 2 on a Classic Edition. Like reproducing the excellent GameCube controller for Super Smash Bros. 4.
We’re in good hands!
Scott
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Funny you should mention the 3DS and its name: the 3DS itself was named by the fans. I think the term existed as an internal project name (much like “Revolution” or “NX”), but it wasn’t intended to be the system’s final title. That is until the fans heard the DS’s successor would feature glassesless 3D and started calling the new system the 3DS themselves. Since everyone was already calling it “3DS”, Nintendo stuck with the name.
Or so I’ve read.