Reggie says NA hates White Handhelds

[Hyro-Sama]

You read that right. Mr.Fils-Aime says the North American market just cannot stand the colour white when it comes to their Nintendo gaming handhelds. His response was at an interviewer from IGN who inquired why NA hasn't seen the White 3DS XL that is currently available in Japan. See the source for more of the interview.

Siliconera
IGN

 

[emigre]

Personally I blame black supremacy for this news.

 

[Black-Ice]

Well the ds and 3ds's main audience is kids, and kids like pretty colours, therefore black and white wont always sell as well.
Plus white is seen almost as the basic colour for every console/handheld until other 'better' colours are released.

 

[Joe88]

A lot of people seems to like white iphones, s3's, ect...

 

[Hyro-Sama]

Well the ds and 3ds's main audience is kids, and kids like pretty colours, therefore black and white wont always sell as well.
Plus white is seen almost as the basic colour for every console/handheld until other 'better' colours are released.

I was thinking it was along the lines of that white handhelds get dirtier and cannot hide marks as well as other colours.

 

[Deleted_171835]

DS Lite white was super sexy. 3DS XL white is just okay.

 

[chartube12]

You read that right. Mr.Bad4Nintendo says the North American market just cannot stand Reggie when it comes to their gaming.

Fixed that for ya!

 

[Black-Ice]

Well the ds and 3ds's main audience is kids, and kids like pretty colours, therefore black and white wont always sell as well.
Plus white is seen almost as the basic colour for every console/handheld until other 'better' colours are released.

I was thinking it was along the lines of that white handhelds get dirtier and cannot hide marks as well as other colours.

That too I guess, I once had a white ds and the dirt was so easily visible :/
Plain colours in general, but yeah you pretty much got it there.

 

[weavile001]

back a few years ago, no one was caring for the ds color.

 

[tbgtbg]

My only concern would be the nasty tendency for white plastic to yellow like a mofo when it ages. Granted, other colors can sometimes yellow as well (hello SNES!) but white is much more prone to it.

 

[Hyro-Sama]

The Vita has no colours or games.

 

[jefffisher]

I'm American and the only reason I haven't bought a 3dsxl yet is because I am waiting for white.

 

[Hyro-Sama]

I'm American and the only reason I haven't bought a 3dsxl yet is because I am waiting for white.

Spoiler

 

[notmeanymore]

I gotta agree. If I had to go to the store and buy a 3DS today, I'd buy purple, not white.

Edit: Wait wait wait. If North Americans hate white handhelds why don't they hate white cellphones? I can think of a few people who wouldn't buy a certain cell phone or another until the white version came out. Wtf...

 

[Hyro-Sama]

I gotta agree. If I had to go to the store and buy a 3DS today, I'd buy purple, not white.

Edit: Wait wait wait. If North Americans hate white handhelds why don't they hate white cellphones? I can think of a few people who wouldn't buy a certain cell phone or another until the white version came out. Wtf...

It's only limited to Nintendo gaming handhelds. It just doesn't perform like the other colours do.

 

[chavosaur]

Personally, I don't like handhelds that are bright colors/white. They show dirt, scratches, and dings a lot more then Darker colored handhelds.

 

[Phynx]

I personally think the white DS lite was the best looking of the bunch. I wonder what they're basing that statement on?

 

[AceWarhead]

White just gets dirty faster, and any scratches/scuffs will be much more visible than other colors.

 

[Ergo]

I personally think the white DS lite was the best looking of the bunch. I wonder what they're basing that statement on?

Err, sales?

 

[FAST6191]

My only concern would be the nasty tendency for white plastic to yellow like a mofo when it ages. Granted, other colors can sometimes yellow as well (hello SNES!) but white is much more prone to it.

Dirt is one thing but for the old stuff you are thinking of it is more likely to be the fire retardant chemicals that were forced into products (not unjustifiably) which tended to do that after so many years, there are a few other reasons/reactions at work but fire retardants are usually it. If you really want there are ways you can remove it (ranging from simple to actually quite novel). Modern white plastic will probably age a lot more gracefully, give or take the tendency to be made in odd form factors that exacerbate the weaknesses of plastics (see hinges on the DS).

Back on topic this discussion wherever it happens always amuses me. By all means have a preferred colour as a matter of personal taste, but when companies speak of it like it is a big thing I just think how trivial it is to change it at manufacture; you pretty much have to dye plastics so it is often a matter of swapping out one small pot of chemicals for another.