Nintendo of America’s senior marketing and licensing manager Damon Baker has explained the decision not to release the standard New 3DS in the region.
The New 3DS and New 3DS XL both arrived last week in the UK but only the larger model was released in the US.
“Look, the face plates are super cool, but we're a different market,” he told NintendoLife. “And now we have clear differentiation between those three systems. Before, there was a very limited difference between the 3DS and 3DS XL: other than size. It was the same resolution, same functionality...
“Now, there's the 2DS, 3DS, and New 3DS XL, all of which have their own functionality and features. The different price points give it a clear message for consumers. The core audience... we weren't going to win with them on that decision. But we had to think about expanding the user base, we had to be able to market it and make it easy to pick up for consumers.”
It’s easy to see where Baker is coming from. UK buyers heading into a store today to buy a Nintendo handheld have a dizzying array of option to choose from – the 3DS, 3DS XL, New 3DS and New 3DS XL. And of course the 2DS. Which plays 3DS games. And DS games. But not in 3D. S.
His comments loosely echo those made by the company last month when it said: “Different territories make their own business decisions regarding individual products and timing. We think New Nintendo 3DS XL makes the most sense for our market. Nintendo makes different systems at different price points for a whole range of consumers, and New Nintendo 3DS XL simply expands those choices even further.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/ameri...sumers/0145354