3DS is the 'number one priority' this holiday, says Nintendo

Nintendo 3DS and 3DS XL devices are Nintendo's "number one priority" this holiday season, the company's vice president of sales and marketing Scott Moffitt told VentureBeat.

According to Moffitt, Nintendo expects to see shortages of its Wii U console over the holiday season; However, a robust lineup for the Nintendo 3DS device and a new focus on digital distribution are making the handheld platform the company's main priority.

"Nintendo's number one priority this holiday is 3DS and 3DS XL," he said. "We're seeing an ever-growing momentum in our handheld business. Nineteen months in, we're still a million units ahead of the pace of DS at this point in its life. As you know, DS was the best-selling gaming system of all time, and so we're pleased with that. We're seeing great momentum from the 3DS XL launch in August."

Both Paper Mario: Sticker Star and New Super Mario Bros. 2 for 3DS devices are expected to bring in significant sales numbers, said Moffitt, who added the third-party lineup is "much more robust than it was last year." Nintendo's emphasis on dual distribution strategies on the 3DS, in which consumers can purchase titles digitally or physically, also continues to be successful.

"It's easier, for a game you're going to use every day, to own it digitally," said Moffitt. "We're finding some of those titles have a relatively high share of digital purchases versus physical. Others are skewing more physical. 3DS, in any case, is really priority one for us."