Nintendo's decision to delay the release of the New 3DS and New 3DS XL in Europe and North America until 2015 was a result of limited stock, states the company's president.

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Although the new models were available for retail in Japan and Australia in late 2014, the company had to make "a difficult decision" when it came to releasing the New 3DS models in other territories."Regarding New Nintendo 3DS, the quantity that was produced before the end of last year or the amount that was delivered to consumers was limited," Nintendo presidentSatoru Iwata said inan investors' Q&A session published earlier today. "Hence, we had to make a difficult decision on whether it was acceptable or not to cause a worldwide shortage of New Nintendo 3DS. As a result, (based on the different diffusion levels of the preceding models), we made the decision to launch it in 2015 in Europe and the U.S."Although the new models have sold well, Iwata conceded that in hindsight, sales may have been higher had the console gone on sale in the run-up to the holiday period in Europe and the US."In hindsight, the actual results and the reactions to the launch of New Nintendo 3DS tell me that you are absolutely correct in assuming that the results would have been different if it were launched within 2014."Iwata went on to state that the release of the New 3DS in Japan has impacted on the sales of the Wii U."In addition, the fact that putting effort into attracting attention to New Nintendo 3DS became an obstacle to selling Wii U in Japan has made us once again understand the difficulty in staggering the sales peaks.""We have many issues to reflect on, and I think we could have tried harder. However, beyond that, I believe that although the traditional practice of selling things and the belief that products will sell well if you advertise broadly and make attractive discount offers, worked five or ten years ago, it is no longer applicable in this present day."Have you recently upgraded to the New 3DS model? Check out IGN's guide to easily transferring your 3DS data

Vikki Blake is a games writer and bonafide - albeit slightly jumpy - survival horror survivalist. You can find her twittering over at @_vixx