Retailer GameStop is expected to be pretty “dominant” on the new consoles from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Furthermore, the retailer believes that they will be "dominant" distributor of the upcoming Nintendo NX.

　　Over the past months, rumors surrounding an ‘upgraded’ Xbox console have been circulating the web. Additionally, Sony is expected to release their upgraded PS4, PS4 Neo’, in the near future. On top of that, Nintendo finally announced that their new dedicated home console, the Nintendo NX, will release in March 2017. Judging from sales figures, console gaming is flourishing, and retailer GameStop certainly doesn’t deny that the console business is good for the company.

　　In a recent interview with AlistDaily, GameStop CEO Paul Raines talked about the new consoles and GameStop’s role.

　　What role do you see new consoles from Sony and Microsoft playing for GameStop?

　　We expect to be pretty dominant on new consoles, and the reason we’re dominant is because we have the PowerUp Rewards program with 46 million members around the world. We have those people on file, and we know how much trade credit they have at home that they bought from us. So it’s easy to market to them and say, “Hey Mr. Gaudiosi, you’ve got $48. Why don’t you bring that in and trade it against the new Xbox or PlayStation?” So we anticipate that we’ll see some new consoles in the next few years. We don’t like to talk about that because our partners get upset if we jump ahead, so we’ll let them disclose that. Consoles are good for us any way you slice it.

　　Are you seeing excitement through PowerUp Rewards members around the Nintendo NX?

　　There is some excitement around NX. Lately here, we’ve been hearing a lot more buzz than we have in the past. Nintendo is interesting in that they really are able to keep things as quiet as they can for a while. And then they just lost their leader, so they’ve gone through a mourning period and so forth. NX sounds exciting. We’re looking forward to it. They’re very innovative in everything that they do. I hope that they come out with something exciting and innovative. I think we’ll be dominant distributor of that platform.

　　Even though the Wii U didn’t repeat the Wii’s success?

　　Wii U was disappointing to everybody, including them. They made some bold bets, and maybe some of them didn’t work out. But they have a lot of creativity there. They’re a very innovative group of people, so we never count out Nintendo. Even now it’s incredible how strong some of their IP is—Pokémon, for example. We could have a Pokémon weekend this weekend at GameStop and we would break sales records just because every time they put out a new game they have a very loyal fan base. Super Mario, Zelda, all those IPs have a huge, loyal fan base.

　　What are your thoughts on the new line of consoles expected to release in the near future? Do you believe that the NX can make Nintendo ‘big’ once again? Hit the comments.