Nintendo is screwed, massive 3DS pricedrop incoming

[helvetica]

3DS price drop confirmed incoming.
From 249 to 169.
Effective August 12th.

Source http://www.shacknews.com/chatty?id=26388884#itemanchor_26388884

Between this and many recent announcements of third party devs either delaying or outright cancelling new titles, it's not looking good.

EDIT: Here's the full press release confirming it

Press Release


REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nintendo of America today announced plans to drop the suggested retail price of its portable Nintendo 3DS?system to $169.99 in the United States, as new games based on some of the world?s most beloved video game franchises head to the system. The new price, down from the suggested launch price of $249.99 and effective Aug. 12, makes an outstanding value even better and sets up a strong holiday season for the system.

?For anyone who was on the fence about buying a Nintendo 3DS, this is a huge motivation to buy now,? said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. ?We are giving shoppers every incentive to pick up a Nintendo 3DS, from an amazing new price to a rapid-fire succession of great games.?

Nintendo 3DS has the strongest software lineup of any video game system this holiday season and the new price now opens up the glasses-free 3D experience to many more consumers. Building on the popularity of The Legend of Zelda?: Ocarina of Time? 3D, which launched June 19, the upcoming game calendar is a Who?s Who of iconic video game franchises. Star Fox 64? 3D arrives on Sept. 9, followed by Super Mario? 3D Land in November, Mario Kart? 7 in December and Kid Icarus?: Uprising during the holiday season. In addition to great games, Nintendo 3DS has a host of attractive features* that make it the must-have video game system this season:

The new Nintendo Video? service automatically delivers short 3D videos from the worlds of music, comedy, animation and Hollywood.
A free application allows Netflix members with unlimited streaming plans to instantly watch TV episodes and movies streaming from Netflix.
The Nintendo eShop is a digital store for Nintendo 3DS owners that provides access to a wide variety of downloadable content, such as original 3D software, classic games that have been re-mastered in 3D called 3D Classics, Game Boy? and Game Boy Color ?Virtual Console? games in their original 2D glory, and more than 350 Nintendo DSiWare? games. Visitors can also view video game trailers, screen shots and product information for games, including those available at retail locations.

Since Nintendo 3DS launched in the United States on March 27, more than 830,000 people in the U.S. alone have purchased one to enjoy 3D visuals without the need for special glasses. These Nintendo 3DS owners represent some of Nintendo?s most loyal customers, and Nintendo is rewarding them for getting in on the action early with 20 free downloadable games from the Nintendo eShop.

These free games are available to anyone who owns a Nintendo 3DS system and uses a wireless broadband Internet signal to connect to the Nintendo eShop at least once before 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Aug. 11. These users will automatically be registered in the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador program. The program contains two elements:

Starting Sept. 1, Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors will be able to download 10 NES? Virtual Console? games at no charge and before they are available in the Nintendo eShop to the general public. These games, including Super Mario Bros.?, Donkey Kong Jr.?, Balloon Fight?, Ice Climber? and The Legend of Zelda?, are slated to become paid downloadable games, but Ambassadors get them early for free. Once the paid versions of the games are posted to the Nintendo eShop later in the year, the updated versions will be available to Ambassadors for download at no cost. By the end of 2011, Nintendo will provide Ambassadors with 10 Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games. These include games like Yoshi?s Island?: Super Mario? Advance 3, Mario Kart?: Super Circuit, Metroid? Fusion, WarioWare?, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ and Mario vs. Donkey Kong?. These games will be available exclusively to Ambassadors, and Nintendo currently has no plans to make these 10 games available to the general public on the Nintendo 3DS in the future.

More details about this program will be announced in the future.

[DX7.EP]

Almost expected this coming in. At the original price point I don't see how 3DS could compete with Vita, iPod Touch, or other units.
Well, now that the price is cut it may do a bit better, but only in the value and IP parts.

[Stuffman]

VIRTUAL BOY 2

[Ionasal kkll Solciel]

$80 for a handheld that hasn't even been out a year is a very extreme price drop, which makes me wonder just how much of a profit margin they're trying to make up for. It's interesting to see what they did to try to make up with the guys who got it early (Classic NES Series now, exclusive GBA games in future), but I highly doubt all of this is going to make it better for Nintendo.

[KomeijiKoishi]

VIRTUAL BOY 2

[helvetica]

Except they're all VC reports, 10 NES games and 10 GBA games.  While some of them are good I don't think they're 80 dollars good.

PS to put things into perspective, they just hacked off a third of the price.  I don't think any console has seen that significant of a price drop, let alone only 6 months after launch.  And this is Nintendo, that never does price drops.  They kept the Wii at 250 for several years before finally dropping it.

[Dr.Strafe]

VIRTUAL BOY 2

Oddly enough, the 3DS and the Virtual Boy are similar in many ways.

[The ⑨th Zentillion]

Ouch. Well, that's both a curse and a blessing... the drop means things are NOT going good for the system, but it's now a bit more affordable.

Oh well, whatever, as long as the fourth Golden Sun game comes out before its death, I'll be okay.

[wailofthebanshee]

That's still not enough to make me buy it. I don't understand why I was excited for this during last year's e3.

[Aya Squawkermaru]

Yeah, $249 was just way too much for a DS with a headache-inducing gimmick. Although, that is a bit extreme for a drop...

[J.O.B]

WOW I AM SO HAPPY I BOUGHT THIS EARLIER! 300 DOLLARS GONE!
Ah fuck.
Australian btw.

[Tamer Anode/Cathode]

Unless they come out with a model with an improved battery or some must-have exclusives are released very soon, the price drop still isn't convincing me.

[Phlegeth]

It's because Mega Man Legends 3 was canned.  That was my whole motivation for getting the system.  Now I don't care, until the next Pokemon version.

[Suikama]

All hail our new overlord Vita~




On a side note, 20 games for 80 bucks is 4 bucks per game, which is not that bad considering how much they charge for stuff on the eShop normally :V

[Tamer Anode/Cathode]

All hail our new overlord Vita~

Pfft, like I'd ever give Sony money after all the stupid things they've done in the past decade.

Truly a shame. They can actually have some decent hardware sometimes but they let the execs and media division have too much control over what actually goes in it.

[DX7.EP]

All hail our new overlord Vita~

Only if BB: CS2+ and other things make it worth it. Otherwise it's an iPod Touch + Cave STGs for me. At least there development is easy to get into.

[Letty Whiterock]

I never owned a DS, so this is good news for someone like me!

Edit: Also, you early adopters are getting GBA games they may never release to the public. For free.

[Suikama]

Well techincally they've already been released :V

But yeah it will be cool to have them all on one system BV

[Gpop]

I never owned a DS, so this is good news for someone like me!

Good for me too since it was too expensive for me in the first place. I'm still only getting it for OoT :V

[helvetica]

I never owned a DS, so this is good news for someone like me!

Edit: Also, you early adopters are getting GBA games they may never release to the public. For free.

These include games like Yoshi?s Island?: Super Mario? Advance 3, Mario Kart?: Super Circuit, Metroid? Fusion, WarioWare?, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ and Mario vs. Donkey Kong?

2 of those are ports of SNES games.  I'm not sure that's such a good deal :V

[Garlyle]

2 of those are ports of SNES games.  I'm not sure that's such a good deal :V

Unless I missed something, only one of those is.

And that's Yoshi's Island which is still farking fantastic.

[helvetica]

I thought the Mario Kart one was a port of SNES Mario Kart unless I'm misremembering.

[Gpop]

I thought the Mario Kart one was a port of SNES Mario Kart unless I'm misremembering.

Nope it's entirely different game just as Mario Kart DS is different from the N64 version except for some of the "classic" levels that returned :V

[Esifex]

Nope it's entirely different game just as Mario Kart DS is different from the N64 version except for some of the "classic" levels that returned :V

.......

Oh, God, I am so tempted to say something about Mario games, but I reeeeeeeeeally don't think I should shoot my mouth off like that. Ugh. Oh well, at this point, everyone will know what I mean, with a few exceptions.

[Ionasal kkll Solciel]

Super Circuit is basically half its own game, half the SNES original (literally. Half the tracks are the SNES tracks, minus the OP Feather and a few jump pads), so it's kinda two-in-one there.

[Red Frost]

Unless they come out with a model with an improved battery or some must-have exclusives are released very soon, the price drop still isn't convincing me.

How long is the battery life, out of curiousity.  And how far back does the backwards compatability go?

Only if BB: CS2+ and other things make it worth it. Otherwise it's an iPod Touch + Cave STGs for me. At least there development is easy to get into.

There's a BlazBlue Continuum Shift 2?  I've only got Calamity Trigger, and I've seen CS (pissed that NA didn't get the Noel Vermillion Petit) and saw a port of CT on the PSP.  Oh and there was something called BlazBloo(I think?) that was for the DS but only the one that allowed for downloading of games (how many freaking DS models are there?)  Anyways, what's special about CS2?  Aside from it being handheld-able.

The price drop is rather enticing, but I'm not budging until they announce a new Metroid or Castlevania... or Kirby (not like I've finished the most recent entries but whatever, I likes me my 2-D games).  I'm still waiting on the middle game for Pokemon B/W, since I held off on getting either because I was still finishing up HG.  I'm also still rather pissed at the fact that it's region locked.  I can't understand Japanese, but that doesn't mean I can't learn... (really wanted to try Senran Kagura).  I think the region lock is an even bigger slap in the face to the European/Australian gamers since it always seems like they get the short end of the straw with releases... or so I've heard.

3-D gaming seems like an interesting concept and all, but I guess I'd have to see it to understand.  To be honest, the whole 3-D craze just doesn't appeal to me... I actually get sick of hearing about movies being made in 3-D.  It seems like a cheap gimmick that all movie producers want to get in on, when the movie they're making shouldn't have any 3-D at all.  I haven't SEEN any 3-D movies, but I get the feeling it's only implemented just because it CAN be, and probably subtracts from certain movies more than it adds. (still can't believe they decided to have the 2nd Silent Hill movie be in 3-D)

[HakureiSM]

All hail our new overlord Vita~

I'll sell my dignity for a Vita-themed Vita. I'm sure a lot of us will.

[a_certain_kappa]

Told them to localise Phoenix Wright vs Professor Layton.

[Dr.Strafe]

My question is: How many versions of the DS does Nintendo expect us to buy? If the 3DS did succeed, who's to say that they wouldn't come out with a slightly different one by Christmas.

[DX7.EP]

There's a BlazBlue Continuum Shift 2?  I've only got Calamity Trigger, and I've seen CS (pissed that NA didn't get the Noel Vermillion Petit) and saw a port of CT on the PSP.  Oh and there was something called BlazBloo(I think?) that was for the DS but only the one that allowed for downloading of games (how many freaking DS models are there?)  Anyways, what's special about CS2?  Aside from it being handheld-able.

I haven't played CS2 yet (no PC port yet ), but from what I do know all console versions of CS are upgraded to CS2 for free via online updates. BlazBloo is only for the DSi and 3DS due to it being a DSiWare game.