Nintendo 3DS Price Slashed to $169

In what has to be one of the fastest price-drops in recent history, Nintendo has announced today that they will be slashing the price of the Nintendo 3DS from $249.99 to $169.99 effective August 12, 2011.

“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.”

While Nintendo has sold over 830,000 3DS units, sales of the unit as well as game releases for the platform have been slow over recent months.  Early adopters aren’t being left in the cold, however, as Nintendo has plans to offer twenty downloadable titles free to anyone who owns a 3DS and connects to the Nintendo eShop at least once before 11:59 PM EDT on August 11, 2011.

Starting September 1, 2011, 10 NES Virtual Console games will be available for free, including Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong. Jr, Balloon Fight, Ice Climber and The Legend of Zelda.  These titles will be available to all 3DS owners, although it will have a fee for non-Ambassadors.  By the end of the year, 10 Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games will be available, including Yoshi’s Island, Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ and Mario vs. Donkey Kong.  These 10 GBA titles will not be made available to the general public, however.

With Nintendo releasing a number of strong first-party titles for the 3DS by the end of the year, this may be the best time to jump on board.  Nintendo will release more information on the 3DS Ambassadors program and the 3DS in general in the future.