Nintendo 3DS price cut to $169.99

[EddieA]

Starting August 12, the price of the 3DS will be cut to $169.99.  If you already own a 3DS, Nintendo is giving away 10 free NES and 10 free GBA games to make up for the price cut.  Also, they announced release dates for some upcoming games.

Starfox 64 3D - September 9
Super Mario 3D Land - November
Mario Kart 7 - December
Kid Icarus : Uprising - Holiday season

[CeeKay]

info on the free games in this article:

Nintendo said it would attempt to reward early adopters who ponied up $250 for the 3DS over the last few months. It announced that it will bring downloadable versions of Nintendo Entertainment System classic games to the 3DS eShop and give 3DS owners 10 of them for free beginning September 1.

The games will include Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr., Ice Climber, The Legend of Zelda, Balloon Fight and five more. These will be made available to other 3DS owners at a later date.

Additionally, Nintendo said it would give Nintendo 3DS early adopters 10 free downloads of Game Boy Advance games: Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$, Mario vs. Donkey Kong and five more. Nintendo says it has no plans to release these games to the general public at any time, so only those who buy Nintendo 3DS before August 12 can download them.

[TiLT]

That's a pretty nice collection of games, several of which I wouldn't mind playing again.

[Covenant]

Sweet,  I was just thinking about picking one of these up yesterday! Now I shall wait.

[ATB]

Still not interested.

[Teggy]

Wow, that is a monster of a price cut. Someone in marketing made a booboo.

[Bullwinkle]

Big ass price cut so soon!  Hopefully, Nintendo will position this as a kind of relaunch as the better games come out to avoid the stench of failure.

That gigantic list of free games (which, for the most part, are really, really good - not just filler) seems to be a step in that direction.  That's some fantastic early adopter fan service, Nintendo!  That never happens, and it should, all the time.  Every company wants early adopters.  They drive everything in the important early stages.  Why the hell wouldn't you encourage that at every opportunity?

I'm a little stunned by this news, but am really impressed both with the fan service and the savvy to realize that they need a significant price drop to make this thing soar.  Hopefully, they'll do a better marketing push this time around, too.

[Devil]

Great! I have 3 of them! 

[Zarkon]

It's on the front page now.

[Ridah]

Yay to free old games, I suppose 

I really just wish Nintendo would grow the fuck up and start establishing new development teams whose jobs it is to create new IPs.

[Devil]

Yay to free old games, I suppose  

I really just wish Nintendo would grow the fuck up and start establishing new development teams whose jobs it is to create new IPs.

This.

Yet I still keep getting burned!

Hopefully (from what I've seen) the crappy-ness of the new Wii-U will help me break the chain!

[hepcat]

I wonder if this is partially in response to Sony's lower than expected price on the upcoming Vita?

[Jumangi]

Wow, that is a monster of a price cut. Someone in marketing made a booboo.

I guess Nintendo finally realized that 3D is still a gimmick to most people.


Here's the skinny on their ugly financial's for the latest quarter...not pretty at all.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20084677-17/nintendo-posts-loss-as-revenue-slides/?tag=cnetRiver

[Bob]

Releasing a $250 handheld gaming only device during a world-wide recession into a market saturated with smartphones and $1 games was insanity.

I'm not even sure $170 will save them. They are still going to try and sell games for $40 into a market that is now used to paying $0 to $10 for mobile games.

[CeeKay]

Yay to free old games, I suppose 

at least they aren't crappy ones like Excitebike.

[Teggy]

Wow, I didn't even catch the list of games the first time. So, to make you feel better about the $80 you spent, we're going to give you a whole bunch of games from the 80s, plus, being a Nintendo fan, a bunch of games you've likely already played already, none of which take advantage of the capabilities of this particular system.

[Lordnine]

Actually, these games probably will be in 3D if excite-bike was any indication.  The fewer games that use touch or motion controls the happier I will be.  Overall I think this is the first great thing Nintendo has done in a long time and I expect 3DS will fly off the shelves this Christmas.

[The Grue]

Wow, I didn't even catch the list of games the first time. So, to make you feel better about the $80 you spent, we're going to give you a whole bunch of games from the 80s, plus, being a Nintendo fan, a bunch of games you've likely already played already, none of which take advantage of the capabilities of this particular system.

Given that nobody ever does that when they cut prices, I don't see how anyone complain.  Normally you get nothing when it happens.  This time you at least get something.  I really love my 3DS system and play it every day.  This trend of $1 iPhone games really scares me because I don't like using my phone to game.  I want a dedicated system because I use my phone for work and I don't want to drain battery playing a game.  Also, I just haven't been able to get into very many iOS games at all.  The virtual d-pad sucks for gaming and very few games are compelling.  I understand that I am in the minority, but I am going to be really upset if my future is only phone games.

[PR_GMR]

Mkes it more attractive for me, though I still have too many bills to pick one up right away. But a holiday purchase is now possible.

[Laner]

Additionally, Nintendo said it would give Nintendo 3DS early adopters 10 free downloads of Game Boy Advance games: Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$, Mario vs. Donkey Kong and five more. Nintendo says it has no plans to release these games to the general public at any time, so only those who buy Nintendo 3DS before August 12 can download them.

Trying to incentivize people to buy in before the price drop...

[farley2k]

Figures.  I bought one a couple weeks ago! 

[Destructor]

So, what's stopping somebody from buying the console say, the 8th, logging into the eShop (this 'registers you' as one of the early adopters according to one article), and then going back to where you bought it from on the 12th for the price adjustment?

[Bullwinkle]

So, what's stopping somebody from buying the console say, the 8th, logging into the eShop (this 'registers you' as one of the early adopters according to one article), and then going back to where you bought it from on the 12th for the price adjustment?

Morals?

[Misguided]

So, what's stopping somebody from buying the console say, the 8th, logging into the eShop (this 'registers you' as one of the early adopters according to one article), and then going back to where you bought it from on the 12th for the price adjustment?

Morals?

Hahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahaha!

Oh, that's a good one. I wish.

[ATB]

So, what's stopping somebody from buying the console say, the 8th, logging into the eShop (this 'registers you' as one of the early adopters according to one article), and then going back to where you bought it from on the 12th for the price adjustment?

Morals?

Not sure there's an issue with that at all, actually.

[Bullwinkle]

Just to be clear, if I didn't already have a 3DS, I would have no problem doing exactly this.

[hepcat]

So, what's stopping somebody from buying the console say, the 8th, logging into the eShop (this 'registers you' as one of the early adopters according to one article), and then going back to where you bought it from on the 12th for the price adjustment?

Morals?

Hahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahaha!

Oh, that's a good one. I wish.

 

 

[jersoc]

So, what's stopping somebody from buying the console say, the 8th, logging into the eShop (this 'registers you' as one of the early adopters according to one article), and then going back to where you bought it from on the 12th for the price adjustment?

Morals?

like the morals these corporations have? exploit often!

still don't care. I'd rather have the Vita.

[MonkeyFinger]

There's only been one game so far that has me even remotely interested in the 3DS - Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars. Not about to switch from my XL to the 3DS for one game and the smaller screen. Is there any hint of an 3DS XL in the wind?

[Devil]

There's only been one game so far that has me even remotely interested in the 3DS - Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars. Not about to switch from my XL to the 3DS for one game and the smaller screen. Is there any hint of an 3DS XL in the wind?

Of course there will be!

[Laner]

If there's one constant in the gaming world, it's that Nintendo will iterate repeatedly on their handheld models.

[Crusis]

Geez. I just got my kid one of these a week ago. grrrrr.

Guess Dad will get one now. 

[Kagath]

Geez. I just got my kid one of these a week ago. grrrrr.

Guess Dad will get one now. 

May still have time to pricematch depending where you got it. Lots of places do a month for it.

[Crusis]

Geez. I just got my kid one of these a week ago. grrrrr.

Guess Dad will get one now. 

May still have time to pricematch depending where you got it. Lots of places do a month for it.

I picked it up at Gamestop. Hmm. That is a good idea.

[Eel Snave]

Well, Nintendo had to do SOMETHING. Devs were cancelling games for it. People weren't buying it. Sony was going to release a competing platform. Evolve or die, I suppose.

Still crappy, though.

[denoginizer]

There's only been one game so far that has me even remotely interested in the 3DS - Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars. Not about to switch from my XL to the 3DS for one game and the smaller screen. Is there any hint of an 3DS XL in the wind?

Of course there will be!

Probably in 3 colors.

[Misguided]

No idea what Gamestop will do, but I could see them not price matching, because they will most definitely be aware of the free game offer, and if they have any sense, will make sure to tell people when purchasing about the impending price drop.

A place like walmart on the other hand, won't care.

[kronovan]

So, to make you feel better about the $80 you spent, we're going to give you a whole bunch of games from the 80s, plus, being a Nintendo fan, a bunch of games you've likely already played already, none of which take advantage of the capabilities of this particular system.

Well to be fair, those GBA games released in the 1st half of last decade and a number of those are AA if not AAA games. IIRC, some of them supported mplay only through the GBA link cable, so if these new releases support wireless that'd constitute a marginal use of the new capabilities. Otherwise, I agree with everyone else that Big N made a big blunder with the 3DS pricing.

[EngineNo9]

Don't forget that today is the last day you can "register" for the 20 free Ambassador Program NES and GBA virtual console games.  Apparently in the US all you need to do is at least run the system up date or go to the eShop to be registered.

[TiLT]

Don't forget that today is the last day you can "register" for the 20 free Ambassador Program NES and GBA virtual console games.  Apparently in the US all you need to do is at least run the system up date or go to the eShop to be registered.

I would be surprised if this was anything but a communication error. They probably meant to say that anyone who's visited the e-store BY today qualifies. Anything else would just be weird and would cause a massive PR-backlash.