Nintendo slashes 3DS prices

>FallenOneX "Nintendo isn't a company that lowers prices because they're losing money..." Nintendo lost ~$300M for the quarter. They've also just slashed their profit forecast from $1.4B down to $260M (that's an 82% reduction). Why on earth do you think they're lowering the price? If Nintendo was hitting their sales forecast for the 3DS, they wouldn't be announcing this price cut, especially 6 months after launch (I repeat, 6 months after launch). I find it funny that you're telling people they "...just aren't old enough to know any better".

An interesting turn of events to say the least. We now know that Nintendo only sold the 3DS at $250 because the market expected it at that price. Also, the price cut adds some pressure to Sony and the soon to be released Vita, because Nintendo is below the magic threshold for handhelds ($200). Even at the new price, I expect Nintendo is still making a profit on each 3DS sold. Nintendo, you have my attention now...where are the games? If they can manage to release a killer app (not a remake), I'll purchase a 3DS.

Well that was certainly quick....but not wholly unexpected, either. All the wiz-bang 3D effects & games (or lack thereof) in the world wasn't gonna change the fact that most sensible people weren't moving off their wallets/purses for $250 handheld. And considering Sony was hot on their asses w/ a $250 price-point PSV, Nintendo had to find a way to stop the financial hemorrhaging. And seeing as though, their game library is still lack (for the system) this really was the only option they had to go w/. Smart thinking, Nintendo. Yet I'm not gonna lie, I'm still not gonna get one yet. When they improve the library of games for it and actually start releasing the good stuff (or NOA gives us in the West that Fiery Red ver.), then maybe I'll buy it. For now, I'm perfectly happy w/ my XL (that I just bought this past Jan., no less).

ps vita is next..... just like the 3ds parents aint gonna buy a 250 dollar handheld.... one drop or misplace and its gone........ without kids handhelds would be dead so releasing them at 250 is just foolish imo

@pokemonblackftw.. no they didnt gamestop doesnt give you anything close to half the retail price.. no idea what they give for a 3ds but ill bet if you get 50 your very lucky. you said gamespot:P but i think you ment gamestop right?

well lookie here...... who was thumbed down to death when they said nintendo would be forced drop the price after playing up at walmart???? yep you guessed it meeeeeee:wink:

@OriginalXboxGmr : Or most the gimmicks Nintendo has made since The Glove or the Super Scope. We know how well those went. That's all Nintendo does anymore. Create these gimmick devices that have no decent games worth playing on them, so they end up on a shelf collecting dust. How many people I know who own a Wii and tell me that it sets there never getting used because there is nothing worth playing on it. The gimmick wore off and there was nothing left to do with it. 3DS is just more of the same. Nintendo died for me after the Gamecube. GAMES, not Gimmicks!!!!!

im not going to buy a 3DS to play new games im going to play old games on the go lol. I could emulate but its just not the same...

@stEElyDaN909 They are selling them.

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

ahhh good , exactly what i want to see from the industry, price cuts! im serious, everything has gotten too damn expensive.

well gamespot just lost money on every used 3DS they have

I like you Ninty and will get the Wii U for sure, but I have traded in my 3DS for the PS Vita. I hope 3DS sales pick up and it does well but personally wasn't really impressed. I finished Ocarina of Time and the 3D wasn't all that. 3DS is the first Ninty handheld I haven;t really enjoyed. PS Vita for me.

after I read some of the comments, i now get it. some of you just aren't old enough to know any better. Nintendo isn't a company that lowers prices because they're losing money, they do it to make more money. We should all know by now that Nintendo only releases hardware when there is money to be made on day one, period. The only thing this Price cut shows us is how much of a profit they made from early adopters, even with not so great sales. (I also have a problem with that, they're one of those companies where 1 million sold get's put under the "could have done better" list.) I'm willing to bet that if anything, they're at the very least breaking even when the price hits. If Sega could have achieved this, we'd be playing the DC2 right now.

Why aren't they going to sell the GBA Virtual Console games? Those are all pretty good games and I buy love to buy them on a 3DS, nevermind the fact they make almost pure profit off of them. Do they NOT want to make money?

I wish the Red flare color 3DS come out some.

@ KaBo0m IGN is just better at updating their site late in the evening/early morning. This story showed up on their site around 2:30am Central. As soon as I read it, I clicked over to GS to see what they had to say.

where are these free games though i want

I have to say, they were wise to arrange this free downloadable giveaway. Twenty downloadable games for the extra $80 is actually a respectable value, especially with the quality of the titles - Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, Metroid Fusion, Mario Kart and so on.

im going to buy one :P

Could this have anything to do with amazon stopping sales the other day for a short time as thy have switched to preorders to avoid complaints about people buying early and asking for price matches.

haha yea i get 20 games those who complained did not haha maybe other companys should do this , for early adapters, punishment ! thats the punishment we get the freebies , yall who complain night and day dont buy , get it at the price you want but you are at a dis advantage lol sony take note, so i can buy a vita haha we all know now its going to be just another gen in the hhandheld industry nintendo on top , sony better learn lesson dont release another powerful handheld at 250 -300 freakin dollars if nintendo cant do it , you cant , , simple as that im not buying a vita unless theres a program similar to this wherei get 20 free games hahah we already know vita games will cost 59,99 haha

So this was COMPLETELY unexpected! I was going to wait til they did a hardware update before I got one. Now...well, I have no money so I'm still gonna have to wait I guess. :P But at that price I wouldn't mind asking for one for Christmas or something. But I'd still prefer to wait until they update the system with a longer lasting battery. However, If I could buy one now...I would. But I have 30 bucks in my account so it's gonna have to wait still.

now that we have some slashing going on, the next step: less slashy more gamey

Yeah, $250 was too much, even though the 3DS can do some pretty cool things. But 20 free games for paying that much? You sneaky bunch at Nintendo, you.

This might be the quickest system price drop in video game history.

wow IGN has well over double the comments for the same article. I had always wondered which site was more popular. Now I know

Here's hoping we get Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga...

and 20 free games for me wow sweet ,, hahh i already own the whole vc except todays releases and 1 from last week haah give em to me baby ah huh aqhuhj will sony ever do that didnt think so now you guys can buy 3ds please hahah see what happened

As long as I get my 20 free games and paper mario and super mario they can discontinue the console for all i care, I will be more then happy with oot and those games for years to come and i will get a vita :) But we all know it wont be discontinued any time soon especialy now that the price is where ( well below actualy ) where it should be! Im MORE THEN HAPPY WITH MY 289 purchase! well woth it.

vita what , haha i told ya so no body believe\d me when i said nintendo could cut the price of the 3ds hahah vita what im not gettin one now im gettin a red 3ds if i t comes here haha

I think this will make the PS Vita dead on arrival. Ok maybe Im exaggerating but I cant see the PS Vita beating the 3DS with just the support of Konami and Activision.

@chickenhunter30 said: @blackace, guess what read again cant do it till the 11th ************************************************************************ "Any 3DS owners who connect to the Nintendo eShop midnight US Eastern time on August 11 will be automatically entered into the programme. " Yes you can do it before the 11th. =================================================== @Frame_Dragger @blackace: It's called throwing games at your userbase so they don't feel completely rooked when you drop the price by 80 bucks after a few months. Comparing that to the outage of a free service is a poor comparison. ******************************************************************************** Not being able to play online for over a month and having your CC# and personal information stolen is worse then paying an extra $80 for a system you want to play. So no, it's not a poor comparison. Both companies tried to smooth the hurt, but Sony's issue was way more serious.

@blackace: It's called throwing games at your userbase so they don't feel completely rooked when you drop the price by 80 bucks after a few months. Comparing that to the outage of a free service is a poor comparison.

@Frame_Dragger @blackace: To be fair, Sony didn't charge users anything... it was actually an apology, period. This is a different situation. ****************************************************************** I never said Sony charged users anything. Nintendo isn't charging anyone anything for the games either. This could be deemed as a courtesy to gamers who spent $250 on the 3DS to see the price drop just 4 months after launch. Not much of a difference. It's called catering to your userbase for a misfortune.

@mrzero1982pt2 Untrue, I would not buy a Nintendo branded rock, unless of course it would play Nintendo first party games. Which is the reason anyone would buy anything Nintendo. When has Nintendo ever had a truly fantastic launch? The games will come, and I have no doubt the library of games will be as good or better than that of the Nintendo DS. Why are you talking about the WiiU? Please wait for a WiiU article to get that started. Nintendo has no problem making money, and all these downfall of Nintendo comments make me giggle hard.

@DarthVeng_basic I agree with you. Unless a miracle happens, the 3DS will end up just like the Virtual Boy: a huge bust.

i wish we could choose the games. although there are some gems in there. like the fact that some will be exclusive. woohoo. wonder though if there was some issue with the original 3ds hardware? hope not. only issue was poor sales lol.

@hart704 It's not a good price if there's no games for it. Everybody must've forgotten this fact. ******************************************************* True, but there are good games coming out for it like Mario Kart, Harvest Moon, Super Mario 3D, Star Fox 64, Kid Icarus, Ace Combat, Luigi's Mansion 2, Paper Mario, Tekken, MGS & Shinobi. There are already good games out like SSFIV, Pilotwings Resort, Ridge Racer, Legend of Zelda, Resident Evil & Dead of Alive. By this time next there the lineup will be huge.

This is because it is a worthless gimmick with nothing worth playing on it. Yes, and because 3D hurts your eyes. We aren't meant to set watching things in 3D for hours. It's good Amazon quit selling the 3DS, smart move.

@blackace: To be fair, Sony didn't charge users anything... it was actually an apology, period. This is a different situation. @Flint247: Too true! There's never a bad time for free games. @mrzero1982pt2: We know you're right? Again, as I asked of gledrius1001... who are you? You make it sound as if there's a rapt audience where in reality we're all just tiny little specks in a cloud of noise.

i have said this for a super long time: and you guys know i am right, but nintendo could slap their name on a rock and people will buy it. for once, people spoke up and said they did not want the 3ds. it is not like nintendo to say we are going to make something super expensive. they made money by providing people with innovative and fun consoles. the 3ds was nothing more than something they could have put on the ds in 06(they admitted this) and made it more expensive by saying the tech was too much. they duped fans, and then came out with a god awful launch lineup. i feel no sympathy, and i am glad i did not buy a 3ds for my mom. maybe they will learn next time, but it seems as if they have not learned because many developers are silent or confirm they are not making games for the wii u... heck you have companies say they are ecstatic to make3 games for the ps vita but not the wii u... nintendo has finally been caught in their own scheme.

Gotta love when free games come around. :)

@Shadowmax889 OK SONY take note how to apologize for money. 20 great nintendo games (NES+GBA) some of them with mods for FREE. Sony only give you 1 game of four for free! Sony Hail to the King Baby!!! ************************************************************************ Actually, sony allowed you to pick 4 games (2 PS3 & 2 PSP). I got Super Stardust (HD), Dead Nation for PS3 and ModRacer and Killzone Liberation for the PSP. Nintendo is giving away 20 games for gamers who bought their 3DS before Aug 12th and even though many of them are old, some of them are current and worth owning if you never bought them.

@gledrius1001: I can sum up the reason why no one listened to you in three words: "Who are you?" Get it? @coop36: Hopefully this will be yet another wake-up call. Ultimately as long as they can make a profit by selling hardware at a profit, with a few key AAA titles, and tons of shovelware... they will. It's up to the consumer to vote with their wallet.

@foxfacer2d2: No. I have contempt for people who are ruled by impulse, but that isn't my point. You're framing this as though I've expressed concern for people; I haven't. I'm asking something specific for my own edification; you're incapable or unwilling to give a satisfactory answer, which is fine, but at least don't twist my words. My question was why people who are NOT impulsive become first adopters... if you have some insight, great... if not... nice chatting with you. @decoy1978: Well, if it makes you happy in the long run that might be the reason in and of itself. I wonder if the gamble itself is part of the thrill? That would make sense from a biological and behavioural perspective, and still remove impulse from the equation.

nobody listen to me, i told this device is tragedy, now early adopters can cry out loud, for 20 free nes games WOW, real nintendo fan already have finished them all on nes and probably sick and tired from mario bross, its going to be the same tragedy with wiiU, you gonna pay twice a prise of ps3 or xbox 360 for that 'tablet' even without of blu ray :D after ps4 release and xbox 3 everybody will forget wiiU HD graphics, thats the punishment for abandoning 'next generation' Nintendo you in deep trouble now :)

helllllllllllllo virtual boy! wait, its the 3ds?

PS Vita all the way!