Nintendo slashes 3DS prices

I bought this at launch and while I may be entitled to the downloads I would prefer to play new 3DS games not games from older systems. They should give the people who bought the system in the first month, the option of the downloads or 2 free first party 3DS games...including the upcoming Super Mario 3D.

Further proof that it was over-price.. They cut it now to the true price, with a little margin to make a profit. Plus, the basic consumer really don't see the added 3d capability worth that extra premium price they were charging... It also doesn't help that they are still selling the DSi, having two product that do the same thing, when one isn't really been phased out fast enough, create confusion in the basic consumer mind.. I idle sometime around my gamestop, and when you here moms turn down 3ds in favor of Dsi just because they can't paying that extra premium for 3d, then you know Nintendo has cause confusion among the basic consumer. If i was Nintendo i would have started phasing out the Dsi when 3ds was close to launch, and also set the price point @ $200 for the 3ds. I know you run the risk of giving up potential buyers but they would be aware that something better is on the way @ ''X'' price point...

Worst economy since the Great Depression with alot of severe issues left to deal with,poor launch line up,and a very expensive price are imo what kept this thing from getting crazy sales.I had no desire whatsoever to get a 3DS when it was almost the same price as a ps3 or 360.When I saw Ocarina of time on this,I instantly wanted one and I know there are many out there that feel the same way.If they get alot of good titles out and they look and play great this system will be fine.Too early to speculate,but the price was too high for the target players.

just bought a 3DS today... will i get some free stuff?

So i guess if you went out today and found a store still selling it for 250 and you bought it, and you wanted those 20 free games, they could potentially pay for price difference and more. anyone do this? i already bought one, that is one heckuva quick and large price cut. jeez.

That's freaking awesome. Even still, I would like to have paid the cheaper price as I have most of these games already. Having said that, the GBA games are top notch games, and it will be nice to have them in digital form. I'm linking ASAP.

I'LL TAKE THE 20 FREE D/LS THANK YOU!! kinda like how sony gave away a lot more than what a month+ of internet service even cost. these are companies that value long-term userbase.

Dang that is one heck of a price cut. I think I'll pass however...Too many good games coming out for me to adopt handheld gaming

HOLY S**T! did not see that one coming so soon. and almost $100 less. wow... now i really want to buy one.

Good deal but not interested.

Nintendo has proven it can be innovative with hardware. But since the N64 and Gamecube have been really slacking on bringing the software. When will they get it.. if theres nothing to play on a system, why buy it? Same thing with the PSP so its not only Nintendo making bad moves.

Now make some games for it. And I can get one :):P A good price for a device like this.

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

@Frame_Dragger Ur right on both counts friend! Yeah, it is a gamble and like with any early adoption I was just hoping Nintendo would have used the experience they learned with DS to just skyrocket with 3DS. I gotta stop doing that, its a horrible habit of mine!!!! But I do get 20 free DL's -_- and that kinda takes the sting out.

Probably cos a lot of us got stung buying a wii and then never getting a single game that lived up to the potential of its tech-demo "wii sports". Not falling for it again big N, get your s*** in gear.

Yeah. Just like the Wii, YOU FORGOT TO MAKE GAMES FOR IT, NINTENDO! :P

That's quite a big cut and it came fast. I'm glad that Nintendo is practical and didn't think they could possibly sell a desirable amount of systems at that price. I'm probably just going to buy the Vita when I see a good deal on it though. The 3D on the 3DS has way too narrow of a viewing range (because non-glasses 3D tech is in its infancy).

go nintendo today some-one had there vita-bix

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!!!

My body is ready. Ballsy move. Gonna pick one up this holiday.

The 3DS is a good hardware, but it will also take a good gaming library to make it great.

Nintendo should not panic attack like this. 250 to 170?? OMG Nintendo talk about not having confidence in your products Nintendo this is just terrible.

LAME LAME LAME!!!!!! Why did they do that?????? Noooo Nintendo why did you do this!!!! Make good product and charge full price Nintendo....Man I hate this company!!

@Frame_Dragger yeah and? you have concerns for people who are impulsive. well, good for you. Atleast you give them the "heads up". So what if they are impulsive? they will actually experience what they have done and hopefully be enlightened by it. Maybe I forgot to mention that free will comes with consequences with the choices chosen?

Great job, Nintendo.The 3DS has two major problems. High price and low volume of games. Now that the high price of the system has been addressed, Nintendo needs to work with third parties on the games. Once these two problems are gone, 3DS will sell like hot cakes, and Vita will be dead on arrival.

The more I think about it, the more I noticed I am getting the better end of the deal, because I traded in my DSi and got a nice 75 bucks off of the original 250$ it was going to be. Winning hard.

Now I'll get one.

Give it time, I imagine a lot of 3DS specific games are still in development. Considering the performance of its predecessor I can't see developers not focusing on it.

Dang nintendo was already losing money on the 3DS with its initial price, now they cut it even more, im kinda suprised. 3DS sales must really suck. I'm tempted to get one now, but I still think I'm just gonna wait for the PS Vita. But I might just get both who knows.

So, so glad they're giving free games. If I paid an extra $80 for no reason I'd be furious.

Im very surprised. I knew the sales of the 3DS were not that great, but such a big price drop so soon is surprising! Nintendo seems to be worried.

@foxfacer2d2: I understand what you're saying, but what I think you don't grasp is that you've simply laid out the reason why someone can choose to wait, or choose to adopt early. Putting aside impulse and finance, all you've done is make the obvious point that people have minds. What I was asking revolved around what goes into the choice of people who are not acting impulsively, to adopt a technology early. You haven't answered that in any way, shape or form, just given a somewhat terse lecture on free will. The reality of course is that while we do have free will, the ability to conquer impulse and marketing/social incentives to buy early is something that many struggle with. I'll put that aside, because those people are not hard to understand at all. The people who make the reasonaed and calm choice to buy asap are the ones I'd like to hear from. Do you understand what I'm saying?

It's not a good price if there's no games for it. Everybody must've forgotten this fact.

Hmmm now thats a hell of a price cut! I dont know if i should take the plunge now or wait for a newer 3DS model? Either way thats good news for nintendo! Even though its game line up isn't the best now, it'll start rolling later down the road! Especially with its upcoming zelda and mario games!

@trdrstv That's exactly my point. Every console's first year is kinda crappy, but 3DS isn't being all that bad, but people are leaving an 5/6 year old handheld that is full of awesome games and buying a 5/6 months handheld with only a few and they think it1s horrible, but it's actually not bad, could be a lot worse. What saved me on the PS3 was Uncharted, first, then Devil May Cry 4, second, and my favorite, Metal Gear Solid 4, and they all took some time to get released (specially those two last ones). There was only Resistence out that was worth buying went I got the PS3, but I didn't buy it.

about time. 250 is to much for hand held gaming

I predicted this exactly ( well half of it ), since the Wii U is targeted to the casual players also, so the price got to be under $300. So I predicted that the 3DS will slash its price within this year. I predicted to $199.99 , so the Wii U would sell for $249.99. I never thought the price would be slashed to $169.00, but I did predict correctly, so the Wii U FOR SURE will be between $199.99 to $249.99. Believe it.

@Dragdar I like how classy you are. Posting the SAME RANT on two articles. Keep it up! you are an example to us all.

This is great. I spent £180 on my 3DS and got Ghost Recon with it, so I get 20 games for around £3 each

@soulreaper-4 Dude, most of these games are 10-25 yrs old. I'm pretty sure Nintendo has milked these franchises for all their worth. Most people legally own copies of Nintendo roms in some shape or form. i highly doubt the rom industry hurts Nintendo's bottom line. I don't see playing roms as equal to pirating high end games of today.

Some may buy into it now, others may wait for the 3DS-Lite, but I am waiting for the 3DSi before I jump into this.

Well this is surprising this early in the 3ds' life. But i think it'll benefit Nintendo in the long run. & now that the price has been slashed, Sony might get a little nervous. Or this could just b wishfull thinking on my part.

I got my 3DS for my birthday so I never had to spend any money on it, but I do say that the new price is more reasonable than the old one (especially since it's a handheld system). I can't wait to get my free games when they become available, it looks like there will be a lot of good ones :D One thing I can say for sure is that Nintendo seems to care a lot more about it's consumers than Sony, the Ambassador is so much better than the Welcome Back program.

@Dragdar Yeah you can get the games free on the internet because you are brat and a Thieve who like to steal. Anyways it isn't the same as playing them on the go like the were meant to be.

$169 damn can't wait for Aug. 12 thats a great price.

I'm trading in my DSI and getting it on August 12. Hopefully the 3ds will keep me busy until i'm ready to purchase a PSV. DAMN YOU NINTENDO, JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS OUT...YOU PULL ME BACK IN!!

Awesome im glad i waited but then again i wish i had the 20 free games :/

@Leir_Bag " I have a PS3 and the first year was a crappy year. " Not just for software, but the system itself kept needing to have functionality backed into it. The No scaling (up or down) was an issue, no in game XMB took WAY too long to come... , Hell I remember my PS3 having basic UI stuff being INCREDIBLY GOOFY like having the default keyboard come up "cell phone stlye instead of QWERTY" or downloading a movie trailer and having it show up in the menu as Movie_Trailer_720p.mp4 It was so OBVIOUSLY rushed to market and I'm just glad they fixed a bunch of that crap, but it took a while.

good

such a poor poor line up has sunk this console from the beginning. I am so glad I never purchased one, but with this price cut, Zelda and Mario games on the horizon, I may take the plunge