Nintendo slashes 3DS prices

Even though the price drop makes it more compelling I'm still waiting on more software titles both retail and eStore to make the jump. Maybe both will hit that critical mass point by Christmas, but for me to buy ANY system I need at least 3 games available that I want to buy with it, and so far it doesn't have that. That and I think this system desperately needs a 10 hour battery, again hopefully someone will sell one in the coming months, until then I'm still on the fence waiting.

Really? Ffs... I don't know what sadder. Nintendo for pulling the carpet out from under its fans, or the fans for THANKING Nintendo for doing so. You're happy that you bought an artificially overpriced handheld just so that Nintendo could spit in your face? HURR BUT LOOK AT ALL THESE OLD GAMES THAT I GOT THAT I COULD GET OFF THE INTERNET!!! Stay classy nintendo fans

If Nintendo had Super Mario and/or Pokemon as launch titles for the 3DS, they sure as hell would've sold double or triple of its sales today. As for this price cut, very wise decision Nintendo.

I bought a 3ds early because the tech really appealed to me. It was something new that had not really been developed at this level before. Unfortunately, there are not any top notch games for the system yet. However, I think Nintendo is one of the best gaming companies because they adapt. The 3ds has indeed had lackluster sales, sketchy 3rd party support, and (surprisingly) almost no good first party games. Therefore, they are lowering the price by one of the largest percentages in the shortest amounts of time I have ever seen for a console. That is good, competitive business which benefits us all.

Ohh. And to the people talking about how the launch titles suck so bad, well, the launch titles sucks as much as the DS launch titles sucked, or every console launch line-up. I have a PS3 and the first year was a crappy year. and the DS was worse. There is already a zelda game (an awesome one, by the way) and there's Super Street Fighter 4, and Star Fox is coming in september and I don't even have to talk about November or December. So there is a lot of stuff coming out, and there already is enough for someone to buy the console. And above al that, consider the price drop. I really don't se why it's bad.

This Ladies and Gentlemen is the power of Competition. Realizing that their closest competitor is producing a product to rival theirs, Nintendo is forced to implement a price cut that otherwise would have taken them months to do. This is the reason why Competition in any industry, especially gaming, is so important. At the end of the day, the consumer wins. GOD BLESS YOU CAPITALISM! MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL MY WALLET THANKS YOU!!

About time Nintendo the system was priced ridiculously high, Parents won't hand over that kind of money for the kids to play pokemon and Mario Kart But 169 is a sweet spot, the 3DS is going to take off now and never land

Smart move, Nintendo. While I was expecting a price drop soon, I didn't expect it to be THIS soon. I was also surprised that they dropped it to $170. o.o I'm glad they did do this soon, because with the PS Vita coming out at $250, the 3DS would not do so well selling if it stayed at launch price. With that said, I still do not regret buying my 3DS at launch. I spent a lot of time playing it and using it. I am glad people who bought it early get free games. I definitely will need a bigger SD card. :D I better remember to connect to eShop on August 11! Thanks again, Nintendo. I appreciate your service. You went the extra mile by rewarding early adopters. :) Now the 3DS will fly off the shelves, fast!

wow, i came here cause i saw 20 free games... then i realized it was just old games no one wanna play anyways. those games works better on my gba amulator on my psp... still drooling for the vita!

Yes, that's nice. Now, when are they going to make it so that it does not have so many glaring hardware flaws? And when will it come with graphics capabilities that are not 10 years outdated?

Man screw Nintendo, seriously. I got a 3DS when it came out, and now they cut it this much not even a year after it came out. Oh boy i get 20 free games that i dont even want, thats great compensation huh?. This really makes me want to sell it and probably just get a Vita. Way to go Nintendo. I mean cmon, no one was expecting it to get 32 percent price cut a few months after launch. Its a cool piece of tech but seriously Screw nintendo, this is bull.

@motang i know right? but better late than never.

@Viiper I don't think so. The reason that the 3ds did not have great games is because it did not sell well. I think that there was an article about when the ps3 was still at original price a certain game company might want to consider to not making games for it judging that the ps3 did not sell well. But now, the 3ds is cheaper almost on par with the psp. Many people would consider buying it because it is cheaper. Moreover, if the system sell well, the other game company might want to consider making games for the system judging it will sell well.

I dunno about most people, but the reason I haven't bought a 3DS wasn't because of the price - it was the lack of original, great games that made its predecessor so awesome. I mean, good God, [url=<< LINK REMOVED >>]This[/url] is pathetic.

Yes we can all play these games on emulators but I certainly applaud Nintendo for giving us these games for free. It shows that they care, and the Virtual Console wouldn't exist if everybody was happy to just sit back and say "Why buy it when I can play it on emulators?" The prices are cheap and we support Nintendo a lot more then buying the old games on ebay.

@Frame_Dragger The point is you could never know. If you feel like buying it or not then go ahead nobody is stopping. If you feel like you not buying it because your being careful then go ahead nobody is still stopping you. Maybe you should consider that every one of us here has a free will and a free mind and nobody is stopping us.

Everyone's getting mad. This is just the horrible state that gaming is in and I fear it will only get worse.

It should have just launched at that price!

@zzamaro None of what you say makes Nintendo greedy, they're just aware of costs and trying to make a profit. Keep in mind I didn't buy a 3DS, and do not plan to, but I see why they did what they did. Sure, the device probably only costs $30 - 90 in actual dollars for the tech in side. But Nintendo put a lot of money into the R&D to make the device happen. In addition, setting a high "suggested retail price" does make a device (of any sort) gain that attached value, if only subconsciously. I know when I got my PS3, I felt as though I was getting a "whole lot more" partly because the device held such a high "perceived value" due to initial suggested retail price. To your point about falling prices of devices per each generation... you realize that costs go down as time passes, right? A device that costs $100 to produce may eventually be $50 to produce a year or more later. This is due to decreased costs for components as well as decreased costs to for larger volume (economics tells us so). So... I guess I don't see your point.

@decoy1978 See, but you didn't get hosed. You considered the price a fair one when you paid it. retailers do this a lot too. Sell at premium then suddenly things go on sale. Hell it happens so often Circuit City had a consumer friendly policy put in place to soften the sting. Point is you felt the deal was fair when you made it, and it's not exactly a stretch to think that a system that is released will see a drop in price post-launch, this just happened sooner rather than later.

@decoy1978: I'm asking this without any snark... you knew it was a gamble, and you strike me as a bright person. If your username = your birthday, you've been around. Why do you early adopt?... I want to understand, outside of my satirical commentary. @Icehearted: Thanks, I agree with your point about buying early and pre-ordering too. I understand the draw, but a bit of a delay does no harm and can only result in good things. I've dodged a few bullets that way, and AFAIK never missed out on a title.

Price drop is clearly being done because of Vita releasing at the same price, and nintendo knows its sales can't compete with PS3 level handheld matching its own price. The only way to sell the system is to make it even more affordable then Vita.

When the Mario games come out the price will rise again, so this is your chance.

Its never a good sign when someone slashes price on a system and it hasn't been a year. The 20 free games would be worth it, if not for the fact that they are rehashed of games I already have on old systems or I can play on an emulator. Early adopters like myself got hosed on this deal. But its always a gamble when you buy early.

I don't have any fanboyish opinions about games, so I don't have any loyalty with any developer, pusher or whatever. Is this bad? If you bought the 3DS early, then you had it comming. I mean, EVERYBODY knows, consoles aways have their price droped in about a year. Does that mean you're a loser? I hardly think so. I LOVE getting things first, and I bet you also do. However, that doesn't change the fact that you paid almost a hundred bucks more than any person that buys it after August. A hundred bucks is a LOT. So you are a loser. Hey, wait, you're getting 20 free games on your really expensive 3DS. So... Are you a loser? I guess it's just opinion. The 20 games may not de worth the hundred you paid, but they do ease the pain, don't they? And like I said, consoles AWAYS have their price cut after one year, so you would still have paid some 50 or 40 bucks more than everyone, but you wouldn't have those 20 games. I don't think it's bad, but that is my opinion. Feel free to share yours.

If Konami announces a Castlevania game for the 3DS...I'll buy one. Until then I'll go without

@demonic. Percentage wise, they are no where near the worst.

@Gamingclone really? the psvita is already as cheap as it is? maybe I should consider buying one or just wait,but maybe the article is full of lies. who knows.

@Frame_Dragger Well said. Reminds me of when similar happened when the iPhone was originally released. They payed what they did at the time because it was a fair price as they saw it; nobody was ripped off or "had". I see no real reason for being upset, but I will take this as yet another chance to point out that this is also what you get for pulling the trigger too fast. Like preordering games, early console adoption has it's risks, and you assume those risks when you chose that path.

I had to wonder why the price drops are different in different regions, as Japan received the largest price drop (40%), while Austrailia received the least (29%). It must be due to the higher price in Japan.

In other related news, Nintendo admits to price gouging customers

Hmmm... it seems my early adopters comment has raised some ire and support. Let me be clear, obviously if you're terminally ill and time is a factor, being an early adopter is NOT a sucker move. :D OTHERWISE... how does paying more for untested tech (RROD?) that generally has a minimal library of games or programs NOT equal sucker-move? Sure, if you need something to superglue to your spinning rims, I guess it's worth it. :roll: For the rest of us, waiting is just sensible. Then again, I guess the human race needed the kinds of people who'd try an oyster out of curiosity or desperation, and sadly... various poisonous mushrooms. I like to think I'm descended from the group that stood by and watched the unlucky saps undergo organ failure from mycotoxins. ;)

no GBA games in store.. F U nintendo..

these big businesses dont give a hoot about there fans, think about it, if Nintendo really HAS to drop the price 32% on their NEWEST piece of hardware they must really be at the mercy of the consumers and the 3DS must really suck lol

@ColdfireTrilogy: WOW... that's a lot of units, and just the original GB! That's really amazing, especially when you consider the date you're citing. Thanks for that info.

I hope this tells Nintendo any idea you had for Wii U pricetag you might wanna chage it lol :P

@atopp399: Sorry, I have no idea what that means, but the reason I CAN afford to be an early adopter, is because I have the fiscal sense to NOT be one. It's one of those funny things... people who spend in a profligate and impulsive fashion tend not to have money. If you were being sarcastic, I'm sorry, I don't speak "Californian".

@Icehearted probably not. If I remember correctly, earlier this year someone at sony said that they wouldnt be making be making profit on the PSvita for 3 years. Now I could had read that gamespot article wrong, but if I didnt, that pretty much tells me that if they too lowered the price of the PSvita, it would do more harm than good (for them). And as for the Wii U, if anything Nintendo will take this as a lesson that over pricing new hardware waay too much is not good. I believe I can safely assume that the Wii U will not be over priced.

@deathblow3 hoping to be good real fast.

Frame_Dragger You jelly brah? Can't afford to be an early adopter?

I wonder if we can keep the 20 free games until something we want is released or if we have to choose from the titles available at a certain point?

@deathblow3 And I quote: "before Game Boy Color's release in late-1998, the Game Boy alone had sold 64.42 million units worldwide" Doesnt sound like a flop to me.... perhaps you need to relook your facts. citation: << LINK REMOVED >>

The price cut is great. I dont get all the hate, if you are upset that you bough the 3DS at the original price, dont be, you are getting 20 free games. If you dont like the games they give you for free then well... you can't please everyone. $170 for the 3DS come August, such a great price drop. Now many more people will be able to afford it. This is great. This means that the user base on the multiplayer games could increase a good bit and now, developers who were holding off on making games for the 3DS can now developing for it because now there is a higher chance (or there will be a higher chance soon) that their games will sell. So all I see here is good news. No reason to be angry.

@foxfacer2d2 i don't knwo what that means the wii did extremely well for years beating out the other 2 consoles 3 to 1 and 5 to 1. and is still giving them a run for its money. are you hoping good for the 3ds or hoping it does bad????? your example is terrible

This makes me wonder if the Vita will have a shift in it's pricing to compete better (even if the 3DS isn't exactly a hit), and whether or not this could also happen with the much debated WiiU. I just don't see that thing really taking off either.

Early adopters are suckers, and try to remember people that buying it now is still early adoption. That said, thanks to all those who DO buy instantly, because you beta test for the rest of us, and drive prices down. You don't have my respect, but you do have my sincere thanks.

Ow, I thought I could have 70$ refund because of the price drop. But what concerns me is that, the future of the 3ds seems kinda dim. Where the hell are the games nintendo? The price drop feels like a slap in the face for those who bought it in launch but not only that, another slap in the face for giving bad launch titles. I hope the 3ds shares the same fate as the Wii.

i dont know if you call it desperation just a smarter move they could have also stopped making the ds. so people would not have 4 cheaper different price hand helds available to them. which is why the big consoles normaly stop making the previous models. I'm glad they drop the price instead of the other ds's leaving the price at 250 and as a nood to the people that paid 250 they are giving us 20 free games that wont be available to the every one at least for now. even tough its seems like a half a#$ attempt to please the installed base at least they didnt say screw the people that bought 3ds aready, they paid their money.

Still not buying one until a flash cart that can play Japanese 3DS games gets released.

A 3rd off £200 is will make it about £135 but you can already get a brand new one for about £100 so Nintendo have failed yet again just like Microsoft's games on demand and PSN games on demand