REDMOND, Wash., July 28, 2011 – Nintendo of America today announced plans to drop the suggested retail price of its portable Nintendo 3DS™ system to $169.99 in the United States, as new games based on some of the world's most beloved video game franchises head to the system. The new price, down from the suggested launch price of $249.99 and effective Aug. 12, makes an outstanding value even better and sets up a strong holiday season for the system.

"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."

Press Release

Fun fun fun!

EDIT: Added paragraphs from the press release with a link, and converted the thread into a news article. ~ Earendil

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@Scrawnton

It's just that I wasn't going to buy any of those games. And the press release itself contains some worrisome news:

- Nowhere does it say that the NES titles will be in 3D. They're being called Virtual Console titles, NOT 3D classics.

- The fact that we're getting them for free means others will have to pay for them. People having to pay for them means that if you have them already on the Wii VC, you can't just transfer them the same way PSOne Classics are transferable between PSP and PS3. You're expected to buy them again.

Posted by

Guillaume

on: 07/28/11, 17:13

@Guillaume
Yeah but did you really think Nintendo was going to let us transfer games from Wii to the 3DS? This is the company with the backwards notion when you buy a game the system owns it, not the consumer. You can't even transfer VC games from Wii to Wii much less transfer them to other systems.

I really wish Nintendo would adopt a policy like Sony's where once you buy a game you can play it on any damn system you want. I paid for SotN once and yet have it on my PS3 and PSP, that's how it should work. But Nintendo will never do this, just like they will never have good online, they refuse to do simple things that make sense, this is the way of the world.

Posted by

deathly_hallows

on: 07/28/11, 17:20

Edited:

07/28/11, 17:20

Renjaku said:

Got mine OoT launch. I got fucked.

NES and GBA games, no selection. Great.

Pretty much. But it's better than nothing, I guess? Sort of?

I already have every single one of those games!!

Hopefully, this will kick 3DS sales in the ass, though.

Nintendo stock just dropped 10%, by the way. 20 bones. That's hella low.

Posted by

Anand

on: 07/28/11, 17:21

Edited:

07/28/11, 17:22

A price cut this soon seems pretty odd.

But whatever, free stuff!

Posted by

Alaska_Gamer

on: 07/28/11, 17:23

@deathly_hallows

Well I didn't believe it would happen but was still hoping.

And it's not the fact that I can't transfer the VC Wii games that gives me a sinking feeling. It's knowing what the release schedule on the eShop will look like for the next few years: all VC games I already own or that are already available to me.

And no doubt the presence of console games will make the portable VC titles less appealing to the majority of people, so expect support for Game Boy games on the eShop to dry up before it even got started. Gone, any chance of seeing Shantae on it.

Posted by

Guillaume

on: 07/28/11, 17:25

Are we sure "console" games are coming? Every game that they listed has appeared on the handhelds in some form, correct? Although I guess they are specifically calling it NES™ Virtual Console™.

Anyhow, handheld games may stand a chance due to us all owning the console games on Wii already. Maybe.

Posted by

Zero

on: 07/28/11, 17:29

Edited:

07/28/11, 17:29

@Zero

Hahahahaha, what a kick in the balls it would be if they were the GBA versions, with the messed up resolution!

Posted by

Guillaume

on: 07/28/11, 17:30

Edited:

07/28/11, 17:30

Could be. Looks like we are getting the GBA version of Yoshi's Island versus the SNES version. Which I guess has more stages, but it has much worse sound quality... ew.

But the press release seems to specify that the NES titles are NES titles, and the GBA titles are GBA titles.

Posted by

Zero

on: 07/28/11, 17:32

Edited:

07/28/11, 17:33

Wait what? Fusion's a part of this? Worth it for me cuz of Fusion alone. I wanna play this game so bad. I'd really really like to see Zero Mission as well. I may not et the free titles but my brothers will. Win win!

Is there a full list, or partial? I musta missed it.

Posted by

carlosrox

on: 07/28/11, 17:33

@Guillaume
I'm sure they'll release a good flow of VC games on all platforms, GB, GBC, GBA, NES, SNES, you name it! It will be VC heaven!*



*in Japan.

Posted by

deathly_hallows

on: 07/28/11, 17:34

Wait wait wait, does it say anywhere how much the DSi and DSiXL will cost after this price drop?

Posted by

deathly_hallows

on: 07/28/11, 17:36

Holy crap. I'm buying a 3DS next month now! I had no idea Nintendo was bringing NES VC games to the device, this is news to everyone right?

Also, there is NO WAY those GBA titles won't be available to the general public at some point. Absolutely no way Awesome for early adopters though, that's an insane amount of free content.

Posted by

OrbitalBeard

on: 07/28/11, 17:38

Edited:

07/28/11, 17:39

This will be perfect for my fiance since she doesn't have a 3DS yet to match mine, but I really hope there are new colors. I have Aqua Blue and she does not want Cosmo Black.

It's a bit concerning to see such a drastic price reduction so fast. Well, hopefully 3DS sales will skyrocket because of this!

Posted by

roykoopa64

on: 07/28/11, 17:40

Holy shit...

I don't know if this is better for early adopters or late adopters, but it's fuck awesome either way!

Posted by

anon_mastermind

on: 07/28/11, 17:42

I'm going to have to start thinking of an exit strategy for my 3DS. We can selectively transfer stuff, right? So I could transfer my pictures and streetpasses and shit, leave the free VC stuff on it, and sell it? FUCK, I wish I hadn't dropped it the other day!

Posted by

Anand

on: 07/28/11, 17:46

You know, I guess this proves Nintendo shouldn't have thrown all their eggs in one basket this year. They just assumed starved Wii owners would all flock to the 3DS and they were dead wrong. They should have provided all three of their systems (DS, Wii, 3DS) with content.

Posted by

OrbitalBeard

on: 07/28/11, 17:48

I wonder if we could buy a 3DS for $250, sign in for the ambassador program, then return to the store with the receipt on aug 12th to get refunded the difference.

Posted by

anon_mastermind

on: 07/28/11, 17:49

@OrbitalBeard

I slightly disagree. I think this proves Nintendo should not rely on third parties to kick off their systems with a bang. THAT was clearly the problem. Had they launched with Zelda, Mario 3D, and/or Mario Kart, we wouldn't see this price drop happen.

Posted by

-JKR-

on: 07/28/11, 17:52

@anon_mastermind
That's pretty devious...

It might work!

Posted by

Anand

on: 07/28/11, 17:55

@-JKR-
I disagree, the price was too high no matter what games it launched with. The launch wasn't even that bad.

Posted by

deathly_hallows

on: 07/28/11, 17:56