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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Seems that Nintendo will be incurring a loss on every 3DS unit sold, after the price drop. That's a first for Nintendo, isn't it?

@-JKR-
Yeah it's so easy to rationalize, I just have to do it.

Posted by

anon_mastermind

on: 07/28/11, 19:44

I own most of the games listed already, so I'll be interested in seeing what the rest will be before I know whether I'll get $80 worth. Either way I think the gesture definitely takes the bite out of paying $250.

Posted by

gojira

on: 07/28/11, 19:52

@PogueSquadron
You might be sleeping a while. I don't think Nintendo would do such a drastic cut and sell the 3DS at a loss, if they were planning a redesign in the near future.

Posted by

anon_mastermind

on: 07/28/11, 19:59

@anon_mastermind I guess I should specifiy, I don't really care if it's near future or not. The 3DS just isn't something I see myself getting in the next couple of years, especially with work stuff and PC gaming taking up more of my time.

Posted by

PogueSquadron

on: 07/28/11, 20:05

There are Targets in Canada.

In Vancouver BC at least...

Posted by

carlosrox

on: 07/28/11, 20:28

Well thank god. They actually dropped it to a reasonable price. My arguments for the Playstation Vita are now nil. Now we just need to see some more improvements, like in the eShop.

Still getting both. Fuck yeah.

Posted by

Gyrocoptor

on: 07/28/11, 20:29

Christmas holiday is going to be massive for the 3DS. I really hope I get another job soon, so I can get some of the games!

Posted by

Cube191

on: 07/28/11, 20:37

I think I am going to attempt the anon strategy as well. No Best Buys or Future Shops here though, would Wal-Mart give me the partial refund?

Posted by

Stephen

on: 07/28/11, 20:55

20 free games are nice, but having bought mine not even a month ago I would have rather just waited. I own ALL of those games.

Oh well. I suppose it's sort of a win-win-win situation. Nintendo hopefully sees more sales, late adopters are rewarded for holding out, early adopters don't have to fully regret anything.

Though it's kind of funny how my 3DS is basically my "Play old games" system.

Posted by

Secret_Tunnel

on: 07/28/11, 20:58

I consider this good news, even though I paid full price for the thing and only have Pilotwings right now.

First and foremost: I agreed to pay $250 dollars. That was my decision, not Nintendo's. So I can't be mad at them for offering it for cheaper than I was willing to pay. Yes, it makes me feel like a bit of an idiot, but I don't blame Nintendo for that. It does make me gun shy about early adopting in the future, but, meh, I'll cross that bridge later with the Wii U.

But most important to me and my $250 investment: This gives the 3DS a fighting chance to succeed. The rose was starting to wilt. But now it seems reasonably priced and I suspect this is going to give the 3DS Christmas traffic that it wouldn't have had otherwise. That is good news for the future of the 3DS. I hope I start seeing actual kids playing these things now.

I'm happy to have the games they're offering. As much fun as I've been having with Link's Awakening and Donkey Kong '94, I can find no reason to complain about that. Yes, it would have been nicer to get new games (or a selection), but considering Nintendo's usual conservatism, it's nice to see that they aren't just giving us a small, insulting consolation prize. This is pretty major. And it's been so long since I've played some of these games that I'm excited to play them again.

And, as has been pointed out, this might bode well for the Wii U launch price. Even if this drop was a part of Nintendo's plan all along, surely they can't be eager to repeat the 3DS's launch strategy with the Wii U. Gives me hope, anyway.

If it looks like a desperate move - and I agree that it sort of does - I think it makes up for that by righting the ship. If the 3DS had launched at that price, I think most of us would agree it would have been a good value. Well, that's still true now. I can actually start recommending the system to friends.

Do we have a complete list of all 20 games yet?

Posted by

kriswright

on: 07/28/11, 20:58

@kriswright Very well said, my thoughts exactly.

I absolutely do not regret my day 1 purchase, and with the price drop I hope sales will begin to skyrocket.

Hm, I don't know if there is a list yet of all 20 games.

Posted by

roykoopa64

on: 07/28/11, 21:06

My tipping point was OOT 3D + 3DS for less than $200. With a few good deals here and there after the price drop looks like I might just get a 3DS sooner than I thought. While this is certainly very logical for Nintendo to do, I can't help it but feel that Nintendo is acknowledging some sort of failure with the 3DS which makes me worried about its future and the future of dedicated videogame-only handhelds in general, including Vita. Than we still have the problem of 3rd party support which as far as I can see is nearly non-existent. 95% of current and future 3DS library seems to be exclusively 1st party.

Posted by

gencid

on: 07/28/11, 21:16

Edited:

07/28/11, 21:20

@stephen08
I'm pretty sure Wal Mart has a 30 day policy, and there's Target as well. I just called to confirm and it's 30 days at Best Buy, so I'll probably pick one up tonight or tomorrow evening! Hyped!

Posted by

anon_mastermind

on: 07/28/11, 21:19

awesome!

But it's surprising, because I'd consider it worth the $250 ('course I dont' have one yet either, so I'll take the price-drop).

Posted by

heliumsky

on: 07/28/11, 21:21

Just got off of the phone with Wal-Mart. Their policy is a 30 day partial refund if the price is lowered so long as the product is not on clearance. Looks like I am buying a 3DS! $169.99 + 20 free downloadable games? I'll make that deal.

Posted by

Stephen

on: 07/28/11, 21:24

Kotaku's sensationalism regarding this 3DS shit is truly ridiculous. Lotta angry/annoyed posters there right now, me included.

They have another story regarding Sony like 3 posts under the 3DS shit and it reads COMPLETELY differently. They manage to somehow praise Sony (cuz the PS2 still sells apparently) yet bash Nintendo for the EXACT same issue. Both Sony and Nintendo are down, and their systems aren't selling so well.

They read like two completely different articles. Kotaku's starting to get on my nerves for real. What's with the obvious fanboy shit? It's not even subtle.

Posted by

carlosrox

on: 07/28/11, 21:28

@carlosrox

Just migrate over to Joystiq. That's what I did when I got fed up with Kutaku's shenanigans. Joystiq has far less pointless filler articles too (i.e. "What's Cliff Bleszinski's favorite color?!!").

As for the Sony / Nintendo deal, they're both in trouble on the handheld front. Portable convergence devices have already put the screws to them and smart-phone/tablet momentum suggests that it's only going to get worse.

Posted by

New Forms

on: 07/28/11, 21:35

I didn't think we would see such a drastic price drop, and so soon!

I thought it would drop to $200 in time for the holidays. At $170 with its holiday lineup, it's gonna sell by the bucket load.

Definitely feel stung as an early adopter, but you always run the risk when you buy early. Free games make me feel a little better...

Posted by

achhibbar

on: 07/28/11, 21:52

I'm curious about two things:

1. Are we going to have to download the games one at a time?

2. Does this mean we get 200 free Club Nintendo coins?

Posted by

Secret_Tunnel

on: 07/28/11, 22:39

Edited:

07/28/11, 22:39

@Secret_Tunnel

1. Yes.

2. No.

Posted by

Guillaume

on: 07/28/11, 22:44