Topic: 3DS MAJOR price drop incoming + tons of free games for early adopters?

[BlackNMild2k1]

I will be picking up a 3DS tomorrow evening.

I will be getting it online & registered tomorrow nite.

I will be getting my price guarantee in no less than 2 weeks from tomorrow.

[leahsdad]

A lot of mainstream websites were reporting the news too, not just gaming sites.

Well, I've seen lots of stuff about the price drop, but I haven't seen too many non-game outlets report on the ambassador program.

[GaMMa]

I remember waking up and the price drop was the first story I read. I was thinking this was some kind of April Fool's joke or something. Then I saw we're getting 20 free games and I thought it was too good to be true.
 
I think Nintendo has a lot of work ahead of them to make this console successful. The mainstream media is blaming "poor" sales on iPhone and Android games. As far as I can tell Nintendo hasn't officially acknowledged these games are a threat. I could see the handheld gaming market going the way of cameras and MP3 players. The market is going to continue to shrink as more people get smartphones. If Nintendo made a console that could answer phone calls I think they'd see great success in America.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I remember waking up and the price drop was the first story I read. I was thinking this was some kind of April Fool's joke or something. Then I saw we're getting 20 free games and I thought it was too good to be true.
 
I think Nintendo has a lot of work ahead of them to make this console successful. The mainstream media is blaming "poor" sales on iPhone and Android games. As far as I can tell Nintendo hasn't officially acknowledged these games are a threat. I could see the handheld gaming market going the way of cameras and MP3 players. The market is going to continue to shrink as more people get smartphones. If Nintendo made a console that could answer phone calls I think they'd see great success in America.

Before NIntendo starts freaking out over the smartphone industry, they should address the 3DS's biggest problem now, games. Even the DS had a couple exclusive/non-remakes come out for it shortly after launch. I think it is really jumping the gun to blame it on the mobile market, especially considering how well the DS is still selling and has sold. Let's face it until the mobile market has decent controls for traditional games (aka not touch screen controls) there will always be a reason to pick up a handheld like PSP Vita or 3DS. I love my iPhone 4 but it is far from being a replacement for handheld systems, it is great for more casual games but if I want to play a traditional game, the 3DS/DS will win everytime and I doubt I'm the only one.

It is strange people keep on harping on the mobile market being the problem when the DS/PSP were still seeing good sales even up to a couple of months ago. That indicates people still want handhelds like that, and that there is another problem that needs to be addressed with 3DS, which is, as said before games, especially since the other concern by some, price, was addressed.

[Lithium]

I hope there's a DSi XL price drop on the horizon, I still play plenty ds and have tons of games on my backlog

[Flames_of_chaos]

I hope there's a DSi XL price drop on the horizon, I still play plenty ds and have tons of games on my backlog

I doubt it, because at this point Nintendo would want to convert potential DSi sales to 3DS sales especially with how 3DS is going to be $20 more than a DSi and the same price as an XL. It's more critical for Nintendo to grow the 3DS user base, and for consumers they esentially get the best of both worlds since 99% of all DSiWare is available on 3DS.


Also, at this point a DSi is not worth buying unless you're in the camp of how DS and DSi games played on 3DS look "worse" than they are when played on a DSi/DSi XL. 

[Lithium]

I hope there's a DSi XL price drop on the horizon, I still play plenty ds and have tons of games on my backlog

unless you're in the camp of how DS and DSi games played on 3DS look "worse" than they are when played on a DSi/DSi XL.

yeah thats basically the reason why im still looking at a dsi XL, I have big hands so the ds lite gives me cramps

[Mop it up]

It'd be a bad idea to keep the DSi XL price the same as the 3DS. Nintendo is already having a tough enough time differentiating the 3DS from the DS/i, so selling them at the same price doesn't illustrate the superiority of the 3DS.

[NWR_insanolord]

Amazon has the 3DS available right now for $216, so you could get almost half the price drop and still get the 20 free games.

http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-3DS-Cosmo-Black/dp/B002I096AA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1312206106&sr=8-4

[Ceric]

If the goal is to get more 3DS's out into people hands I would not drop the prices of any of the DS's further.  I also lower my outgoing supply to them to retailer making it harder for people to find a DS.  Just phase the whole DS line out since the 3DS has BC.

[noname2200]

It'd be a bad idea to keep the DSi XL price the same as the 3DS. Nintendo is already having a tough enough time differentiating the 3DS from the DS/i, so selling them at the same price doesn't illustrate the superiority of the 3DS.

It'd be a fun, if expensive, experiment, though: with price being equal, what is the real-world level of demand for the 3DS vis-a-vis its predecessor?

[Mop it up]

If the 3DS can do everything that the DSi can do plus more, then there may not be a reason to keep it on the market. The only reason would be to offer a model at a lower price, but if they are not going to do that, then there's no reason to keep the DSi on the market. The DS Lite can play GBA games, but at this point that probably doesn't mean anything to potential buyers. There's a rumour that production has stopped on the DS Lite, and I haven't seen any in a while so it may be true, but it isn't confirmed.

Amazon has the 3DS available right now for $216, so you could get almost half the price drop and still get the 20 free games.

http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-3DS-Cosmo-Black/dp/B002I096AA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1312206106&sr=8-4

*stomps foot*

[TJ Spyke]

I saw a DS Lite at Walmart today, along with a big sticker on the case advertising the current price after they lowered it a couple of months ago. They kept making the GBA SP for a few years after the DS came out, and it kept selling really well. The DSi still sells well, so they may not want to drop it yet.

[Mop it up]

Yeah, it could be risky to drop the DS line, but Nintendo really wants to (and kind of needs to) get the 3DS userbase up. Since the 3DS offers everything the DSi can do plus so much more, would anyone not buy a 3DS who wanted a DSi but they're not available anymore? It'd be a bit of an aggressive move, but it could help spur 3DS sales further.

[TJ Spyke]

It could backfire though. When Sega launched the Saturn in 1995 (1994 in Japan), they killed support for the Genesis despite the fact that it was still selling well. It would be a gutsy move, but could end up costing them money. Maybe reduce the price and have it marketed it as a secondary system. I would always recommend someone get a 3DS instead though.

[MegaByte]

When Sega launched the Saturn in 1995 (1994 in Japan), they killed support for the Genesis despite the fact that it was still selling well. It would be a gutsy move, but could end up costing them money. Maybe reduce the price and have it marketed it as a secondary system.

That's not really a fair comparison though, particularly since the Saturn was not backwards compatible. And they did relaunch the Genesis as a secondary system, in a way -- the Sega Nomad.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Got my 3DS from Best Buy..... $270 After tax!? I almost returned it 5 minutes later....

I can only imagine the people that brought it up to the counter and saw the total and then took it back to the shelf and left the store. I contemplated buying a game too, but I think I'm tapped and will wait or a sale and my free games instead.

[Adrock]

I'm hoping Target has another one of those buy 2 games, get 1 free deals like they did last year.

I played around with the 3DS a bit today. The battery life pretty much sucks out loud. I flat-out asked the guy in the games department how the price matching policy works and he said if Nintendo drops the price, Best Buy has to honor it though I may end up with a Best Buy gift card which is fine, I was planning on buying my new phone from Best Buy anyway. Yeah, I'm exploiting the system. I'm okay with it.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I posed it to them as a hypothetical question

"If I bought a.... Sony Bluray player, and then 2 weeks later Sony dropped the price of that Bluray player $60 everywhere, would you make up the difference?"

He said they would honor it within 30 days, so I bought it.
(My sister, who works @ BB, already confirmed it for me last week, but a second opinion never hurts)

[Ceric]

I posed it to them as a hypothetical question

"If I bought a.... Sony Bluray player, and then 2 weeks later Sony dropped the price of that Bluray player $60 everywhere, would you make up the difference?"

He said they would honor it within 30 days, so I bought it.
(My sister, who works @ BB, already confirmed it for me last week, but a second opinion never hurts)

Alright,

1.  I heard back in the day BB workers had a generous discount.
2.  I watch Toys R' US because they are fond of Buy one Get One Half off

[BlackNMild2k1]

1. Best Buy's "generous" employee discount ended on Sunday.
Most employees no longer have the only perk of working there and now have little reason for dropping their right back into the store.

2. I'm waiting for that TRU sale. Amazon just had one, but the selection was limited to crap.
Once a nice sale starts, Amazon will usually match it. The best part is when all the stores stagger their sales and Amazon does their best to match it, but Amazon has to start charging tax in CA soon, so I don't know if I'm still gonna go the Amazon route unless it's still cheaper.

[MegaByte]

The relevant law already went into effect last month, but Amazon shut down their associates program in California to continue avoiding paying/charging CA tax.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Alright then, I can continue not paying tax and getting free shipping from Amazon.
All is still good in the world of online shopping.

[Ceric]

I feel messed over because I think I had to pay taxes on my last few Amazon purchases.

Ah ha.  They didn't.

[TJ Spyke]

Technically you are still required to pay those sales taxes. The only difference is you pay them on your tax return at the end of the year instead of directly to Amazon. I am not sure how many people get in trouble for not doing it though. And California is already working on changing the law to make Amazon have to collect sales tax because they ship products to California (so they still do business in the state).