Topic: Nintendo Announces European DS Launch Details

[Robert]

It's coming on 11th March, and will cost you €149.....

At a press conference in Paris today, Nintendo finally confirmed that the Nintendo DS will launch in Europe on 11th March 2005, and will cost €149 (roughly £99). Games will cost between £19.99 and £29.99, and the initial launch range will include flagship title Super Mario 64 DS, WarioWare Touched!, Project Rub, Mr DRILLER: Drill Spirits, Spider-Man 2, Rayman DS, The Urbz, Pokémon Dash, Sprung, Asphalt Urban GT, Zoo Keeper, Ping Pals, Robots, and Polarium.

Nintendo said that it expects to ship a total of 650,000 DS units in the initial batch, and each of those will come bundled with the Metroid Prime: First Hunt demo.

Nintendo also showed new video of Mario Kart DS and Puppy Times, among others, at the event, but no release dates were provided.

[KDR_11k]

I'll try to hang out near a few stores to see if i can find someone willing to play Prime 3 Arena... Mine didn't come with that (and people envy the Japanese not having that "ugly Metroid sticker" on their boxes? They don't get the freaking demo!).

Besides, Puppy Times? Wasn't it already called Nintendogz in that other press release or are those different games?

[CHEN]

It's been renamed to Puppy Times. Meh.

[Djunknown]

Mmmm...puppies. yum.

149 euros? Last I checked, the Euro is on par or better than the dollar, talk about affordable.

The United Kingdom still uses Pounds despite they're in the EU? Odd....

[Mario]

Holy crap that's an awesome launch lineup. Super Mario 64 DS, Wario Ware, Project Rub, Polarium, Pokemon Dash, Mr Driller, Rayman and Zoo Keeper are all games i'd consider buying. That's like, half my entire GBA library already!

[KDR_11k]

Dju: Not all EU countries joined the ECU (European Currency Union), only twelve (out of fifteen back then) did. Sweden, Denmark and the UK refused to adopt the Euro. I don't think the new countries have been offered to join the ECU. And an Euro is worth ~1.30 USD right now.

[Hostile Creation]

Nintendogs was a much cooler name.

[Nephilim]

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The United Kingdom still uses Pounds despite they're in the EU? Odd....

the euro made things twice as expensive in most of the poorer countrys in europe
why change to euro when your money is worth more anyway?
why do u think NZ wanted to merge money with Aus, cause it makes them better off, not australia  

[Caillan]

This means that Wario Ware and Pokemon Dash will have been localised when the PSP launches in America, releases which will increase DS sales. Less importantly Puppy Times and Rayman DS also will be ready for sale. Right now Nintendo needs to prioritise shipping an adequate number of units to North America rather than meeting demand for the launches in Europe and Australia.

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why do u think NZ wanted to merge money with Aus, cause it makes them better off, not australia

That was suggested by a few economists and Reserve Bankers who became National Party backbenchers; it had little support from the populous or the ruling majority at the time.


EDIT: KDR, my point was that without popular support or a government in power that favoured the change, the bill wouldn't be passed.  

[KDR_11k]

The general populous never embraces new currencies. They also want the state to throw more money at various areas while at the same time cutting taxes. Never go with the populous, they don't know what's good for them.