DS Lite Dropping to $99

by Andy Goergen - May 31, 2011, 7:24 am EDT
Total comments: 12

The price drop is accompanied by new red DS cases for Mario titles.

The MSRP for the Nintendo DS Lite will be lowered to $99, starting June 5, 2011, despite previous rumors that the DS Lite had been discontinued entirely.

In addition, Nintendo will be repackaging games featuring Mario with a red case to make them more easily identifiable by consumers. These titles are known for their "evergreen" sales figures, selling long after their initial introduction. The games included in this re-branding include:

New Super Mario Bros.
Mario Kart DS
Super Mario 64 DS
Mario Party DS
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem

The new packaging for the Mario titles doesn't imply any change in pricing, but rather a measure of prestige for a brand which has sold 262 million games worldwide.

PRESS RELEASE

Nintendo DS Lite Suggested Retail Price Drops to $99.99 and Mario Games Go Red

Mario-red boxes will help shoppers identify select fan-favorite Mario games.

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The portable Nintendo DS^™ Lite system is getting a new suggested retail price. Effective June 5, the system will be available at a suggested retail price of just $99.99 in the United States. The Nintendo DS family has become the best-selling video game system in history. More than 48.9 million systems in the Nintendo DS family have sold in the United States alone. Also in June, six Mario^™ games for Nintendo DS will receive new red packaging, making it easier than ever for consumers to identify these hit titles in stores.

“From the moment it launched, Nintendo DS Lite hit a sweet spot for consumers in terms of value, experience and fun,” said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “This new price point will introduce Nintendo DS Lite to even more consumers, and the new red packaging will make it easy for them to find their favorite Mario titles.”

The six Mario games that will begin sporting the new Mario-red packaging in June are New Super Mario Bros.^™, Mario Kart^™ DS, Super Mario 64^™ DS, Mario & Luigi^™: Bowser’s Inside Story, Mario vs. Donkey Kong^™: Mini-Land Mayhem! and Mario Party^™ DS. These games represent some of the best-selling fan-favorite Nintendo DS games of all time, and demonstrate the well-known “evergreen” sales trend of Nintendo games. Their total U.S. sales through the end of April 2011 according to the NPD Group are as follows:

New Super Mario Bros.: more than 9.25 million units
Mario Kart DS: more than 7.40 million units
Super Mario 64 DS: more than 4.34 million units
Mario Party DS: more than 3.27 million units
Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story: more than 1.98 million units
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!: more than 1.01 million units

Mario is one of the most beloved video game characters and the top video game franchise of all time. Thirty-one Mario games have topped sales of more than 1 million units since 1995, more than any other franchise. Through the end of March 2011, more than 262 million games in the core Super Mario^™ series have sold worldwide.

For more information about Nintendo DS Lite, visit http://www.nintendo.com/ds.

Talkback

gbuellGrant Buell, Staff WriterMay 31, 2011

I'm still using the DS Phat, and I'm in no position to buy a 3DS anytime soon... this is tempting.

famicomplicatedJames Charlton, Associate Editor (Japan)May 31, 2011

Deal of the century.

*Better way to play DS games than a 3DS.
*Full GBA support.
*Guitar Hero + other peripheral support.

Plus I like the position of the power button/switch better on the Lite.

Ian SaneMay 31, 2011

So Nintendo is now offering the ugly case designs of Player's Choice titles without the discount in price? Wow, talk about a "worst of both worlds" scenario.

CrimmJames Jones, Associate EditorMay 31, 2011

Quote from: Ian

So Nintendo is now offering the ugly case designs of Player's Choice titles without the discount in price? Wow, talk about a "worst of both worlds" scenario.

Never change

BlackNMild2k1May 31, 2011

Quote from: Ian

So Nintendo is now offering the ugly case designs of Player's Choice titles without the discount in price? Wow, talk about a "worst of both worlds" scenario.

ugly case designs? of player choice titles?

you mean the red case color of NSMBWii with the same exact cover design as before?

Did you look at the picture?

Chozo GhostMay 31, 2011

I happen to like the color red, so it isn't ugly to me. What I really hated were the baby poop yellow that the player's choice line of games used. But red is fine by me. Red is Mario's color, so really what better choice of color could there be for a Mario line of games?

EnnerMay 31, 2011

The red looks quite nice on those cases.

leahsdadMay 31, 2011

Maybe it doesn't matter because of the 3DS, but if I were a 3rd party DS publisher, this would piss me off to no end. Not only do these Mario games sell more than 3rd parties anyway, but Nintendo is going to make them stand out even more on store shelves? Talk about adding fuel to the flames.

BlackNMild2k1May 31, 2011

Well Nintendo did give 3rd parties the 3DS on a platter and they haven't really done much with it so far, so Nintendo has to make up for that somewhere.

Old evergreen DS titles hardly sound like a slap in the face.

gbuellGrant Buell, Staff WriterMay 31, 2011

Those Mario games are a big part of the reason the DS is so popular, which of course leads to other DS games being successful as well. If this sort of thing angers game developers, they can always switch to developing for the Sony handhelds. I'm sure that will work out great for them.

TrueNerdMay 31, 2011

This reminds me that I need to buy and play Inside Story. Too bad there's no budget pricing for it. Why is that again?

Mop it upJune 01, 2011

Too bad it's just the Lite. I was considering getting a DSi XL because of its larger size, but I don't think I can justify $70 more just for that.

Quote from: Ian

So Nintendo is now offering the ugly case designs of Player's Choice titles without the discount in price? Wow, talk about a "worst of both worlds" scenario.

That's what I was thinking. It's incredibly stupid.

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