Topic: 3DS Price Drop and Release Dates for 3DS Mario Titles Revealed

[UncleBob]

A comment on Ars Technica brought up an interesting idea, buy 3DS next week at a retailer that honors price matching sales/price drops within 2 weeks of purchase and get 20 free games and the price drop. It's like getting a 3DS for less than $100.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=35188.msg688189#msg688189

*edit* - Just got off the phone with Nintendo... they assured me that, so long as the 3DS is connected to the eShop before (whatever the time/date was) that you'll be eligible for the free games.

hmmm... seems like if I want a second 3DS, now's the time to get it...

[nickmitch]

Anyone else think this was a bit of an over-reaction? Yeah, the 3DS was over-priced, but $100 price drop is steep. IMHO, the biggest thing hurting 3DS sales was the software lineup. This big of a drop to me is a sign of Nintendo saying, "We can't sell you on the system's potential, so we'll just make it a bargain."

[Adrock]

I'm probably getting a 3DS next week. This is too good of a deal to pass up. I'll probably buy the redesign anyway, transfer my games and trade the original in.

[LittleIrves]

Holy smokes! I'm 100% happy I bought mine at launch, and have been having fun with a lot of the titles many have disregarded...   even Dream Trigger (rented through GameFly), once you fall into the rhythm of it, gets pretty cool and addicting. So the 20 free games offer is wicked cool. Will be really curious to see how this affects the sales numbers.

[Ceric]

Holy smokes! I'm 100% happy I bought mine at launch, and have been having fun with a lot of the titles many have disregarded...   even Dream Trigger (rented through GameFly), once you fall into the rhythm of it, gets pretty cool and addicting. So the 20 free games offer is wicked cool. Will be really curious to see how this affects the sales numbers.

Hopefully Mainstream news will pick up this story and it will move product.

[apdude]

Holy smokes! I'm 100% happy I bought mine at launch, and have been having fun with a lot of the titles many have disregarded...   even Dream Trigger (rented through GameFly), once you fall into the rhythm of it, gets pretty cool and addicting. So the 20 free games offer is wicked cool. Will be really curious to see how this affects the sales numbers.

Hopefully Mainstream news will pick up this story and it will move product.

I did hear about the price drop on the radio (NPR morning edition) on the way into work this morning.  But they didn't mention anything about the free games until I read it here.  The free games definatly make the whole 30% drop easier to swallow.

[Ceric]

Holy smokes! I'm 100% happy I bought mine at launch, and have been having fun with a lot of the titles many have disregarded...   even Dream Trigger (rented through GameFly), once you fall into the rhythm of it, gets pretty cool and addicting. So the 20 free games offer is wicked cool. Will be really curious to see how this affects the sales numbers.

Hopefully Mainstream news will pick up this story and it will move product.

I did hear about the price drop on the radio (NPR morning edition) on the way into work this morning.  But they didn't mention anything about the free games until I read it here.  The free games definatly make the whole 30% drop easier to swallow.

lol, I listen to that in the morning on the way to work, NPRer but anyone seen me on twitter knows that.  I didn't hear it on there but, then I had seen tweets about it.

[Ian Sane]

Calling it Mario Kart 7 really makes it sound like an over milked series.  But it isn't.  They just do one per system.  But when you think about it, there being SEVEN of those games sounds like overkill.

The 3DS was overpriced to start with so I'm glad to see a price drop and glad to see Nintendo found a way to not jerk around the early adopters in doing so.  The price drop is a little excessive though.  I'm not going to complain but they don't need to be that desperate.  They've got some big stuff due later in the year.  Nintendo was probably banking on 3D having Wii Sports like mainstream appeal and it hasn't yet.  I actually am somewhat surprised by that as it sounded like a killer feature.  But I don't think they've had the right games yet.

[Ceric]

I'm actually wonder what this means in term of the Wii U pricing.

[Chocobo_Rider]

yesssssss!

Sorry, I don't have much more to say on the topic ^_^

[BlackNMild2k1]

I'm actually wonder what this means in term of the Wii U pricing.

$299.99

[broodwars]

This was a very sensible move on Nintendo's part, though not one I was expecting this early in the handheld's life cycle.  Nintendo was arrogant and thought they could charge whatever they wanted with the 3DS, and the gaming public wasn't gullible enough to go along with it without worthwhile software.  Honestly, if I wasn't boycotting Nintendo of America right now, I'd be seriously considering getting a 3DS once Resident Evil Revelations releases, but that's all on NoA right now.

I'll be interested to see how Sony responds to this with the Vita.  Allegedly, they're already taking on a significant loss with the Vita priced at $250, and they successfully managed to scare Nintendo into dropping the 3DS price.  I don't see how Sony could price this device any lower right out of the gate, and it's become the significantly more expensive machine now.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I'll be interested to see how Sony responds to this with the Vita.  Allegedly, they're already taking on a significant loss with the Vita priced at $250, and they successfully managed to scare Nintendo into dropping the 3DS price.  I don't see how Sony could price this device any lower right out of the gate, and it's become the significantly more expensive machine now.

Actually the last I read about Vita was that they weren't taking a loss at all on Vita's pricing. There were 2 contradictory statements (I posted both of them in that thread, but I haven't checked on it in a while so I don't know if there were new developments there) one saying they were taking a loss and a later one that said no loss was being taken. But I doubt Sony lowers the price again..... or maybe this was all part of Nintendo's plan after all.

Announce high, release high, get Sony to announce at worst at the same price, but hope for slightly higher.
If 3DS sells, then great, but if it doesn't, then the profit cushion was already built in for a quick and painless price drop that will make the Vita look expensive by comparison. [/crazy talk]

[Bman87301]

Anyone else think this was a bit of an over-reaction? Yeah, the 3DS was over-priced, but $100 price drop is steep. IMHO, the biggest thing hurting 3DS sales was the software lineup. This big of a drop to me is a sign of Nintendo saying, "We can't sell you on the system's potential, so we'll just make it a bargain."

Not at all. As you just pointed out, the biggest thing hurting 3DS sales is the software lineup... In order for that issue to resolve itself, the software lineup has to improve... and that won't happen if developers lose faith in the platform and avoid making games for it.

We recently lost one high profile 3rd party game already (Megaman Legends 3). No matter what Capcom may say, it's just naive to assume the 3DS's low installed base didn't have at least some influence on the decision to scrap the project. If other developers follow suit, we could easily have a domino-effect on our hands.

Just because other Nintendo handhelds may have experienced similar early software droughts doesn't mean the situation is the same. 3DS sales have been unprecedentedly slow for a Nintendo handheld-- so much so, many analysts are already predicting its doom. The 3DS is Nintendo's highest priced handheld to date and released during bad economic times to boot. Since it's pretty clear that the economy is going to get worse before it improves, and when you factor in the upcoming competition from the competitively priced PSV, Nintendo can't just sit back and do nothing and expect the 3DS to keep developer support.

This is a very appropriate move on Nintendo's part, and not an over-reaction by any means.

[Bboy]

Could not be more happy about this, I think Nintendo wanted to prove that they do care about their loyal fans after all. This is perfect for me, because I've only played 3 of these games, just by coincidence. And my DKJr. experience was kind of ruined by the fact that I did it on an e-reader.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land are really strange names. Mario Kart 7 makes no sense considering how previous titles were named, and Super Mario 3D Land just sounds goofy. I wonder if they put the 3D in front of Land to make sure people aren't confused into thinking it is a 3D port of Super Mario Land 3? Or to help distinguish it from the other games in the Land series since it is using settings/villains from the traditional Mario line? Either way the name sounds really weird.

[MegaByte]

Clearly, Mario Kart 7 is in competition with Windows 7
Super Mario 3D Land could be a tie-in with its Super Mario Bros. 3 roots, though I suspect it's also to reduce confusion as you said.
I actually wonder if they'll end up changing at least the Mario Kart title for the US release. The announcements seemed rushed, and I wonder how much consultation was done outside of Japan.

[Ceric]

Clearly, Mario Kart 7 is in competition with Windows 7
Super Mario 3D Land could be a tie-in with its Super Mario Bros. 3 roots, though I suspect it's also to reduce confusion as you said.
I actually wonder if they'll end up changing at least the Mario Kart title for the US release. The announcements seemed rushed, and I wonder how much consultation was done outside of Japan.

So is Mario Kart 7 going to have the Metro UI with Live tiles and tight integration with Twitter and Facebook? (Mango should be out by then)

[Mop it up]

I'm a little upset by this, since I was banking on there not being a price cut for at least a year and bought one to prepare for the upcoming releases and don't currently have any 3DS games. But I guess I was taking a gamble when I did that, and given the slow sales I probably should have waited a little longer to see what happened.

I really am surprised by this though, I figured Nintendo would at least wait until the holidays to see how well it sells then before they dropped the price. The cut is also more than I expected, at most I figured it would be $200. They must be desperate if they are not only dropping the price this much, but even offering free games to those who already bought one at the inflated price. I have no idea what their plan is, though they were in a tight spot for sure. They definitely made mistakes, most noticeably the admittedly high price, but I still think they should have stayed the course for a bit longer.

[broodwars]

I'm a little upset by this, since I was banking on there not being a price cut for at least a year and bought one to prepare for the upcoming releases and don't currently have any 3DS games. But I guess I was taking a gamble when I did that, and given the slow sales I probably should have waited a little longer to see what happened.

I really am surprised by this though, I figured Nintendo would at least wait until the holidays to see how well it sells then before they dropped the price. The cut is also more than I expected, at most I figured it would be $200. They must be desperate if they are not only dropping the price this much, but even offering free games to those who already bought one at the inflated price. I have no idea what their plan is, though they were in a tight spot for sure. They definitely made mistakes, most noticeably the admittedly high price, but I still think they should have stayed the course for a bit longer.

Nintendo just posted an 82% loss ($330 million) in projected profits today, so yeah they have reason to take drastic measures.

[Mop it up]

They still have public perception to worry about though. I hope that this kind of price cut doesn't cause people to view the product as worthless.

[Tansunn]

Remember, these are NES Virtual Console titles... NES games aren't normally part of the 3DS VC lineup-- they're otherwise only available on 3DS as 3D Classics. The logical conclusion is that these are upcoming 3D Classics titles that aren't ready yet, and the updates will simply be the completed 3D Classics releases.

I thought about that, but they're clearly distinguishing them as Virtual Console versions, not 3D Classics.  Not to mention the game selection - how do you add depth to Donkey Kong Jr.?

Plus, it looks like my guess was right on the money according to another article that recently went up - http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/27292

[Bman87301]

I'm a little upset by this, since I was banking on there not being a price cut for at least a year and bought one to prepare for the upcoming releases and don't currently have any 3DS games. But I guess I was taking a gamble when I did that, and given the slow sales I probably should have waited a little longer to see what happened.

I really am surprised by this though, I figured Nintendo would at least wait until the holidays to see how well it sells then before they dropped the price. The cut is also more than I expected, at most I figured it would be $200. They must be desperate if they are not only dropping the price this much, but even offering free games to those who already bought one at the inflated price. I have no idea what their plan is, though they were in a tight spot for sure. They definitely made mistakes, most noticeably the admittedly high price, but I still think they should have stayed the course for a bit longer.

Upset? Don't you realize you got the winning hand in that gamble? Even if you aren't happy the selection of freebies yourself, come August 12 there will be plenty of collectors out there who missed out and will be willing to pay more than the $250 you originally paid for the exclusive content.  You can just sell your current 3DS for a profit on eBay then buy a new one at the new lower price. You've won either way.

I don't think Nintendo could afford to stay the course any longer. PSV is on the horizon (at the same price to boot) and a big lack of new releases until the holidays. I'm sure Nintendo is getting negative feedback by 3rd parties who are losing faith and considering pulling support (Megaman Legends 3 already got axed and MGS3 got 'delayed'). I doubt they made this decision lightly.

[Bman87301]

They still have public perception to worry about though. I hope that this kind of price cut doesn't cause people to view the product as worthless.

No way. If they had waited until after Vita came out, then that would be an issue. But  it's still early enough that the original price will largely be forgotten by then. In the meantime  the new low price, along with the highly generous Ambassador Program is more than enough damage control to offset any lasting effect. Mark my words.

[Fatty The Hutt]

This really is an "everybody wins" move on Nintendo's part. Folks buying after Aug 12 get a very attractive price and a decent line-up of games to choose from. Also, the e-shop is up and so is Netflix and Nintendo Video (things early adopters had to wait for).
 
The folks that bought already are getting a big gift of VC games, only half of which have been announced and those ones have very good selections. And who would care most about VC games? You guessed it: the early adopters. The Nintendo faithful. The hard-core fans.
 
This is really great PR for all. I hope the 3DS sells like gangbusters from here on.
 
And it doesn't hurt that the price drop is a big "**** you" to the Vita ;-)