Nintendo Drops 3DS Price, Rewards Early Adopters/Holds it Against Smart People
Well, that didn’t take long.
Nintendo has announced that, effective August 12, the list price for a 3DS in the U.S. drops to $169.99. That is a markdown of 32 percent just four months after release.
With record breaking sales, and by that I mean getting beaten by the system’s six-and-a-half year old predecessor during its launch month, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that this was coming. In fact, the system has sold more than 830,000 units in the U.S. since launch, according to Nintendo. Not bad, but that might be just a smidgen short of their sales targets, especially considering they expected to sell 4 million in the first month alone.
To make it up to Nintendo fanboys currently rushing to forums to try and convince themselves that it was worth the extra $80 to play a port of an N64 game they really like slightly earlier, Nintendo has announced the “Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors” program. These suckers loyal fans will be given a set of 20 free games from the eShop — ten NES and ten Game Boy Advance.
The ten NES games will be available September 1, and include Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong Jr., Baloon Fight and Ice Climber. The others will be revealed later, but my money is on them being slightly lower profile. These ten will be made available earlier to Ambassadors, but will show up regularly on the eShop at a later date.
The Game Boy Advance front is a little different. Nintendo is saying this half of their early adopter bonus won’t be available for sale. Ever. That actually does seem to fit in with Nintendo’s brilliant decision making and strong embracing of online features though. Here’s what you’re missing now that Nintendo is taking their ball and going home the list of games: Yoshi’s Island, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ and five more to be named. The games will be given out by the end of the year.
These rewards will be available to anyone who accesses the eShop from their 3DS at least once before August 11.
I guess Nintendo should probably be commended though. By not offering the GBA games for sale, they are saving future 3DS adopters the frustration of using that terrible eShop to find them.
Bitter, much?
From a cynical perspective I know that giving out digital copies of games that they own the rights to doesn’t cost them anything, but I got nothing when the Xbox 360 or Gamecube got price cuts after my early purchases. It’s better than nothing, so I’ll take it and carry on.
Ooh, that’s actually quite delicious.
I love new technology, but like a sensible person, I don’t buy it when it’s new. Though I like to see new technology supported, I don’t like to see people getting technolust and wasting their expendable income on it. Plus, I hate the whole cyclical consumption thing that our industry has going on.
In short, I’m glad that we’re not buying into it.
It’s not that they dropped the price. It’s that they dropped the price while it’s still in their own “launch window.”
Launch window games: http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/01/nintendo-3ds-launch-games/
Upcoming releases: http://www.gamefaqs.com/3ds/releases
You’re right, it is a really really early cut. However, like you pointed out, sales have been shit compared to expectations so they felt like they had to do something. Personally, I feel like the poor game lineup is more to blame than the price (though the initial price was also too high), but only one of those can be changed at will.
Of course, I waited until I found a good deal on a DS Lite trade-in and ended up paying just under $200, so it isn’t like I’m being undercut by a ton. If I had paid full RRP, I’d probably have a reaction more like yours.
Suggestion here. If you’re interested in buying a 3DS at $169 and also want these free games buy it from a store that offers price protection. Meaning if you buy something from them and within say 14 days it drops in price they’ll compensate you for it. Register the 3DS with Nintendo before the 11th and voila! $80 refund and a bunch of free games.