The Nintendo 3DS gets a 30% price cut

[Mr Bean]

Kotaku reporting

Nintendo 3DS Gets Sudden, Massive Price Drop

Boy, those 3DS sales sure fell off a cliff. So much so that Nintendo has instituted one of the swiftest and deepest price cuts for a handheld in recent memory.

The 3DS only went on sale earlier this year for $249, but as of August 12, it'll be slashed all the way down to $169.99. That's...wow.

"For anyone who was on the fence about buying a Nintendo 3DS, this is a huge motivation to buy now," Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime says of the move. "We are giving shoppers every incentive to pick up a Nintendo 3DS, from an amazing new price to a rapid-fire succession of great games."

In addition to the price cut for new consumers, those who bought/buy a 3DS before the August 12 markdown will be able to download 20 free games from the 3DS eShop. That offer comes in the form of ten NES Virtual Console games (including classics like Zelda and Super Mario Bros.), which will be available after September 1, and ten Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games (like Yoshi's Island and Metroid Fusion), which will be available a little later.

Yes, you read that right. In addition to original Game Boy games already available there will also be a Game Boy Advance Virtual Console and a NES Virtual Console for the 3DS.

In Japan, the cuts take the 3DS from ¥25,000 to ¥15,000. In Europe, while no exact price has been revealed, Nintendo says the rrp will be cut by "around a third". In Australia, the 3DS will be from AUD$350 all the way down to AUD$250 (with the same twenty-game offer).

For some prospective the 3DS has sold less than a million over the last quarter which is less than 50% of the number of DS's sold which is frankly shocking considering this time last year over three million DS systems were sold so the numbers tumble for Nintendo was massive. To the point they had to cut their earning forecast by 82%. But this is Nintendo we are talking about, a company flush with money and deep pockets so they can weather and two years of similar numbers before they even have to start worrying.

[Stark]

The 3DS was a pretty serious price jump over the DS (although close to where the DS entered originally). Nintendo may have been better off waiting and switching over properly, rather than competing with themselves like this. Not even a Pokemon game!