Nintendo 3DS Price Drop; Free Games for Early Adopters

magus113 · 07-28-2011, 06:40 AM

Well not only is this a big move for Nintendo to compete with the upcoming PS Vita, but this also seems like a means to bring up those sales numbers.

The Nintendo 3DS is getting dropped to $170 USD on August 12th. We all knew it was coming, but I didn't know it was coming so soon.

As a means to try and drive up sales, Nintendo is giving out a bunch of free games that will be coming to the eShop. Joystiq has the conditions and some of the free games listed on their site:

Quote:

Those who own a 3DS and connect to the Nintendo eShop before 11:59PM EST on August 11 will be automatically enrolled into the "Nintendo 3DS Ambassador" program.

3DS ambassadorial duties mostly involve playing a bunch of free games. The status grants you access to 10 free NES Virtual Console games on September 1 before their general release (these include The Legend of Zelda, Balloon Fight and Ice Climber), along with 10 more Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games by the end of 2011. The GBA games -- like Yoshi's Island, Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames and Mario vs. Donkey Kong -- will not be available to anyone else.

Nintendo's line-up for the 3DS during the holidays is probably gonna help drive sales as well. I mean we have Star Fox 64 3D in September (with no online multiplayer; I'm still pissed about that), Kid Icarus: Uprising, Super Mario Land 3D in November and the new Mario Kart in December. So while it also seems like an act of desperation on their part, the price drop makes sense as well.

Blix · 07-28-2011, 10:05 AM

Now I can afford one. I can find a way to make some extra money on the side to get it. But I'll wait till there are more fun games.

magus113 · 07-28-2011, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blix

Now I can afford one. I can find a way to make some extra money on the side to get it. But I'll wait till there are more fun games.

Well my list for 3DS games coming up are Star Fox 64 3D, Super Mario Land 3D, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked, and Mario Kart for now.

Mario Kart should be enough of an incentive for me. The handheld Mario Karts have always been great.

BreakABone · 07-28-2011, 10:43 AM

Gah, now it went from maybe when Paper Mario/Super Mario 3DS drop to... well looks like getting one soon

Vampyr · 07-28-2011, 12:53 PM

Still holding out for the next version.

Jason1 · 07-28-2011, 06:20 PM

Yea, I am probably going to hold off for the next version as well.

Vampyr · 07-29-2011, 11:32 AM

I hope the new version comes out soon though, I want to play Star Fox 64 and OoT really bad.

TheSlyMoogle · 07-30-2011, 04:06 AM

I'm still unimpressed with anything they have coming. Rehashed games and a new mario kart that is partially rehashed aren't enough to make me want it. Still waiting for a new pogeymans to be announced and maybe see what the new smash bros is like. So in other words definitely not until a new gen is announced.

magus113 · 07-30-2011, 10:14 AM

I saw a comment somewhere from Eiji Aonuma saying that if demand was high enough for it they'd give Majora's Mask a remake too.

Jesus Christ.

magus113 · 07-30-2011, 10:15 AM

Oh and also, apparently the NES games that are gonna be given for free will have an update in the future to allow for multiplayer. That's kinda awesome, especially if they could be awesome and put like, Battletoads on the service.

BreakABone · 07-31-2011, 11:16 PM

This is strange, but I'm on the anti-Nintendo side here.

Why do you feel bad for a company? They screwed the pooch. They live and learn, and hopefully create their error in time, and take the lessons forward with the Wii U launch.

magus113 · 08-01-2011, 07:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BreakABone

This is strange, but I'm on the anti-Nintendo side here.

Why do you feel bad for a company? They screwed the pooch. They live and learn, and hopefully create their error in time, and take the lessons forward with the Wii U launch.

Considering how the investors feelings are on the Wii U after they announced it, they could be on the slow boat to failure for a while.

Vampyr · 08-01-2011, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BreakABone

This is strange, but I'm on the anti-Nintendo side here.

Why do you feel bad for a company? They screwed the pooch. They live and learn, and hopefully create their error in time, and take the lessons forward with the Wii U launch.

Because I want to see them do well enough to be able to release the upgraded 3DS.

BreakABone · 08-02-2011, 05:12 PM

Here's Iwata's personal apology

Quote:

To Those Customers Who Bought A Nintendo 3DS Before The Price Change

Greetings, everyone. This is Satoru Iwata from Nintendo.

Thank you very much for purchasing a Nintendo 3DS.

We have just announced a price drop for the Nintendo 3DS system effective on August 11 [August 12 in North America].

In the past, there have been price drops for video game systems some time after their release in order to broaden the user base further. However, never before has Nintendo chosen to issue such a dramatic price drop less than 6 months after a system release.

We are all too keenly aware that those of you who supported us by purchasing the 3DS in the beginning may feel betrayed and criticize this decision.

This unprecedented timing for a price cut is because the situation has changed greatly since we originally launched the 3DS. We decided it was necessary to take this drastic step in order to ensure that large numbers of users will continue to enjoy the 3DS in the future.

If the software creators and those on the retail side are not confident that the Nintendo 3DS is a worthy successor to the DS and will achieve a similarly broad (user) base, it will be impossible for the 3DS to gain popularity, acquire a wide range of software, and eventually create the product cycle necessary for everyone to be satisfied with the system.

Those customers who purchased the 3DS at the very beginning are extremely important to us. We know that there is nothing we can do to completely make up for the feeling that you are being punished for buying the system early. Still, we would like to offer the following as a sign of our appreciation to you.

[3DS Ambassador program details]

We feel a strong responsibility to develop the 3DS as a platform — to ensure that, in the end, everyone is satisfied; we will make every effort to do so.

Additionally, we know everyone is waiting for Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. They are scheduled for release in November and December, respectively, so we ask for your patience until then.

Thank you again, and we look forward to your continued support.

Iwata is perhaps one of my favorite gaming personalities.

KillerGremlin · 08-03-2011, 04:34 PM

Apologetic Nintendo is weak. I prefer brazenly stupid Nintendo over the introspective and apologetic Nintendo.

I mean why apologize? It's not like history has been any indicator of the inevitable improved model and price drop. Just look at this forum; look at how many people here held off on buying a 3DS.

There are always pros and cons to being an early adopter. Nintendo constantly drops the ball, but they shouldn't have to apologize for this.

(on the other hand, porting a bunch of N64 games and not having any new IPs in ages is a big deal...the N64 is like 15 years old...at some point old games should just become free domain and Nintendo should lose copyright privileges. I will never pay for NES/SNES/N64 games again unless it is via some massive Netflix type package....)