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[CrunchinJelly]

Bring back the Game Boy brand, Nintendo.

 

[Shadowlink]

Hopefully they go back to normal in a few months. Last couple of days were hectic for Nintendo.

 

[Spike]

There's 0 3DS games out that interests me. If they don't release far more quality games, it looks like I'll skip it. Nintendo did an awful job with 3DS, especially after what they accomplished with DS. Guess they thought more people would buy it only due to the the 3D fad.

The price will most likely go down again in a year or so and I'll buy it when a bomba deal comes out.

Remember the launch titles of the DS? How about the PS2? Perhaps the 360? Wii? PS3?

Yeah, nothing to worry about.

 

[Lord Ghirahim]

Nintendo Admits Defeat, Lowers Nintendo 3DS Price to $169.99 as Apple Enthusiasts Proclaim Victory

Silly media, it's "Nintendo Submits Defeat".

Spoiler

short-lived 2009 NeoGAF meme

 

[IceDoesntHelp]

Honestly all the 3DS needs is a new Pokemon game. Should have held off Pokemon Black and White for the 3DS and made that a launch title. Would have sold like crazy.

Silly media, it's "Nintendo Submits Defeat".

Spoiler

short-lived 2009 NeoGAF meme

Everytime I see your posts, you always, ALWAYS hate on Nintendo...whats your problem? Ironic since your avatar is Ghirahim from Skyward Sword. I know Nintendo's in a tight spot, but god is it necessary to be such an ass about it? I say Nintendo is NOT doomed, just in an extremely tight spot right now. One false move could make things really, really bad for Nintendo.

 

[Piercedveil]

I bought the 3DS instead of a DSi/XL simply because I wanted to play the newest games being released. I think it's strange many people still want to buy the DS when the new games won't be able to be played on it. BUT, I think this price cut will help people realize that for a little more/same amount of money, they can play all the new games as well as the current DS games.

 

[Barrett2]

So are they going to try a different marketing approach with this price drop? Surely they will do something to fix the current issue of customers thinking it is just a DS.

New commercial:

Narrator: Times are tough in America....
Scene: Montage of boarded-up factories
Narrator: We haven't been selling many 3DS systems, and there's one person really feeling the pinch
Scene: Disheveled Miyamoto digs through dumpster, foraging for food, his old Mario t-shirt covered in filth
Narrator: This is the man who created Mario, Donkey Kong, and Zelda.... digging through a dumpster, because YOU PEOPLE are too damn selfish
Scene: Steel Diver footage plays
Narrator: Come explore Miyamoto's latest adventure, Steel Diver! If you don't, this adventure... might be his last
Scene: Miyamoto looks straight at the camera, holding a can of beans, and yells: "Threeeee Deeeeeee!!"

 

[lantus]

I didnt really have a problem with the 3ds price, its mainly just the lack of software thats kept me from getting one. The price cut certainly will help it out a lot, but for me im still waiting on the games, and to see how the via launch turns out.

 

[Kintaro]

I dunno about you guys, but this whole thing is glorious just to watch Kohler do an about face on Nintendo quicker than Nintendo price slashed the fuck out of the thing.

Opinion: $170 Nintendo 3DS Is Still Too Expensive

Nintendo is “far from ‘emergency’ mode,” analyst Jesse Divnich told Wired.com last week. And yet the Japanese gamemaker slashed the price of its Nintendo 3DS Thursday from $250 to $170.

Just at that moment, someone somewhere in Kyoto flipped a big switch labeled Emergency Mode.

The warning lights had been flashing for a while. Nintendo itself pointed out that sales of the 3-D portable game machine had dropped below expectations. Key software partners were delaying and canceling games, bad news for a platform that had not been on the market six months.

That’s a fair-minded assessment; Nintendo does the bulk of its business during the Christmas season. But it’s telling that not even Nintendo was willing to give itself a holiday season. At some point during the past few months, the company apparently had its come-to-Jesus moment. It wasn’t enough for Nintendo execs to hold their breaths and think of Christmas. 3DS was way too expensive.

Even at $170, it’s still too expensive.

The price cut, said Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter in an e-mail to Wired.com, is “pretty dramatic, but it really just reflects that they (and I) were out of touch with the market. They (and I) thought they could sell out at $249, and they (and I) were wrong.”

Hey, as long as we’re doing the mea culpas, I blew it too: “What is all but certain is that Nintendo’s momentum coming off the ridiculous success of DS, coupled with the wonderful novelty of the 3DS display and the handheld’s strong software lineup, will cause the 3DS to fly off shelves at launch, spread like wildfire this year and be the hottest Christmas present of 2011.”

On the one hand, the drastic nature of the cut, unprecedented in the company’s long history, puts Nintendo 3DS in a totally new pricing bracket. As Stephen Totilo pointed out on Kotaku, it is “no longer more expensive than an Xbox 360; it’s now cheaper than an iPod Touch.”

Except it’s not really cheaper than an iPod Touch. Sure, the price of entry is lower now, but what happens after that? New 3DS games cost $40 each. There are no demos, and third-party publishers seem to be taking active steps to make used games less appealing.

I have played more Super Stickman Golf (99 cents) on my iPhone than I have played any 3DS game. Meanwhile, the Nintendo 3DS eShop download service is full of expensive games (fuzzy black-and-white Game Boy games from 1989 start at $3, and the good ones you actually want cost $4). The ridiculous payment structure will only take your money in increments of $5, then give you nothing to buy with it: Nintendo declined to even re-release a single Game Boy title in this week’s update.

At the Game Developers Conference in March, 3DS producer Hideki Konno said Nintendo was reluctant to ever put its digital content on sale, a basic practice that can boost long-term sales even after the sale is over.

“I’d be a little sad to see if there was a product that I worked on for a couple of years go on sale for a buck,” he said.

It is thus the height of irony that Nintendo’s plan to appease the poor suckers who paid $250 for Nintendo 3DS is to give them 20 free digital games. On Sept. 1, you’ll be able to download 10 major Nintendo Entertainment System titles and 10 games from the Game Boy Advance library.

Nintendo says it currently has “no plans” to make the Game Boy Advance games available on the eShop to the general public. Of course not. Why would it do something that makes all the sense in the world?

I think that both Vita and 3DS compare unfavorably to iPhone and Android devices.

The X factor here is Vita’s downloadable games service, which we know absolutely nothing about. Sony has said all retail games will be sold online day and date with the cartridge versions. Sony says a lot of things, though. I will believe that when I see it.

Whether or not that happens, Sony is clearly much more serious about pushing digital game sales than Nintendo. But this is no longer a fight between two handheld gaming machines. It’s a fight between traditional handhelds and smartphones. Sony doesn’t need to show what Vita can do that 3DS can’t — it needs to show why you’d pay $40 per game when the competition’s price is $0.

Thing is, he is 100% correct here. Nintendo digital model is a piece of shit and that's why I don't trust them for a second on the free games bit.

A bit ironic though. In an age where companies struggle to make profits, does it all come down to a race to 0?

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Overall I think this is a smart move by Nintendo. There is obviously a small chance this won't sell much more between now and Christmas, but I think this is a safe move, taking the hit but assuring that it will sell a lot, then come the end of the year when the big titles hit it will be smooth sailing.

I like the fact that they are taking a loss with each system, maybe it will light a fire under themselves to make more games/get more games.

edit: I disagree with the guy above, but I also played stickman golf on my ipad, game was awesome.

 

[Barrett2]

It seems that Investors were scared and run off due to short term loss of profit. I see it becoming profitable due to the price and new software coming but I doubt as profitable as Iwata expects in that short period. But I see his gambit paying off in the long term.

Also if I had Nintendo shares I would keep them.

Well, of course you would keep them, at least short term. The last thing you want to do is sell your position the day *after* the big selloff occurs, when the company still has good fundamentals.

 

[Sennorin]

Comparing Other M to Zelda 2 is laughable to the extreme, Zelda 2 had excellent market reception. It sold fairly well and it's only recently that it's been seen as the black sheep.
Seriously it sold at least 8 times better on NES with a vastly reduced market on a smaller userbase than Other M on Wii.
It's not comparable AT ALL.

ShikamaruNinja was talking quality-wise. And he´s right. Metroid: Other M was a fantastic game for many people. Stop it.

Edit: Why are people still posting Wired-texts here? Chris Kohler once again praises Apple, no surprise here. Button-less gaming is not comparable to real gaming (yes, I´m intentionally using "real" here).

 

[Vinci]

Yeah, you're trying to avoid my real message here

We're having a pretty civil discussion. Casting aspersions on someone having civil discussion with you or suggesting guile on their part is not a great way of maintaining it.

DD made those little games possible, sure, but what i'm trying to show is clearly that you can innovate with a piece os paper and a pen, and i don't like when Miyamoto (as id did recently) tries to make us believe that gaming is dead without Nintendo hardware gimmicks. gaming can evolve without Nintendo forcing this changes.

First of all, I'm not going to spend my time defending what Miyamoto says. I don't agree with his every word or whim. In fact, I think he's as often wrong as he is right.

I don't believe that gaming is dead outside of Nintendo forcing changes, but hardware innovation does deserve a place at the table. We need it. The reason many of these 'little games' are able to be innovative works of software creation is because people have historically taken those next steps or added some 'gimmick' that came to realize an innovation in the industry. Many innovations' potential remain untapped, and thus we still see games that don't focus on newer ones and are, all the same, innovative in and of themselves.

I would say that Nintendo does a mixture of both generally speaking. Mario Galaxy has the best unmanned camera system in any 3D game ever. That's huge. And why did it happen? Ironically, it's because the Wii Remote didn't have jackshit to use for camera control. But that's software innovation, that's change and a positive one. It may not bridge the gap between Mario Bros. gamers and Mario gamers, but it's a swift step in the right direction.

What I'm stating is this: I'm glad Nintendo innovates with its hardware. I think it's important. If they didn't, we'd have no platform manufacturer really doing it outside of adding more power - and that's enough for many things but not for others. We need someone out there being strange and Japanese and saying, "This is wacky but it might just work." This also helps with getting more people into gaming, since that's Nintendo's one and only business. When I hear that Sony and MS are thinking about innovation with their next systems, I get giddy.

So yes, of course games can be innovative without being centered around hardware innovation - but combining both is a great way to expand gaming's reach.

And that's what i'm saying exactly about the 3ds. You say nintendo can innovate and this is not the problem, but this time they just bullshited us. Well i say, they did that cause their strategy is to innovate at all cost and to sell hardware based on those innovations, more than the games. Except now that there is no "free" innovations that they can use while nobody had think about it before, well.. they have to bullshit us.

No, that's not what I'm saying. I think Nintendo and its developers truly think 3D is awesome. They think it's amazing. They've dedicated years of effort on trying to get it into one of their systems. The problem is, they lost sight of what the audience wants. This was stupid. The same thing happened when Sony decided to stick Blu-Ray into the PS3. People, at that time, didn't have the slightest interest in replacing DVD. That was an internally focused decision, just as the 3DS is from Nintendo.

So no, I don't think Nintendo lied or try to do anything purposely deceitful. I think they just care about 3D significantly more than the mainstream audience does.

 

[Lord Ghirahim]

Everytime I see your posts, you always, ALWAYS hate on Nintendo...whats your problem? Ironic since your avatar is Ghirahim from Skyward Sword. I know Nintendo's in a tight spot, but god is it necessary to be such an ass about it? I say Nintendo is NOT doomed, just in an extremely tight spot right now. One false move could make things really, really bad for Nintendo.

¿Qué?

 

[wrowa]

There's too much gloom and doom around here. Nintendo has made the right first step and the timing is right -- August is early, but an early price-drop will help the 3DS to gain some momentum again before the holiday season starts, A price drop coinciding with the holidays would be too late, imo.

And why would Nintendo worry now? The DS still is selling very decent and the 3DS plays every single DS game -- "it plays DS games and then some" is already reason enough for most people to choose the 3DS over the DS.

Nintendo's holiday line-up is great on top of that. Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 are new games in two of Nintendo's most successful franchises; even though the 3DS is still lacking something that resembles "the next big thing" those two games should warrant very solid sales numbers.

 

[Ghost23]

People have to remember that gamers on GAF are different than the majority of people who own a DS. Kids don't pass on the 3DS because of the lack of RPG's or certain 3rd party games. They pass on it because their parents see the price tag. The lower price + Mario + good advertising would make the 3DS boom.

EDIT: Loving all the Ghirahim avatars in here.

 

[Kusagari]

I really don't like Iwata giving it a time limit to resurrect. He's basically forced his hand now by making such a claim. If 3DS doesn't become a huge success in those 4 months, Nintendo's going to be looking a lot worse.

 

[Gravijah]

Where was this said? I assumed there was simply confusion over this game being a 2d Mario extruded into the 3rd dimension. I'm talking about the '2 3DS marios' rumour rather than Wii U NSMB of course.

Wait, it could have been that, yes.

 

[madmaxx350]

I don't see why people say at 170 that the 3DS is too expensive, I think for what it offers the price is right.

 

[Reuenthal]

Well, of course you would keep them, at least short term. The last thing you want to do is sell your position the day *after* the big selloff occurs, when the company still has good fundamentals.

No, I mean I would not have been a part of the big selloff and have kept them then, and still keep them after it. The projected short term loss of income by selling at a loss the hardware and the loss of money the first months of 3DS would not have convinced me to sell.

 

[Piercedveil]

I really don't like Iwata giving it a time limit to resurrect. He's basically forced his hand now by making such a claim. If 3DS doesn't become a huge success in those 4 months, Nintendo's going to be looking a lot worse.

I agree with you. I didn't understand that part either.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

People have to remember that gamers on GAF are different than the majority of people who own a DS. Kids don't pass on the 3DS because of the lack of RPG's or certain 3rd party games. They pass on it because their parents see the price tag. The lower price + Mario + good advertising would make the 3DS boom.

When I walk through an Airport and take a random survey of people using portable game machines. Kids with a DS under 10 make up about 95% of the people I see with one random kid in the corner playing a PSP.

In the last year it's been people on an iPad or iPhone regardless of age.

 

[Theonik]

The new software that the 3DS will receive that isn't compatible with the older DSes?

Currently the average consumer does't know that/doesn't care plus the standard DS library is massive, I think there would still be a portion of consumers that would rather have a DSi/XL.
Edit: Of course this should change later on when the 3DS library gets better, and the new marketing may help a bit too.

 

[Jim E. Rossler]

¿Qué?

He's confusing you with Joke poster BurntPork who has a similar profile pic

 

[Brazil]

Everytime I see your posts, you always, ALWAYS hate on Nintendo...whats your problem? Ironic since your avatar is Ghirahim from Skyward Sword. I know Nintendo's in a tight spot, but god is it necessary to be such an ass about it? I say Nintendo is NOT doomed, just in an extremely tight spot right now. One false move could make things really, really bad for Nintendo.

You've got the wrong Ghirahim.

 

[orioto]

No, that's not what I'm saying. I think Nintendo and its developers truly think 3D is awesome. They think it's amazing. They've dedicated years of effort on trying to get it into one of their systems. The problem is, they lost sight of what the audience wants. This was stupid. The same thing happened when Sony decided to stick Blu-Ray into the PS3. People, at that time, didn't have the slightest interest in replacing DVD. That was an internally focused decision, just as the 3DS is from Nintendo.

So no, I don't think Nintendo lied or try to do anything purposely deceitful. I think they just care about 3D significantly more than the mainstream audience does.

Well our opinions are not that far from each other. Maybe i shouldn't see Nintendo as so evil, and maybe you see them in a too positive way. Let's say they like 3D, and i know they do cause they wanted to put that in something since the nes (that's why they were blinded i think), but that doesn't mean some strategy guys at Nintendo didn't say at some point "ok so yeah guys, we don't have a lot of new things here, maybe that's the good time for the 3D"

 

[gwarm01]

Four months isn't enough, sadly. This will probably go down as the Virtual Boy 2. In fact, the only reason it hasn't been killed yet is because the market is larger than it was when VB was introduced. 3DS will be discontinued very soon.

I'd be very surprised if this hasn't been addressed by now, but..

You are absolutely insane.

 

[Gravijah]

He's confusing you with Joke poster BurntPork who has a similar profile pic

I was going to mention that I feel bad for Lord Ghirahim. ;p

 

[watershed]

I don't see why people say at 170 that the 3DS is too expensive, I think for what it offers the price is right.

Well that article was written with quite a bit of emotion and negativity no? Even as an editorial it doesn't seem very considered. If the dsi and dsi xl sold at around that price then the 3ds should too unless the hardware has a fundamental flaw of some sort in terms of consumer perception.

 

[Lord Ghirahim]

He's confusing you with Joke poster BurntPork who has a similar profile pic

I see.

You've got the wrong Ghirahim.

I'm the only true Lord Ghirahim.

 

[IceDoesntHelp]

He's confusing you with Joke poster BurntPork who has a similar profile pic

You've got the wrong Ghirahim.

So I do...my bad. Sorry about that :/

 

[watershed]

He's confusing you with Joke poster BurntPork who has a similar profile pic

What does it even mean to be a joke poster, can't you get banned for that cuz his comments are ridiculous and almost always derail the topic.

 

[Valnen]

Even with a drastic price drop, even if they release amazing games, I still won't buy one. Not until they fix the issues with the system like the screens scratching each other and such with a new hardware revision.

 

[upandaway]

I dunno about you by 3DLand looks like a NSMB successor to me.

I like my 2D Mario. And I like it 2D.

NSMB Wii sold more than Galaxy and Galaxy 2 combined, right?

 

[Barrett2]

Even with a drastic price drop, even if they release amazing games, I still won't buy one. Not until they fix the issues with the system like the screens scratching each other and such with a new hardware revision.

Not to mention the battery is goddamn terrible on the thing.

 

[ruxtpin]

Bring back Super Spike Volleyball (you could launch the volleyball with lightning... Come on people!)

 

[Easy_D]

What does it even mean to be a joke poster, can't you get banned for that cuz his comments are ridiculous and almost always derail the topic.

I laughed when he played the "sarcasm" card earlier in this topic. Never change BurntPork, never change.

 

[[Nintex]]

I agree with you. I didn't understand that part either.

Remember GameCube? If Iwata doesn't believe in something he slashes the price and halts a bunch of projects and cuts budgets in half. Nintendo isn't going to subsidize their system in the long run like Sony did with the PS3. They'll just announce a new 'Nintendo X' in 2 years time.

 

[DNF]

Thing is, he is 100% correct here. Nintendo digital model is a piece of shit and that's why I don't trust them for a second on the free games bit.

Oh come on.
Because Nintendos online isn't as good as their competition you don't believe that the early 3ds buyers get 20 free nes +gba games ?
what kind of logic is this ? really ?

 

[Lonely1]

Remember GameCube? If Iwata doesn't believe in something he slashes the price and halts a bunch of projects and cuts budgets in half. Nintendo isn't going to subsidize their system in the long run like Sony did with the PS3. They'll just announce a new 'Nintendo X' in 2 years time.

The GC had a normal 5 year lifespan.

Currently the average consumer does't know that/doesn't care plus the standard DS library is massive, I think there would still be a portion of consumers that would rather have a DSi/XL.

Well, of course is Nintnedo job to state the new features that the 3DS bring to the table, which goes beyond 3D. But, would you recommend someone to get a DSi over a 3DS after the price cut?

 

[Vinci]

Well our opinions are not that far from each other. Maybe i shouldn't see Nintendo as so evil, and maybe you see them in a too positive way.

This is quite possible. But ask anyone around here: I've been pissed at them for the 3DS since not long after they showed it off. I am not happy with them at all about that system - it's their weakest one yet, IMO.

The Wii U seems better designed in the sense of hardware innovation and I think it could do really well.

Let's say they like 3D, and i know they do cause they wanted to put that in something since the nes (that's why they were blinded i think), but that doesn't mean some strategy guys at Nintendo didn't say at some point "ok so yeah guys, we don't have a lot of new things here, maybe that's the good time for the 3D"

Nintendo invests a LOT into R&D, so I doubt they were without alternative options. Some have pointed out the success of Avatar as a possible provocation for the decision to go 3D with this handheld, and that may well be, but mostly I think they just wanted it for so long and the technology to do it without glasses was finally inexpensive enough to make it happen. The problem with Nintendo is some of these 3D geeks have more pull on where the company goes than they should.

 

[lwilliams3]

I really don't like Iwata giving it a time limit to resurrect. He's basically forced his hand now by making such a claim. If 3DS doesn't become a huge success in those 4 months, Nintendo's going to be looking a lot worse.

It's basically a safe bet though. The holidays will near in 4 months, and Nintendo traditionally has great holiday sales. The 3DS probably would have resurrect (to a lesser extent) even without the price-drop.

 

[Kintaro]

Oh come on.
Because Nintendos online isn't as good as their competition you don't believe that the early 3ds buyers get 20 free nes +gba games ?
what kind of logic is this ? really ?

"Isn't as good" is an understatement. What I don't believe is that these games will be given out across any sort of decent time frame. Also, why the fuck wouldn't Nintendo sell those GBA games? It makes no sense. So, their comments about "These will exclusive only to youuuuu" or whatever come off as lame.

 

[Barrett2]

Remember GameCube? If Iwata doesn't believe in something he slashes the price and halts a bunch of projects and cuts budgets in half. Nintendo isn't going to subsidize their system in the long run like Sony did with the PS3. They'll just announce a new 'Nintendo X' in 2 years time.

3DS would have to fail spectacularly bad for them to ditch it and rush out a new handheld. I think the likely scenario is a slow and steady fall from the top over the next five years, as 3DS fails to approach anywhere near the success of the DS, and the stock price is stagnant, irritating investors.

 

[Interfectum]

Cant say I didn't see this coming... I really do hope Nintendo pulls it off though.

I also have a sinking feeling that, unless some major changes are made to WiiU, we are going to see the exact same situation there as well. :\

 

[Emitan]

Who is ghirahim? He looks like a gay vampire.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

To parrot Bill Clinton's catchphrase: "It's the games, stupid!" Nintendo relied solely on die-hard fans to immediately buy into the brand without the backing of a stable library of games. It didn't work this time.

Price is also a factor. We've been in a recession. People have been tightening their belts. 250$ is a prohibiting price point for many people. Especially parents. We will see this holiday season and while I don't expect Nintendo to sell Zelda for 99 cents, they can't spew generic quality games for 40$. The industry needs to face the fact that game pricing for portable/mobile games needs to be dynamic. Some games should be 10 bucks. Some should be 20/25. Top tier games can remain at 40.

But the main thing are games, games, games. And not just ports. Nintendo has arguablely the strongest First party lineup in the industry. They need to stop twiddling their thumbs and use it to their advantage. Mario should be a launch title.

 

[Gravijah]

Who is ghirahim? He looks like a gay vampire.

Ganon's Dad.

 

[Tiktaalik]

It's funny that despite all the success that Nintendo has the "Nintendo going 3rd party confirmed" opinion never really goes away. The adherents simply clammed up for the last several years.

3DS is going to have a great xmas imo.

 

[Emitan]

Ganon's Dad.

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