Iwata explains the reasons of 3DS's price cut; gives it 4 months to resurrect

Mammoth Jones said:
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.

Dynamic pricing for games isn't solely a portable/mobile thing though. It should be industry wide, meaning consoles as well.
 
jett said:
Quote my tag if you want I don't give a fuck. 3DS is the first victim of a new portable market, I don't see it being "resurrected". Vita is just as fucked, unless a miracle happens.
I actually think you're right. Not many people are talking about this, but even if the 3ds had 2 or 3 Triple A titles I think it would still be struggling. Cellphone gaming is on the rise. It's affordable.

I hope Nintendo allows the android market on their systems or starts making cellphone games because I don't see how a system with so little good new titles is going to compete with the both themselves - Nintendo ds/dsi (a system with numerous great games), apple, and android devices. They need to go with the flow. I use my phone for portable gaming more than my dsi nowadays.

The New price is a good start to bring on the masses, but the great games better come soon or else adoption rate will slow and we'll be back at square one. I remember the Nintendo ds had barely any games its first year, but eventually had so many. Maybe this will be the case now. I see Vita having similar problems. Gamers see it as a value but why spend 250 on that when you can get a nice dual core android or the iphone 5... Hmmm. These are different times.

Major kudos to Iwata for the good press statement and for willing to take a pay-cut.
 
Lonely1 said:
The GC had a normal 5 year lifespan.

Yet they were hyping up the successor less than 3 years after launch. As I said last week, if they decide it's not going to work out for them, they'll move on to a new handheld system in a few years time.
 
Graphics Horse said:
Yet they were hyping up the successor less than 3 years after launch. As I said last week, if they decide it's not going to work out for them, they'll move on to a new system in a few years time.
Just like all the companies at the time?
 
Crazyorloco said:
I actually think you're right. Not many people are talking about this, but even if the 3ds had 2 or 3 Triple A titles I think it would still be struggling. Cellphone gaming is on the rise. It's affordable.

Are you serious?? We hear that in every single 3DS and Vita thread. We hear it from many posters, from the WSJ, from various websites... Whether it's true is debatable, and we HAVE debated it many times now, but the frequency of its mention? No. It's pretty often.
 
I'm a big Nintendo fan and to be honest I don't have any urge to buy the 3DS. Graphics don't allure me any more. The 3D without glasses are cool but its a gimmick. I've moved onto to 360. I still root for Nintendo. I hope they become #1 again but I'm not feeling 3DS its very cool but I need more than just popup pictures. I'm sorry.
 
JoeTheBlow said:
for the inevitable "they need to stop people confusing it with the regular DS" posts, the adverts attempting to do that are going out, first seen in the UK.
I expect them to combine these adverts with a real attempt to make retailers reduce DS displays. The gloves are off, they have to kill off the DS asap.

I work at Walmart, and its simply amazing how Nintendo messed something as easy as this up. They literally sit next to all of the other DS systems blending in completely. Camouflage is an understatement.

I think that they need to drastically change the 3DS Boxes and the game boxes. Cant tell you how many time someone walks up to me, points to a 3DS game and asks "does this work for the DS?" or my favorite (literally heard this twice now) "Holy crap mom, the 3ds is on sale for $179". He was pointing to a DSxl.
 
Kintaro said:
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











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?

Saw that article this morning. He was weird, because on the one hand he did understand they were running an outdated delivery model with the 3DS, but on the other hand defended the 249.99 price as "You'll pony up the money when you see it in your own hands."

Gotta admit I'd never seen Super Stick Man Golf before, but it totally nails the crux of the problem. That's looks like more fun and has more content than the majority of the 3DS releases. And it's .99 cents vs 39.99.
 
holy crap I haven't been keeping up with nintendo in general. I'll buy it when mario and mario driving a car arrives no question.

Neato.

EDIT: I do think nintendos business model is doomed though. Apples either going to kill them, or already did kill them and everyones just catching up now. Them lowering the price of games to around a buck.... you can't compete with that.
 
Vinci said:
Dynamic pricing for games isn't solely a portable/mobile thing though. It should be industry wide, meaning consoles as well.

But no other system is doing it right now on consoles. There are portable machines today with dynamic pricing so making a portable machine, you must compete with that.
 
I'm generally not a fan of touch-only controls, so the idea of smartphones completely taking over the portable gaming market terrifies me.

I want Mario to hold me close while we advance through this clouded, uncertain future.
 
Billychu said:
Who is ghirahim? He looks like a gay vampire.
Zelda Skyward Sword villain. Yes, he sort of does. It gets worse/more funny when he sneaks behind Link and whispers in his ear "It's unfair to take advantage of you in my postition" and that he will "Beat him in an inch of his life". He also mentions that he is trying to "pluck Zelda's holiness".
 
Vinci said:
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.

My doubt regarding Nintendo's ability to really find great new thing is based on a simple fact.

They always use something that is well known, but hasn't been used yet by the competitors. They never take a magical bunny out of their hat. NDS and WII were really surprising cause at this time, no iphone nor innovation desire for Sony and Microsoft. That was easy back then.

Now, 3D was the only "unique" feature they could find for the 3ds. And i do'nt want to begin a debate about WiiU but for me it's obvious that they are faaar from a unique and groundbreaking feature to sell the hardware. They simply don't have tech that their competitors wouldn't have, so they turn around vague concepts.

In the end we all agree, we all like Nintendo games and there is a problem with that. I mean, look at the 3ds, look at how they showed the WiiU with talks about the concept and no about any games. I'm just saying, try to sell system with great games Nintendo, just do that. And if there is hardware innovation needed, then ok, but don't inverse the problem. Hardware innovations should be hidden, just there to show off awesome new games, not the contrary.
 
Probably the best move they could make for now. I still say its just too damn hard to advertise, it doesn't work over print, TV or video. Now couple that with some of the lower movie sales/backlash type things we are starting to see regarding 3D its going to stay bumpy for awhile.
 
xtrasauce said:
I'm generally not a fan of touch-only controls, so the idea of smartphones completely taking over the portable gaming market terrifies me.

I want Mario to hold me close while we advance through this clouded, uncertain future.

I want the smartphone pricing and download ability but the Mario gameplay. The new Mario could be sold online for $20 as a downloadable game to the 3DS but they never would because Nintendo is still bound by the chains of retail. They could blow the scene up but they won't.
 
Shikamaru Ninja said:
You devil! But Wii Sports and Wii Music are different games. Just like Mario Kart and Mario Tennis are different games. And we should be celebrating Metroid and Kid Icarus anniversaries this year :(

Well yeah but we still got them in the end, we're getting the Kid Icarus 25th anniversary game, only it's Sakurai doing the revival....which should be telling actually :p.
I'd argue that Mario Kart games performance have an impact on Mario games as a whole.
In the end we got plenty of Mario themed multiplayer games because Super Mario Kart did so well after all. WiiMusic had a tepid reaction but that's still better than whatever the hell Other M got.

Shikamaru Ninja said:
I would not call the Wii userbase that much bigger than the NES. Also the NES software sales were much evenly distributed as opposed to the Wii where only these phenom pop-culture games sell droves while everything else bombs (Sin Punishment, Metroid Other M, etc). But Metroid: Other M was polarizing. If you take a peek in the GAF thread there are several people who love it. And several who hate it. This entire topic is digressing from the original post. So we can agree to disagree.

But by that same metric WiiMusic is polarizing too! People on the OT loved it too! There's even youtube vids of people doing awesome stuffs with it!
And I'll disagree with only phenomenon games selling, WiiMusic sold multimillions, as well as animal crossing! There's plenty of 3rd party titles that sold more than decent numbers. Heck 3D Mario did nothing spectacular but did decent numbers, SSBB and Metroid Prime 3 sales were more than decent too.
What bombed, bombed for a reason. Considering how the market (and by the market I mean us the customers) reacted to various games I refuse to believe that the market buy games blindly, and I'll stand by it until I get sound evidence of the contrary. The market can be stirred but in the end if you look at sales trend and you see a continuous success it's a clear sign that your product is awesome.
Zelda 2 had that, so I won't label it as a failure. Even more so since I was there when the game was out and distinctly remember people actually liking playing the game. Heck I remember actually liking what I played back then (despite the game being really way too hard for me at the time).
Also the userbase of the Wii is really that much bigger, it sold more so there's more system out there. We don't have any other metric so I'll use that one.
I feel entitled to shit on Other M from great height BECAUSE of the market data we have, if it fared better I'd ignore it mostly and only talk about it when assessing its qualities like Final Fantasy 7 (which had the most horrendous localisation this side of ZeroWing).
If you don't to discuss this point further though I'll drop it though.

Shikamaru Ninja said:
One point we should remember. Is that Sakamoto's team basically created the Miis. Iwata borrowed them to work on the Wii. Then they were transferred back to Sakamoto department to finish Tomodachi Collection. Thus the Mii has direct correlation to our beloved Sakamoto.

Well Iwata borrowed everyone available to work on it, the Miis are a concept you can trace back to the very beginning of the vg business. While what was done with the Miis is not to be understated, there's nothing very creative about it. And that's why they work so well and are so good at their purpose.
Also don't mistaken my defiance to Sakamoto as a defiance to anything he does or manages. His team is clearly competent, that's the only conclusion one can get after a game of rhtyhm heaven after all. BUT the way he managed Other M shows clear signs that there's stuffs he can't do AND I'm a firm believer in action leading to consequences so I'll give him shit for killing Metroid until it's back to its status it was before that thing.
For the same reason I'll blame Miyamoto and Koizumi for not wanting to provide the games we want despite being very clear on that subject.
And you better believe that I'll scream for Aonuma's head if Skyward Sword is another Wind's Waker.
I don't know these people so I hold no personal grudge or awe to them and I don't see why I shoudl either, they provide my entertainment but we provide their living I'd say we're more important to them than the contrary.
 
Tiktaalik said:
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.

If anyone should go 3rd party, it should be Sega to Apple. I really wanna see their major titles remade for iDevices. (Dreams of Panzer Dragoon Touch....yum)

But Nintendo? Pfft. No. Not going to happen. Once they get the games rolling...this will print money just like the Wii.

Believe.
 
Vinci said:
Dynamic pricing for games isn't solely a portable/mobile thing though. It should be industry wide, meaning consoles as well.

It's already the case though, I mean that's the whole point of bomba bins.
 
orioto said:
My doubt regarding Nintendo's ability to really find great new thing is based on a simple fact.

They always use something that is well known, but hasn't been used yet by the competitors. They never take a magical bunny out of their hat. NDS and WII were really surprising cause at this time, no iphone nor innovation desire for Sony and Microsoft. That was easy back then.

Now, 3D was the only "unique" feature they could find for the 3ds. And i do'nt want to begin a debate about WiiU but for me it's obvious that they are faaar from a unique and groundbreaking feature to sell the hardware. They simply don't have tech that their competitors wouldn't have, so they turn around vague concepts.

In the end we all agree, we all like Nintendo games and there is a problem with that. I mean, look at the 3ds, look at how they showed the WiiU with talks about the concept and no about any games. I'm just saying, try to sell system with great games Nintendo, just do that. And if there is hardware innovation needed, then ok, but don't inverse the problem. Hardware innovations should be hidden, just there to show off awesome new games, not the contrary.

I agree. Nintendo's philosophy once was that making the best games was the best path to success. But they focused on making the best games for years and their market share dwindled with each successive generation. Then with the Wii and DS, they struck gold with "innovation" or "gimmicks" (call it what you will), and that propelled them to the top.

But now, in my view, they seem to have the idea that games are a distant second to features, gimmicks, or whatever. That may sometimes be true in the short term, but in the long term, only a steady flow of diverse games will keep a system healthy.
 
_dementia said:
That could be a real problem. I remember how people thought the Game Boy Color was just a Game Boy with color despite the fact it had twice the processing power and could run much more impressive games than the original GB.
I went through all my childhood thinking that. Really! I didn't know it had twice the processing power until today. How I remember back those days how bad I wanted a Game Boy to play Pokémon. Never knew that it wasn't just a Game Boy with a color display.
 
Lazy8s said:
I pointed out what would happen with the 3DS. They should've listened.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=422236&page=4

I wish search history still worked, because I know I could find some real barn-burners in it.

Here's the first quote of mine I could find in that thread you linked to:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=26147060#post26147060

Apparently I was smoking some good stuff that was hard to find.

And that wasn't even close to being my most dogmatic self. I was conceding it was designed for the Japanese market (which maybe was wrong, it's possible it's the least 3D friendly in hindsight) and would be a major success. So I was extending an olive branch to avoid more fights.
 
Leondexter said:
I agree. Nintendo's philosophy once was that making the best games was the best path to success. But they focused on making the best games for years and their market share dwindled with each successive generation. Then with the Wii and DS, they struck gold with "innovation" or "gimmicks" (call it what you will), and that propelled them to the top.

But now, in my view, they seem to have the idea that games are a distant second to features, gimmicks, or whatever. That may sometimes be true in the short term, but in the long term, only a steady flow of diverse games will keep a system healthy.

Gamecube could have fooled me into thinking otherwise!
It's telling that their current titles don't compare so well with their former glories I'd say...

from that thread
Majine said:
MzFrG.png


Do not attempt to print money from your 3DS. Only Nintendo can do that.

Apparently not even Nintendo can :lol
 
They should get more demo units into stores. I've never actually seen a 3DS screen in action. If that's the selling point of the system, letting people see and use it for themselves should serve as better advertising than tv or print ads.
 
chaostrophy said:
They should get more demo units into stores. I've never actually seen a 3DS screen in action. If that's the selling point of the system, letting people see and use it for themselves should serve as better advertising than tv or print ads.

Weird. Have you ever tried a Target or Best Buy?

I think a bigger problem is people don't understand the slider and can easily walk away thinking 3D is the worst invention ever. And even if they do calibrate properly, most people get a slight buzz the first time they play (which goes away once your brain gets used to it). It's not exactly "Sells Itself" in the first impressions category. It can be the exact opposite if you're not open minded.
 
chaostrophy said:
They should get more demo units into stores. I've never actually seen a 3DS screen in action. If that's the selling point of the system, letting people see and use it for themselves should serve as better advertising than tv or print ads.

yeah...there's demo station everywhere they sell the thing here and it's not flying off the shelves so....
 
chaostrophy said:
They should get more demo units into stores. I've never actually seen a 3DS screen in action. If that's the selling point of the system, letting people see and use it for themselves should serve as better advertising than tv or print ads.

A big problem with 3D in general is that people tend to hate it even more after they viewed it, especially in bad conditions.

I saw the 3ds at a big store in france (fnac) and it was stuck on some panel, too low for my eyes, so at the beginning i was just seeing something blurry. I had to lower myself from some centimeters to actually see the effect.

Believe me, most people won't take that time. And the worse is that when you just see the 3ds above the shoulder of someone or behind a crowd, it looks not good at all and people just take that as a "ok that doesn't work"

Leondexter said:
I agree. Nintendo's philosophy once was that making the best games was the best path to success. But they focused on making the best games for years and their market share dwindled with each successive generation. Then with the Wii and DS, they struck gold with "innovation" or "gimmicks" (call it what you will), and that propelled them to the top.

But now, in my view, they seem to have the idea that games are a distant second to features, gimmicks, or whatever. That may sometimes be true in the short term, but in the long term, only a steady flow of diverse games will keep a system healthy.

I'm not alone :')
 
Mael said:
yeah...there's demo station everywhere they sell the thing here and it's not flying off the shelves so....

There are 2 walmarts near me - neither of them have a DS or 3DS playable.
 
What Nintendo needs more is game machine + phone. People are spending >$300 on phones nowadays. Carrying another big and not so cheap portable device (with very limited battery life, high software price) is BIG hassle. Also these people already have purchased Kindle/iPad/Android tablets which costs > $400 easily.
 
Kintaro said:
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
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?

Kohler was wrong before and he's mostly wrong now. $170 is a good price and consumers will react positively to SM3DL and MK7 at the end of the year. How positively? That remains to be seen, but the 3DS is much better off now than when it was $250 and making money off tech-crazed early adopters and shortsighted Wired writers.
 
orioto said:
A big problem with 3D in general is that people tend to hate it even more after they viewed it, especially in bad conditions.

I saw the 3ds at a big store in france (fnac) and it was stuck on some panel, too low for my eyes, so at the beginning i was just seeing something blurry. I had to lower myself from some centimeters to actually see the effect.

Believe me, most people won't take that time. And the worse is that when you just see the 3ds above the shoulder of someone or behind a crowd, it looks not good at all and people just take that as a "ok that doesn't work"
I agree with this. Its really quite hard to share the 3ds experience with friends or family. With past handhelds people could look over your shoulder and see the action clearly, with 3d (the prime feature of the handheld) all they see is a blurry mess. Even when I hand my 3ds to people they see the blur first then have to adjust the system in order to see the 3d clearly. In a way the 3ds is antisocial. It does not lend itself to sharing or a social experience at all in the way the ds or any past handheld did. The 3d blurriness and narrow viewing angle alone makes for some very poor first impressions.
 
OldJadedGamer said:
I want the smartphone pricing and download ability but the Mario gameplay. The new Mario could be sold online for $20 as a downloadable game to the 3DS but they never would because Nintendo is still bound by the chains of retail. They could blow the scene up but they won't.

Nintendo is ready to move into digital delivery and social networks. They are also going to use other platforms without bringing their IP. You will read about when the Q&A shows up in English
 
Duxxy3 said:
There are 2 walmarts near me - neither of them have a DS or 3DS playable.

Ah? There's no Walmart in France that I know of but even the shops that do its job have demo stations (orioto will probably confirm he's seen some in Auchan or Carrefour...).

Majine said:
Nice bump. I say we use that picture as a logo for this weeks 3DS news.
;-)
 
orioto said:
My doubt regarding Nintendo's ability to really find great new thing is based on a simple fact.

They always use something that is well known, but hasn't been used yet by the competitors. They never take a magical bunny out of their hat. NDS and WII were really surprising cause at this time, no iphone nor innovation desire for Sony and Microsoft. That was easy back then.

You're suggesting that the Wii would have been less impressive in an iPhone-existent world? I'm not saying you're wrong, but there's no way to prove that. The iPhone is not the be-all and end-all of innovation, not in software or hardware, so I find it odd that it's being placed on such a pedestal. And of course they use something that is well known - it's the whole premise of the 'withering technology' philosophy that Nintendo operates on. It doesn't try to invent new technology; it invents new applications for existing and inexpensive technology to satisfy its goals.

Now, 3D was the only "unique" feature they could find for the 3ds.

I don't agree with that. They spent a fortune developing the handheld, their R&D costs were through the roof. Implementing 3D isn't that complicated to figure out. I believe they tested many different options, but they liked 3D the best - even if we don't.

And i do'nt want to begin a debate about WiiU but for me it's obvious that they are faaar from a unique and groundbreaking feature to sell the hardware. They simply don't have tech that their competitors wouldn't have, so they turn around vague concepts.

They never have had tech their competitors didn't have. What they did was apply it to a problem the others didn't realize could be satisfied by that technology. The Wii U, IMO, showcases great potential for satisfying a variety of problems while continuing with aspects of the Wii philosophy that were particularly engaging to the mainstream audience.

I mean, look at the 3ds, look at how they showed the WiiU with talks about the concept and no about any games.

Nonsense. The entire reason I have strong faith in the Wii U is because of the games they showed. Not Zelda. Chase Mii and Battle Mii. Those showed me that they were utilizing the technology in an interesting, asymmetrical manner, and that they were taking into account some of the great family-oriented appeal of the Wii system while also allowing for 'hardcore' experiences. It's really the best design they could have come up with, IMO, to satisfy the multiple goals of the machine.

I'm just saying, try to sell system with great games Nintendo, just do that. And if there is hardware innovation needed, then ok, but don't inverse the problem. Hardware innovations should be hidden, just there to show off awesome new games, not the contrary.

This works both ways, my friend. You're suggesting that because they have hardware innovation that their software innovation collapses, but that has no bearing on reality. New materials always have an impact on the design of products and/or services that utilize them. Concrete changed how buildings were designed, so architects like Le Corbusier were able to do more than they would have otherwise. The analog stick changed how games were designed, as did the introduction of the hard-drive to consoles. You are stating that hardware innovation happens independent of software innovation, and I'm saying that is not at all true and that it can work both ways - with the materials inspiring new game designs, or new game designers inspiring new materials. The former is probably easier than the latter, though, I'll admit that.
 
Duxxy3 said:
There are 2 walmarts near me - neither of them have a DS or 3DS playable.
Mine either and for good reason. People like to scratch the screen and rip off the buttons. Makes no sense. All the Best Buy's near me have them though.
 
Mael said:
Ah? There's no Walmart in France that I know of but even the shops that do its job have demo stations (orioto will probably confirm he's seen some in Auchan or Carrefour...).


;-)

Walmart for some reason doesn't have display models. It seems like every other chain does though. Lack of display units isn't really an issue in the US.
 
Andrex said:
Kohler was wrong before and he's mostly wrong now. $170 is a good price and consumers will react positively to SM3DL and MK7 at the end of the year. How positively? That remains to be seen, but the 3DS is much better off now than when it was $250 and making money off tech-crazed early adopters and shortsighted Wired writers.

Time will tell. I don't think it's that much better off until those games finally show up. You can sell the system (that you now take a loss on) but the software is lacking until...whenever these games come out. Even including those two games, the software is lacking. For example, why isn't Nintendo bringing out the Layton 3DS game? Instead, they bring out the regular DS game when they're trying to replace that system. /Boggle.
 
I wonder if the 3DS is selling like the "third pillar" the DS was originally supposed to be until it completely went nuts and sold like hot cakes.

I bought a 3DS and never use the 3D. I think their mistake was focusing on such a trend that doesn't seem to be taking off in theaters yet either (reception wise). I really like the 3DS for it's power. The 3D I don't care one bit about after trying it out a few times.
 
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