So, Nintendo made some big announcements. Back when the Vita announced its $250 price point with what looks to be superior hardware, I predicted that Nintendo would have to drop the price of the 3DS as a result. I will admit I figured that this would happen a bit closer to the Vita release, but Nintendo has said it will be effective in August. I think that's a smart move because while they no doubt could have stretched that date out closer to the Vita release and gotten a bit more money out of it in the process, I think the sooner-than-later approach will help them out in the all-important battle to get their handheld into as many homes as possible before the Vita releases.
When I first read that though, my first thought was - what about early adopters? Well, they get a bit of a deal too - as Nintendo's promising twenty free older games through their e-shop. Now, those game offerings are cool - but they do work out to effectively paying $4 a game for customers who adopted early and I've seen some blog and forum posts claiming it's not enough. Certainly if I was in their spot as well, I'd want to get as much out of the Big N as possible, but I think all early adopters are aware that hardware prices are bound to drop. I still expect the Vita will eventually come down $50 or so after about a year as they get a bit cheaper to make and this is one of the reasons the Wii U probably won't find a place in my house until it's had a price drop as well.
Overall, what are your thoughts? An $80 price cut? I'll be honest - I may be considering one of these at some point once I've built up a bit more in trade-in stock. For those of you who haven't purchased a 3DS yet - is this price drop enough incentive? For those who were early adopters, how do you feel about the price drop and proposed compensation?
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» Gaming Thoughts... 7/28/11 - 3DS news
I saw the news and was too lazy to post anything, but I thought it was interesting. Good thing you and GamesAndBiz have it covered. :)
ReplyDeleteI was very surprised to see such a dramatic price drop which was much more than expected. I was thinking they would trickle it along like $219, $200, $189 or something. $169 is some serious stuff and I guess they needed to do that with the recent losses.
While I'm not out buying it immediately, it's certainly tempting to think about and much more of a realistic purchase now. Have to think about this more and balance it between some thoughts on the Wii U, a PS3, Vita, I suppose games to play on these and that pesky DSLR camera search we just started on recently...
The 20 nes/gb games thing seems pretty cool if infact there are a number of quality games. I would want to see the full list before jumping on board really. Just like typical bundling do you end up with 10% of the bundle that you would have purchased anyway with 90% filler?
Hey Robert!
ReplyDeleteYeah, this is going to make things interesting when I 'rebuild' my mad money for a system. Vita still seems superior, but there's some quality titles coming out over the next year for the 3DS so... yeah. Should be interesting, especially at that cut.
IGN did a pretty good breakdown of what they feel the games offered are going to be worth, and they seem to estimate that the value of the games if purchased would probably come out to be around $120 and though they don't have a full list of the games, there are some good ones in the list given so far. IGN actually recommended that people run out and buy now because they feel the 20 game offer is a better deal, though to me I am unsure. I still have most of those systems and games, so it's not quite as big of a deal to me.
It reminds me of what Sony did in Australia with the PSPGo.
ReplyDeleteRealising they needed to sell off a few more units (this was last year before Christmas) in the PSPGo's last "run" before they discontinue the device, Sony slashed the price to $250, and 10 free games (and some serious A-grade games - Assassin's Creed, Grand Theft Auto, LittleBigPlanet).
You know what? It worked. It was the best sales period the PSPGo ever enjoyed. Of course that console was never going to be successful, but I do feel Nintendo's gone and given the 3DS its best possible chance.
And I'm really glad Nintendo is rewarding the faithful - here's a company that realises it is going to need as many fans as it can get right now.
As for me, I already have a 3DS obviously. I'm just hoping Fire Emblem and the original Advance Wars are in those 20 free games.
@games
ReplyDeleteThose would be amazing titles - but I got my first taste of Fire Emblem this year and loved it - I can definitely see why you'd be hoping for that one. The 20 free games offer is a nice one, but for me - I am probably going to hold out (if I get it at all) and grab it at the discounted prices. If I'm going to spend around $250? I'd rather pick up 2 or 3 actual 3DS games. :)