Nintendo has slashed the price of its 3DS console. Photo: Toru Hanai/ReutersNintendo thatit will have announced cut 3DS price for with almost a third.
Comes less than five months after innovative glasses-free 3D handheld console launch, is this rapid reaction to disappointing sales figures without precedent for Nintendo.
The machine currently has a recommended retail price of £ 269.99 which retailers have already eroded to a street price of £ 199.99 with a bundle of games. But from August 12, if retailers resist the urge to increase their margins on 3DS, we can anticipate a new RRP of around £ 170 – military invasions to a street price of between £ 130 and £ 140.
In the past, Nintendo tends to leave the price of its handheld consoles constantly until they are replaced by new variants (as was the case with the original DS, released in March 2005 and was replaced by DS Lite at the end of 2006).
Even 3 DSS predecessor, the DSi (end of DS variants), was on sale for 18 months before its price was cut. In risk mitigation, 3DS had the highest launch price of any handheld console, Nintendo, but the rapidity of price reduction would lead to questions about whether it should have been priced so much in the first place, especially during a global economic slowdown.
Nintendo revealed the worldwide price cut as part of its first quarter financial announcement on Thursday, in a clear attempt to avert a downturn in market confidence.
Nintendo reported a first quarter operating loss of ¥ 37.7bn ($ 297 m) and cut its annual operating costs, surplus forecast to ¥ 35bn from an initial forecast of ¥ 175bn.
Announces price cut, Nintendo said: "so we will be able to create momentum for the Nintendo 3DS and accelerate its market penetration against year-end sales season, when must be enriched lineup to existing software, the company has decided to make this markdown."
There is a tacit concession in its short life so far, 3DS has suffered from a low gameskiller. The company took pains to point out that what it regards as the most important 3DS game – Super Mario 3D Earth and Mario Kart 7 – will go on sale in November and December 2011 respectively.
The problem of reducing the price of consoles — especially so soon after the start – is that it breeds resentment among early adopters, who paid the original price. Fortunately, Nintendo has moved to such concerns: existing 3DS owners will be able to join the company calls a Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Programme, entitling them to obtain 10 NES game plus 10 Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games for free.
All they need to be 3DS ambassadors is the directory on the 3DS ' online store before August 12. These free NES week will start to become available on 1 September and will include at least the stone-cold classics such as Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr, and the original Legend of Zelda.
The free Game Boy Advance game will be available later this year, and will include the likes of Yoshi's Iceland, Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit and Metroid Fusion. They will be exclusive to 3DS ambassadors, giving a minimum of one-upmanship.
No matter how perhaps Nintendo spin price reductions that are not get away from that it is a response to worse than expected 3DS sales bad news for the company – in years, Nintendo has taken pride in setting prices for its hardware, which makes it possible to achieve a profit margin on each unit, unlike rivals such as Microsoft and Sonywho have sold their Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles at a loss early in their life cycles, to establish a foothold in the market.
Free download games would also ease the pain of those who after 12 August, will feel they are paid over the odds for their 3DS consoles. But 3DS sale will come under great scrutiny when this Christmas – the Central annual period for games retail – comes.
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