Nintendo Slashes Price on 3DS After an 82% Cut in Sales Forecast - The UpStream

Nintendo Slashes Price on 3DS After an 82% Cut in Sales Forecast

posted Thursday Jul 28, 2011 by Nicholas DiMeo

Nintendo Slashes Price on 3DS After an 82% Cut in Sales Forecast

Nintendo had high hopes that its Nintendo 3DS would bring the company out of the basement of the gaming world and bring it back to the glory days. Unfortunately, Quarter 2 results did not look so good for the company. Nintendo posted a total net loss of $324 million for Q2, a little more than their hit from last year as the same time. The bigger issue here is that Nintendo also reduced their sales forecast for 2010 by 82 percent, from $11.5 billion to a mere $257 million.

Because of this, Nintendo's stock dropped by a fifth of its value this week. As it turns out, 11,190 investors didn't seem to like an 82 percent decrease in sales projections. Nintendo is putting the blame on a lack of sales for the big titles on the Wii and 3DS.

So what is a company who is struggling to barely keep afloat this year to do after a disastrous financial report? Drop the price of their headlining handheld gaming device, of course! More details on that after the break.

Nintendo is now looking to shift its focus from price of a sale to trying to accomplish a black number at the end of the year in quantity of sales by dropping the price of the 3DS. As of August 12th, the 3D gaming system will be slashed by $80 from $249.99 to $169.99 here in the US.

Leave it to Reggie, Nintendo America's President, to lay a nice spin on the situation, though.

For anyone who was on the fence about buying a Nintendo 3DS, this is a huge motivation to buy now.

Obviously this is going to anger the early adopters, right? In a normal circumstance the answer would have always been an emphatic "yes!", however, because Nintendo usually doesn't aggressively cut prices so early in a product's lifecycle, they are going to show some love to those who bought early. If you logged into the eShop at least one time before the drop in price, you will be rewarded 10 NES virtual console games September 1st and 10 more Game Boy Advance virtual console games that the public won't have access to. You'll get the Game Boy games by the end of the year, and all 20 of the titles will be on the house, courtesy of Nintendo.

The good news here is not just that the ones who paid an extra $80 get some exclusive gaming goodness, but that the investors still have a little bit of hope left. Nintendo still expects to sell 16 million 3DS units in this financial year, and that could easily be achieved with the new reduction in price on the device. Let's hope so, as the Vita is getting to come out of the gate at full throttle and could hinder Nintendo's goal to stay out of the red, and hopefully stick around at least long enough to launch the Wii U.

We have the press release below and the financial info in the source link. We want to know: Do you own a 3DS, are you getting one now that the price is good or are you waiting for Vita? The comments section is where you can answer.

July 28, 2011 03:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Nintendo 3DS Price Drops to $169.99, as Great Value and New 3D Games Come Together

Star Fox 64 3D, Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7 and Kid Icarus: Uprising Prep Nintendo 3DS for a Strong Holiday Season

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nintendo of America today announced plans to drop the suggested retail price of its portable Nintendo 3DS™ system to $169.99 in the United States, as new games based on some of the world's most beloved video game franchises head to the system. The new price, down from the suggested launch price of $249.99 and effective Aug. 12, makes an outstanding value even better and sets up a strong holiday season for the system.

"For anyone who was on the fence about buying a Nintendo 3DS, this is a huge motivation to buy now"

"For anyone who was on the fence about buying a Nintendo 3DS, this is a huge motivation to buy now," said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "We are giving shoppers every incentive to pick up a Nintendo 3DS, from an amazing new price to a rapid-fire succession of great games."

Nintendo 3DS has the strongest software lineup of any video game system this holiday season and the new price now opens up the glasses-free 3D experience to many more consumers. Building on the popularity of The Legend of Zelda™: Ocarina of Time™ 3D, which launched June 19, the upcoming game calendar is a Who's Who of iconic video game franchises. Star Fox 64™ 3D arrives on Sept. 9, followed by Super Mario™ 3D Land in November, Mario Kart™ 7 in December and Kid Icarus™: Uprising during the holiday season.

In addition to great games, Nintendo 3DS has a host of attractive features* that make it the must-have video game system this season:

The new Nintendo Video™ service automatically delivers short 3D videos from the worlds of music, comedy, animation and Hollywood.

A free application allows Netflix members with unlimited streaming plans to instantly watch TV episodes and movies streaming from Netflix.

The Nintendo eShop is a digital store for Nintendo 3DS owners that provides access to a wide variety of downloadable content, such as original 3D software, classic games that have been re-mastered in 3D called 3D Classics, Game Boy™ and Game Boy Color "Virtual Console" games in their original 2D glory, and more than 350 Nintendo DSiWare™ games. Visitors can also view video game trailers, screen shots and product information for games, including those available at retail locations.

Since Nintendo 3DS launched in the United States on March 27, more than 830,000 people in the U.S. alone have purchased one to enjoy 3D visuals without the need for special glasses. These Nintendo 3DS owners represent some of Nintendo's most loyal customers, and Nintendo is rewarding them for getting in on the action early with 20 free downloadable games from the Nintendo eShop.

These free games are available to anyone who owns a Nintendo 3DS system and uses a wireless broadband Internet signal to connect to the Nintendo eShop at least once before 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Aug. 11. These users will automatically be registered in the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador program. The program contains two elements:

Starting Sept. 1, Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors will be able to download 10 NES™ Virtual Console™ games at no charge and before they are available in the Nintendo eShop to the general public. These games, including Super Mario Bros.™, Donkey Kong Jr.™, Balloon Fight™, Ice Climber™ and The Legend of Zelda™, are slated to become paid downloadable games, but Ambassadors get them early for free. Once the paid versions of the games are posted to the Nintendo eShop later in the year, the updated versions will be available to Ambassadors for download at no cost.

By the end of 2011, Nintendo will provide Ambassadors with 10 Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games. These include games like Yoshi's Island™: Super Mario™ Advance 3, Mario Kart™: Super Circuit, Metroid™ Fusion, WarioWare™, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ and Mario vs. Donkey Kong™. These games will be available exclusively to Ambassadors, and Nintendo currently has no plans to make these 10 games available to the general public on the Nintendo 3DS in the future.

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