Nintendo's Iwata Blames You for the Price of the 3DS

[Grounogeos]

Well, it really is our fault for getting so excited about a DS that just got a 3D feature added.

 

[MGlBlaze]

It's all about supply and demand... Demand rises while having the same amount of supply = Increase Prices!

This is pretty much what I thought. Looking at the topic title I was ready to label Mr. Iwata as a douchebag, but having read the post I instead conclude that the decision was a fairly reasonable one. If people clearly like it and show signs that they will pay that much then why the hell not charge that much?

Not exactly a nice tactic, but it's effective for profits.

 

[Worgen]

its oddly refreshing for a company to have no bullshit about the price and just come out with the reason for it, but Im still hoping its no more then 250

 

[Risingblade]

Well you and your 3DS can go to hell then! D:

 

[AugustFall]

Every incarnation of the DS has been a huge hit so it stands to reason one with crazy awesome additions that add up to almost a new console is going to sell through the roof.
TBH given the hardware and the awesome lineup I am not surprised with the $300 price tag. However, I do not believe it will be that, I think $229 seems more likely.

Edit: I had forgotten how much better the DSlite was compared to the original. I may wait it out until the first upgrade, just to see if they streamline it. I'm also interested in the battery life.

 

[steamweedlegoblin]

there's almost no way it won't be the most successful platform of the next generation.

Except, you know, for the absurd price that people with reason won't pay.

 

[Pandora92]

I'll remember that next time sorry.

I'm extremely interested in the 3DS but unlike with the DS (which was obviously a lot cheaper) I'm not gonna jump in and by one right away on launch day, I plan on waiting for a while and seeing if it drops in price and if we start getting any deals on it later.

(Also if they're going to start releasing new editions of it every 6 months and screwing over anyone who purchased the original. -.-)

Outside of the DS lite, the 'upgrades' to the DS weren't neccesary. Well, the built in Internet Browser.

But the Camera and then a larger size...

Well you could technically argue that none of them were necessary, which was sort of my point, I purchased the original DS straight away and it still works fine today and I have no real reason to pay for a newer model, but you can't help feel a bit cheesed off when 6 months after buying something the company that makes it comes out saying "THIS IS THE SAME THING ONLY A LOT LIGHTER, SMALLER, AND WITH A MUCH BRIGHTER SCREEN!" (what the original Lite changed), I felt almost like an Apple fan must. :|

Well I feel the DS Lite was an improvement. My DS lite has a way powerful light.
Is "lite" and has a longer battery life then my Fat DS.

And trust me when I say that fat DS burns through life when I play Poke'mon/Mario at night.

I think the DS Lite was the only change to the DS that was needed/not just another attempt to gouge your wallet.

I guess you could argue that it was an extremely useful change and all, but I still see it as an attempt to gouge your wallet anyway, considering how soon it came out after the "fat DS".

 

[Asuka Soryu]

I'll remember that next time sorry.

I'm extremely interested in the 3DS but unlike with the DS (which was obviously a lot cheaper) I'm not gonna jump in and by one right away on launch day, I plan on waiting for a while and seeing if it drops in price and if we start getting any deals on it later.

(Also if they're going to start releasing new editions of it every 6 months and screwing over anyone who purchased the original. -.-)

Outside of the DS lite, the 'upgrades' to the DS weren't neccesary. Well, the built in Internet Browser.

But the Camera and then a larger size...

Well you could technically argue that none of them were necessary, which was sort of my point, I purchased the original DS straight away and it still works fine today and I have no real reason to pay for a newer model, but you can't help feel a bit cheesed off when 6 months after buying something the company that makes it comes out saying "THIS IS THE SAME THING ONLY A LOT LIGHTER, SMALLER, AND WITH A MUCH BRIGHTER SCREEN!" (what the original Lite changed), I felt almost like an Apple fan must. :|

Well I feel the DS Lite was an improvement. My DS lite has a way powerful light.
Is "lite" and has a longer battery life then my Fat DS.

And trust me when I say that fat DS burns through life when I play Poke'mon/Mario at night.

I think the DS Lite was the only change to the DS that was needed/not just another attempt to gouge your wallet.

I guess you could argue that it was an extremely useful change and all, but I still see it as an attempt to gouge your wallet anyway, considering how soon it came out after the "fat DS".

I remember hearing they made the Lite after the "Fat DS" because of criticism.

Anyways, Nintendo usualy does an improvement... then a fail.

ie GBA = Good
GBASP = F***ing Good
GBA Nano = Stupid

 

[Brotherofwill]

Rumor has it there was a 200 dollar version.

But it required glasses. Oh Suhnap!

Good show, sir, good show.

act disappointed.

That's kind of a great idea. Ever since a single biker was able to completely change Epic Mickey with his uninformed man-child whining I suspected that companies might use customer feedback a lot more intensively in shaping their products.

People should form groups in the internet that go to conventions with a clear mission statement, like for example whine about the re-design of Dante. Then, after 50 or so people complain at the Capcom both over the course of a convention, they might get the message. Anyway, it's a long shot, but it might just work.

 

[GonzoGamer]

I would never pay that much for a handheld, hell I don't know anyone who would.

Me neither. I actually don't know that many people who are willing to spend that on a home console.
I think he's overestimating how excited we are.
I was excited. Maybe $200 excited not 3.
If it's more than $200, I'm at least going to wait for the first re-design which I'm probably gong to do anyway. Nintendo handhelds always have a clunky start.

 

[JediMB]

If it doesn't exceed 2500 SEK here in Sweden (which is usually the price when the product is ?250 in the rest of Europe, and $250 in the US, actual currency conversions be damned), I won't complain. Would I like to see it at 1500 SEK? Sure, but with the 3D feature and the rest of the goodies included, plus the software announced, I'm willing to apply my Console Rule to the handheld.

Note that 25,000 yen is roughly 2020 SEK at this moment, so they could go higher than the original Japanese price without me complaining. I don't even dare hoping for a 1999 SEK price tag.

 

[blarghblarghhhhh]

if it launched at $225 and i can trade in my ds light for 50 bucks to get the price knocked down to $175 then I will purchase it day 1, otherwise its a waiting game....hopefully not a long one.

 

[AgentBJ09]

Just remember, the next time somebody reveals cool new technology, act disappointed.

No problem there. I was already disappointed when Nintendo announced this thing in the first place.

This is their fifth portable in five plus years. Why? What purpose does it serve beside promoting a technology that most people do not want right now?

If they want to blame anyone, it's their own pricing and marketing department for thinking something like this would be cheap, or desired this soon.

Since I'm playing Nintendo Devil's Advocate for the moment:

This isn't a new iteration of the DS, it's a new console. This isn't like the GBA to the GBA SP, it's the GBA SP to the DS. It's beefier and more powerful.

And obviously, judging from the response among fans and media, people do want 3D, they just don't want the hassle of the glasses. The 3DS is one of the most anticipated things I've seen in gaming in a while, and there's almost no way it won't be the most successful platform of the next generation.

There is demand there, even if you don't personally share it. And what happens when demand outpaces supply in economics?

Either way, this doesn't change the fact that not only is this Nintendo's fifth portable console in about five years, it's also a system where they have stated that they will relaunch many of their old titles in the new display.

Also, if this system can still play DS and DSi games, how is it not another iteration of the DS? That's like saying because the PS3 Slim no longer plays PS1 games it's a new console all on it's own.

It still bugs me that Nintendo thinks we are to blame for the price point when it is very clearly the 3D technology they had to develop for the thing that's driving the price so high.

So, my response to that baseless accusation of Nintendo is this: "I've got a DSLite, I am not one of the gimmick crowd, and I do not pirate games like some cheap asses on the Internet, so please refrain from opening your mouth to accuse me of something I am not responsible for."

Spoiler

I think Yahtzee sums up my opinion of part of the 3DS's strategy of upgrading old game to 3D, despite his context of the following quote: "Why fix what isn't broke? Better yet, why not repackage and resell what's not broke to add a few more pennies to the official Nintendo money pile?" - Yahtzee, Wii Sports Resort

 

[VanityGirl]

I can't really argue with their logic. Most videos I've seen of people playing the 3DS have had a look of awe on their face. I've literally seen people dumbfounded by the 3DS, so Iwata's statement isn't surprising.

 

[JerrytheBullfrog]

there's almost no way it won't be the most successful platform of the next generation.

Except, you know, for the absurd price that people with reason won't pay.

Absurd in what light? The original PSP cost 25,000Y, and I can think of many more reasons to buy a 3DS than a original PSP.

It's a handheld successor to the most popular console of all time featuring an all new advanced technology with an impressive-looking lineup of games under development in addition to the ridiculous back catalog from the DS, GB, and GBA.

 

[JerrytheBullfrog]

Either way, this doesn't change the fact that not only is this Nintendo's fifth portable console in about five years, it's also a system where they have stated that they will relaunch many of their old titles in the new display.

Also, if this system can still play DS and DSi games, how is it not another iteration of the DS? That's like saying because the PS3 Slim no longer plays PS1 games it's a new console all on it's own.

It's not another iteration of the DS because it uses completely new hardware? That's like saying that the DS was another iteration of the GBA because it was backwards compatible with the GBA, or that launch PS3s were just PS2s because they could play PS2 games.

This is Nintendo's fifth-generation handheld (or fourth, depending on if you count the GB Color as a separate generation). Game Boy -> GBA -> DS -> 3DS.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

$300 PSPGo - People: this is over-priced!
$300($298) 3DS - People:Alright thats cool.

I mean I know technicaly the PSPGo wasn't new tech like the 3DS is, but still.

I know right? Especially since we, the consumer don't even know what the 3D effect looks like yet.


Double Standards for the win!!!!

Sure we do. You just had to go to E3 and wait in line.

The 3DS is new tech anyway even without the 3D effect. It isn't just "a 3D DS," it's the successor to the DS that happens to have 3D capabilities.

The comparison to the PSPgo (which you seem really hung up on, by the way) would work better if it had been a PSP2go or if this were the DS-3D. One was new hardware, the other was the exact same hardware with a (poorly implemented) gimmick.

I'm not comparing the two systems here. I'm just pointing out the fact that people seem to love Nintendo for charging them more than it's own home console for a hanheld and be ok with it.

And your point about going to E3 is kind of silly. E3 tickets cost $400-$500. And it's not like the mass consumer market could see how it worked. So again I state that the mass market has yet to know how the 3DS works until next March.

It seems silly to say that it's acceptable to okay the high end price of an item that you haven't personally seen. The reason I use the PSPGo as an example is because there is no other handheld in the market that directly competes with the 3DS.

And if you actually look at the specs of the PSPGo, the hardware are not exactly the same as the PSP 3000.

 

[steamweedlegoblin]

there's almost no way it won't be the most successful platform of the next generation.

Except, you know, for the absurd price that people with reason won't pay.

Absurd in what light? The original PSP cost 25,000Y, and I can think of many more reasons to buy a 3DS than a original PSP.

That comparison doesn't help your case much. The PSP may have been a hot ball of fire over in Japan, but in the rest of the world - not so much. And yes, 300 USD was an absurd price for the PSP as well.

It's a handheld successor to the most popular console of all time featuring an all new advanced technology with an impressive-looking lineup of games under development in addition to the ridiculous back catalog from the DS, GB, and GBA.

It's a successor to the DS, not the Wii. This is not a new console. Advanced new technology? 3D has been around since the 1950's. The nineteen-fucking-fifties! It's never been that impressive, whether it's used in films or games. And being able to view 3D without glasses doesn't make it worth an absurd price.

 

[JerrytheBullfrog]

there's almost no way it won't be the most successful platform of the next generation.

Except, you know, for the absurd price that people with reason won't pay.

Absurd in what light? The original PSP cost 25,000Y, and I can think of many more reasons to buy a 3DS than a original PSP.

That comparison doesn't help your case much. The PSP may have been a hot ball of fire over in Japan, but in the rest of the world - not so much. And yes, 300 USD was an absurd price for the PSP as well.

It's a handheld successor to the most popular console of all time featuring an all new advanced technology with an impressive-looking lineup of games under development in addition to the ridiculous back catalog from the DS, GB, and GBA.

It's a successor to the DS, not the Wii. This is not a new console. Advanced new technology? 3D has been around since the 1950's. The nineteen-fucking-fifties! It's never been that impressive, whether it's used in films or games. And being able to view 3D without glasses doesn't make it worth an absurd price.

Except the PSP wasn't 300 USD. It was $199--which is only $10 more than the current price of the DSi XL. Get your facts straight before you complain about it. And for that matter, why are you complaining about a price that hasn't been announced yet?

Yes, the 3DS is the successor to the DS. Which is many times more popular than the Wii. Ergo, the most popular console of all time.

3D has been around since the 50s with those stupid glasses. Are you seriously trying to tell me that glasses-free 3D is nothing new? Are you telling me that everyone who was blown away by the 3DS at E3 was lying? The people who have seen it found it incredibly impressive. They have stories about it on this site.