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

[Adzma]

Nintendo screwing over their fans? Well I never.

 

[FinalHeart95]

$300? But that's more than what the fucking Wii cost at launch! You know, the CONSOLE that you're selling?

Bah. I was expecting $250 at most because Nintendo likes to have low prices. Disappointed.

 

[Nostalgia]

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. :|

I can see where you're coming from. However, even if a "better" version comes out, it might not be something you necessarily would want. I bought my DS Lite the week that the DSI came out and ended up choosing the Lite. The DSI might have all the wireless connectivity that the Lite lacks, but it wasn't backwards compatible, and that was something that was important to me. I'm still happy with my Lite, but I'm sure I don't speak for the majority.

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

Six months?

The original DS and Lite were about 17 months apart and the Lite and DSI were nearly three years apart here in the States.

 

[Crono Maniac]

Reason why I'll buy a 3DS no matter what the price:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Man_Legends_3

Hell yes.

Other reasons include Kid Icarus, a brand-new Paper Mario, THREE new Shin Megami Tenseis (including a persona), and Resident Evil.

The chance to buy Star Fox and Zelda again doesn't hurt its cause either.

Call me a sheep if you want. It's gonna be a happy March.

Wait what three megami tensei games? i thought it was just presona and devil survivor

I heard they were making a Persona game, a Devil Survivor game, AND an original series Shin Megami Tensei, as in the Japan-only SNES games, Nocturne, and Strange Journey. Feel free to squeal with glee.

 

[Electrogecko]

Everyone needs to calm down. I don't believe the comments I'm reading. How incredibly naive you must be to be surprised by this info. Yea I'd like it to be cheap, but like it or not, there are plenty of people out there who'd be willing to pay $300 bucks for it (sad to say I'm one of them). But they won't have to- it's going to be $250 and anyone could've assumed that from e3. The psp cost $250 at release and didn't see nearly this level of hostility. Besides, it comes with a handful of AR games, a 2gb sd card, and a charging stand (big whoop right?). Plus, theres a new Paper Mario game coming out for it and that's.....pretty fucking sweet.

 

[Arehexes]

Reason why I'll buy a 3DS no matter what the price:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Man_Legends_3

Hell yes.

Other reasons include Kid Icarus, a brand-new Paper Mario, THREE new Shin Megami Tenseis (including a persona), and Resident Evil.

The chance to buy Star Fox and Zelda again doesn't hurt its cause either.

Call me a sheep if you want. It's gonna be a happy March.

Wait what three megami tensei games? i thought it was just presona and devil survivor

I heard they were making a Persona game, a Devil Survivor game, AND an original series Shin Megami Tensei, as in the Japan-only SNES games, Nocturne, and Strange Journey. Feel free to squeal with glee.

Not going to lie I did squeal with glee, before you said to. You sir are making it really hard to wait for a new 3DS modal T_T. I love Shin Megami Tensi games (I have yet to beat one though sadly with school all year *cries in a corner*), do you think they will translate and release the SNES remakes of the SMT games?

 

[ObsessiveSketch]

So 3DS=PS3?....I'm gonna have a hard time swallowing that I guess it's fair for the tech it offers, but I'd rather it be $225~$200, if only so it doesn't feel as though my wallet was just kicked in the balls X_x Remember when the PS3 was $600? Yeah, it didn't turn out too well for them either.

 

[tehroc]

I'm not paying 300 dollars to play the same games all over again, Nintendo. Come out with some new titles and maybe I'll give it a go.

That's ok plenty of other people will line up to buy this. Hell most parents dont care how much something costs if it just shuts up their brat.

 

[FungiGamer]

I don't think the problem is really the $300 price tag, I mean the system is more advanced than Nintendo's current home console (sadly) and is arguably as technologically advanced if not better than the Xbox 360 and the PS3 combined; the problem is admitting you based the price on fans positive reactions.

Seriously, what the hell Nintendo? First you're suing your Pokemon fanbase for posting images of the newest game post-release in Japan and now you're admitting you're taking advantage of us? There's only one explanation: Mother fans have finally figured out how to cast a curse on Nintendo that will lead them to make very poor business decisions if they don't release the rest of the Mother franchise worldwide!

Yup, that's what's going on.

Conversely, it wasn't the positive reaction itself that prompted Nintendo to set such a price, but the consenquences that could very well result from such a reception.

Remember Wii sales? The console was consistently sold out for more than three years. While this was naturally a positive thing for Nintendo in terms of profit, it also presented them with an awkward long-term problem in regards to supplies. For all the momentum the Wii had, there was no telling when that momentum would falter. If Nintendo oversupplied when that would occur, they would face huge financial losses. As a result, Nintendo was forced to be cautious with it's supply, which resulted in the Wii getting consistently sold out. This naturally annoyed customers, since they sometimes had to wait for several weeks before a new shipment would arrive, which threatened to make them disinterested and end up not buying one. The supply situation was so bad that used Wiis were selling for a greater price than the new ones, simply beacuse people wanted to get a hold of one immediately.

Now look at the situation Nintendo is facing with the 3DS. At E3, the response was, for the most part, overwhelmingly positive. Most gamers, developers and journalists loved it and it even converted some of the staunch 3D critics into supporters (Adam Sessler, the editor-in-chief of G4TV is an example). While that is good for Nintendo, it also means that they are facing a serious logistical challenge of massive launch sales. Combined with the fact that Japan is Nintendo's most important handheld market and it's no suprise that the Japanese price is as high as it is. Heck, Nintendo gave up on the fairly lucrative holiday season sales precisely beacuse they were afraid that the supply would be far too limited to keep up with the demand.

Note that this isn't to say that increasing their profits wasn't a part of the equation. But I think it's obvious that Nintendo didn't put up such a price "just beacuse they can".

Since handhelds aren't as big in North America/Europe/Australia as they are in Japan, chances are that the price point will be lower (although certainly not lower than $200). While $250 seems like the most likely price based on previous examples, I think it would be beneficial for Nintendo if they set it to about $230, since that would make it much easier to convince those who are on the fence about buying it. Plus, it would easen the sting of the typical 1:1 conversion rate for European customers. Even if Nintendo "graced" us with a 10 Euro "discount" (as with the DSi XL) and made it 220 Euros, that would still result in a equal price to the Japanese one (220 Euros is about 300 US dollars).

So a decrease in quantity supplied equals an increase in price... Gah, what is it with video games crossing over into my Macroeconomics class lately???

 

[SmugFrog]

"Yeah, we saw that people liked it a lot, so we thought we'd make it a bit pricier." Iwata seems a bit more business-savvy than that.

I'm still going to buy it even at $300, but the lower price means I get more games to go with it.

Nooooo! John! See what you've done here? Next you'll see Iwata saying, "Well, people on the forums have said they'll definitely pay $300 for it, so let's make it $350."

 

[Crono Maniac]

Reason why I'll buy a 3DS no matter what the price:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Man_Legends_3

Hell yes.

Other reasons include Kid Icarus, a brand-new Paper Mario, THREE new Shin Megami Tenseis (including a persona), and Resident Evil.

The chance to buy Star Fox and Zelda again doesn't hurt its cause either.

Call me a sheep if you want. It's gonna be a happy March.

Wait what three megami tensei games? i thought it was just presona and devil survivor

I heard they were making a Persona game, a Devil Survivor game, AND an original series Shin Megami Tensei, as in the Japan-only SNES games, Nocturne, and Strange Journey. Feel free to squeal with glee.

Not going to lie I did squeal with glee, before you said to. You sir are making it really hard to wait for a new 3DS modal T_T. I love Shin Megami Tensi games (I have yet to beat one though sadly with school all year *cries in a corner*), do you think they will translate and release the SNES remakes of the SMT games?

We can only hope, my friend. It could be that the mystery SMT title is a remake of one or both of the SNES games, or a completely original title like Strange Journey.

 

[Rubashov]

Supply and demand, people.

 

[Danzaivar]

The important part is that with this release it should drag the price of the DS lite/DSi even further. Down to £70 second hand at the moment and this might finally bring it under £60!

 

[Woodsey]

Might as well wait for the 3DSLiteXL.

[sub]Not that I'll buy it, I'm just making a point.[/sub]

 

[acutekat]

I find this thread interesting due to the fact most people in here are complaining that how the "Awesome cool new gadget" costs too much. This from the people who more than likely also complain about stagnation and the video game industry not taking risks. Well Nintendo took a risk trying to put out a 3d portable system (it could have turned into the next virtual boy) and now that there has been an overwhelming popular reaction to it Nintendo is going to make money off it (by charging a higher price) to take more risks, produce more games and keep on keeping on. We might not agree with everything Nintendo does ( I certainly do not like the few lean years that have arisen form the swing to casual gamers but i understand why they went that way) but if they can produce things that I like and still make money I say more power to them, if they overstep their bonds they will feel it in the pocket book sooner or later and come back to the center. If you don't like it take your rights as a consumer and don't buy the system easy as that, meanwhile I and a few other self admitted Nintendo consumer whores will be waiting in line for the midnight release.

 

[ckam]

So a handheld console can possibly cost more than the normal console. As in a DS is going to cost just as much or more than the Wii?

...I'll put it this way: Should the PSPGo cost just as much or more than the PS3?

 

[Asuka Soryu]

I kinda feel like if I see another Mario title, I might vomit.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

So a handheld console can possibly cost more than the normal console. As in a DS is going to cost just as much or more than the Wii?

...I'll put it this way: Should the PSPGo cost just as much or more than the PS3?

Sure, if they put the UMD drive and make its graphics rival that of the PS3 and they toss in a second analog stick.