How the huge 3DS price drop rounds off Nintendo's worst-run launch since the Virtual Boy

Great machine, terrible launch plan. Here's how Nintendo screwed it up

Words: David Houghton on July 28, 2011

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db1331 - July 28, 2011 5:01 p.m.

Dave, do you think Sony will announce a price reduction for the Vita to avoid being the most expensive console on the market again?
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shawksta - July 28, 2011 4:59 p.m.

Also the 3ds has other things like the eshop
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shawksta - July 28, 2011 4:57 p.m.

@etherealshadow Its not that they arnt, its that it takes time, Nintendo's catering to the core, the only problem was that the games didnt make it in time at launch because their still being developed. I have a 3DS and the games I play are Ocarina of time 3D and super street fighter 4. Its not big, but you can still play DS games, which i still do to keep me busy. The 3DS is having a case of what the DS has, the DS had a crappy start up but holy shit look at it now. PATIENCE is the ANSWER. and besides, Nintendo's learning, their starting by not only slashing the price but giving the first days buyers a special
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etherealshadow - July 28, 2011 4:46 p.m.

You're completely right. I think the 3DS is a wonderful machine, but I haven't bought one. You know why? Anyone who's bought one does. There aren't any good games. OoT is the only game out right now that I would spend money on. It just isn't worth it until they get a good line-up of games going. I honestly think Nintendo has gotten so caught up with the Wii's "everyhting for everyone" attitude that it doesn't remember how to appeal to a core audience anymore. It's been so caught up in appealing to the general mass public that it doesn't know what actual gamers want anymore. The general public is a fickle thing. They latch onto a great idea, then get bored with it rather quickly. Nintendo got it with the Wii. Now they're becoming old to the general public, and Nintendo needs the core gamers to come out and support them once again, but it doesn't know how to get our attention anymore. I think Nintendo's lost it's appeal to many gamers, myself included. It really needs to turn itself around and get itself back to what it once was or it's going to start getting some even more serious problems than the 3DS not selling well.
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shawksta - July 28, 2011 4:45 p.m.

DS came AFTER the psp, DS had a BAD Start, LOOK AT IT NOW. It takes Patience, Nintendo screwed it up but their fixing it, a big Price drop and a special offer for those who bought the 3DS on launch days is already giving them a new start. There's already a bunch of games coming, we just need to wait. Im happy with my 3DS and its just gonna get better
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TheRandomFool - July 28, 2011 4:38 p.m.

My prediction that Sony will win everything in the very long run still stands.
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Defguru7777 - July 28, 2011 4:37 p.m.

I think Nintendo can still have a successful handheld if they handle the price drop right and supplement it with new games and good advertising.
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jackthemenace - July 28, 2011 4:34 p.m.

Kinda saw this coming. I called it when I first saw it, it was going to be a novelty. No-one wants to pay £100+ for a novelty- it's the same reason Kinect's dying/killing the 360
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Anastius50 - July 28, 2011 4:27 p.m.

so how much is the 3DS now???
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statutoryreparez - July 28, 2011 4:25 p.m.

I wanted to come here and complain that you were being too hard on nintendo, and then i read the article and realized youre completely right...
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jmcgrotty - July 28, 2011 4:23 p.m.

"the Virtual Boy (which IMHO was a pretty good system, just put out too early for it's time)" Umm.... Errmmmm... I'm really at a loss for words at this comment. I was around when it came out and I've been around since then (I get the impression that you have, too. At no time has the Virtual Boy ever been considered even just OK, let alone "pretty good." At it's release, it was a debacle. And to this day, it's a debacle. You say that it was "just put out too early for it's time." This means that at some time in the years since then, there was a time where the system could have been a success? Or is it even now "still too early" for it to be seens as a good product, and the best is yet to come for Virtual Boy? No, Virtual Boy has been horrible since the first day that the first dev team designed the product, before launch. And if you're talking about how just the idea of 3D was ahead of it's time, the current situation with the 3DS shows that to not be true. People didn't like 3D then, people don't like 3D now.
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gamingfreak - July 28, 2011 4:21 p.m.

It's a shame Nintendo is wasting such an amazing system. Here's hopin' the Big N gets their shit together to show off how great of a system the 3DS really is.
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Pruman - July 28, 2011 4:16 p.m.

Bottom line: Among consumers, 3D is quickly becoming a cuss word, if it's not already. This is bad for the 3DS.
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TheIronMaiden - July 28, 2011 4:12 p.m.

I had a 3ds and sold it after 2 months due to lack of games and real releases coming out. O well.
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Pruman - July 28, 2011 4:11 p.m.

I've said this before, but I was one of the few who wasn't especially jazzed at the idea of either the 3DS or its wannabe-awesome library. 3D has never properly worked for me because I have a very mild astigmatism. I can see depth in the image, but the "crap popping out of the screen" never looks right. Also, saying that any of those franchises you mentioned are "new" is a bit of a stretch, don't you think? I saw the E3 presentation and thought "Wow, a chance to pay full price for prettied-up versions of games I played 15 years ago? A system price tag only slightly lower than a new 360 or PS3? TAKE MY INCREASINGLY DWINDLING MONEY, PLEASE!" /sarcasm Your article also totally ignores the elephant in the room - if everyone has a phone or tablet that can give them their gaming fix for 99 cents, why should they spend $250 on this and additional hundreds on games? It also doesn't help that 3D has been facing a huge backlash lately. 3D movie ticket sales are in the toilet, and 3D TVs and Blu-ray players aren't selling in enough quantity to establish a healthy installed base (I blame the huge premiums charged, honestly). The push for 3D always struck me as something forcedon us by entertainment companies chasing profits, and not something actively demanded and desired by consumers.
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DrakonisNegatum - July 28, 2011 4:10 p.m.

The 3DS still has potential... Even though I don't have one yet (due to financial screwups on my part) I still see the glass as half-full on this one... The 3DS is still doing better than the Virtual Boy (which IMHO was a pretty good system, just put out too early for it's time) and also, Zelda wasn't enough to keep something afloat for once... give it time before you start bitching about the fact that "you spent X amount on this stupid paperweight" GIVE IT TIME... Nintendo hasn't really disappointed on a handheld yet, so this is just taking a moment to dazzle.
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onetimebuster - July 28, 2011 4:10 p.m.

Bring back the gameboy.
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Austin_SJ - July 28, 2011 4:06 p.m.

Dave, how dare you point out the mistakes that Nintendo has made. Why can't you just view them through rose-tinted spectacles?
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markeywo - July 28, 2011 3:59 p.m.

Im pretty pissed off. Two weeks ago I bought one which was £170 (£210 with SSFIV and Ocarina), and now I bet they will be costing about £140/£150. At least the freebies look like the best Ninty could offer (LoZ + Super Mario FTW!), but I'm not sure they will be able to justify my waste of money. NOT COOL NINTENDO. NOT COOL. Plus 'Super Mario 3D Land' and "Mario Kart 7' are the worst names they could have given them.
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jmcgrotty - July 28, 2011 3:56 p.m.

(I've said it before, but...) This article actually is pretty close to accurate, but is still not looking at the real picture of this whole situation. People are taking this story the completely wrong way. This isn't a desperate attempt by Nintendo to increase sales. People, and Nintendo, just need to admit to what this really is: A clearance sale.
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