Is Nintendo in trouble?

The past few weeks haven't been kind to Nintendo. The hubbub surrounding the crackpot save-system of Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, delay of Crush 3D, Shinobi and Metal Gear Solid(specifically because of slow 3DS sales), and the demise of Mega Man Legends 3... this is a painful series of events. What's more, we haven't seen a Virtual Console update in two weeks. Today, just four months after the 3DS's launch, Nintendo announced an $80 reduction from the handheld's price tag. What the hell is going on here?

Okay, that's pretty great. $80 great? Probably not, and Nintendo knows it. Round two of the reward goes like this:

This is where things get sticky. You'll note that Nintendo said it "has no plans" to release these 10 games to the lowly post-price-drop public at all, ever. We suspect that'll change down the line when they realize a $10 Mario Kart download will make them some sick bank.

Next page: What this means for you... and for Nintendo