Poll: Majority of Japanese consumers believe the 3DS is too expensive

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Only 20 percent believe handheld to be reasonably priced, Satoru Iwata defends cost as a new direction for handheld pricing

A surveyreleased yesterday by GetNews.jp revealed that 80 percent of Japanese gamers polled found the ¥25,000 ($305) Nintendo 3DS too expensive.

The handheld, which rivals (and in most cases, surpasses) the cost of home consoles, has been defended by Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata as having much higher production costs. In aQ&A at this year’s Nintendo Conference, Iwata explained, "We do not think the price relationship between portable devices and home consoles must stay intact simply because it used to be that way."

But while comparing the cost of the 3DS to the Xbox 360, PS3, or Wiimay not bea concern for Nintendo, it is for many gamers. Handhelds have long stayed below home console costs because their game's production costswere much lower.Iwata argues that this is changing with the integration of 3D, but it may not matter - as GetNews’ survey shows, spending $300 on a handheld may not be on many gamers’ to-do lists.

Oct 12, 2010



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