3DS Price Drops to $169.99, New "Ambassador" Program for Those That Already Own One

[Michael Heide]

http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=30048

NINTENDO 3DS PRICE DROPS TO $169.99, AS GREAT VALUE AND NEW 3D GAMES COME TOGETHER

Star Fox 64 3D, Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7 and Kid Icarus: Uprising Prep Nintendo 3DS for a Strong Holiday Season

REDMOND, Wash., July 28, 2011 – Nintendo of America today announced plans to drop the suggested retail price of its portable Nintendo 3DS™ system to $169.99 in the United States, as new games based on some of the world's most beloved video game franchises head to the system. The new price, down from the suggested launch price of $249.99 and effective Aug. 12, makes an outstanding value even better and sets up a strong holiday season for the system.

"For anyone who was on the fence about buying a Nintendo 3DS, this is a huge motivation to buy now," said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "We are giving shoppers every incentive to pick up a Nintendo 3DS, from an amazing new price to a rapid-fire succession of great games."

Nintendo 3DS has the strongest software lineup of any video game system this holiday season and the new price now opens up the glasses-free 3D experience to many more consumers. Building on the popularity of The Legend of Zelda™: Ocarina of Time™ 3D, which launched June 19, the upcoming game calendar is a Who's Who of iconic video game franchises. Star Fox 64™ 3D arrives on Sept. 9, followed by Super Mario™ 3D Land in November, Mario Kart™ 7 in December and Kid Icarus™: Uprising during the holiday season.

In addition to great games, Nintendo 3DS has a host of attractive features* that make it the must-have video game system this season:

• The new Nintendo Video™ service automatically delivers short 3D videos from the worlds of music, comedy, animation and Hollywood.
• A free application allows Netflix members with unlimited streaming plans to instantly watch TV episodes and movies streaming from Netflix.
• The Nintendo eShop is a digital store for Nintendo 3DS owners that provides access to a wide variety of downloadable content, such as original 3D software, classic games that have been re-mastered in 3D called 3D Classics, Game Boy™ and Game Boy Color "Virtual Console" games in their original 2D glory, and more than 350 Nintendo DSiWare™ games. Visitors can also view video game trailers, screen shots and product information for games, including those available at retail locations.

Since Nintendo 3DS launched in the United States on March 27, more than 830,000 people in the U.S. alone have purchased one to enjoy 3D visuals without the need for special glasses. These Nintendo 3DS owners represent some of Nintendo's most loyal customers, and Nintendo is rewarding them for getting in on the action early with 20 free downloadable games from the Nintendo eShop.

These free games are available to anyone who owns a Nintendo 3DS system and uses a wireless broadband Internet signal to connect to the Nintendo eShop at least once before 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Aug. 11. These users will automatically be registered in the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador program. The program contains two elements:

1. Starting Sept. 1, Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors will be able to download 10 NES™ Virtual Console™ games at no charge and before they are available in the Nintendo eShop to the general public. These games, including Super Mario Bros.™, Donkey Kong Jr.™, Balloon Fight™, Ice Climber™ and The Legend of Zelda™, are slated to become paid downloadable games, but Ambassadors get them early for free. Once the paid versions of the games are posted to the Nintendo eShop later in the year, the updated versions will be available to Ambassadors for download at no cost.

2. By the end of 2011, Nintendo will provide Ambassadors with 10 Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games. These include games like Yoshi's Island™: Super Mario™ Advance 3, Mario Kart™: Super Circuit, Metroid™ Fusion, WarioWare™, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ and Mario vs. Donkey Kong™. These games will be available exclusively to Ambassadors, and Nintendo currently has no plans to make these 10 games available to the general public on the Nintendo 3DS in the future.

More details about this program will be announced in the future.

 

[Emma]

That is awesome! 20 games? Based on the average expected price of those types of games, that's a value of way more than the difference in retail price now. So... that's a huge deal. So even though we payed more for buying it early, if we take full advantage of these free downloads, it'd actually cost less than what someone that buys it at a lower price would have to pay for the system and all the same games. This is very exciting!

 

[Michael Heide]

And don't forget that we already had fun with the 3DS for a couple of months now. I mean, I wouldn't be able to sell my used 3DS for full price anyway. So even if the prices for the NES and SNES games didn't add up to the price difference, we wouldn't be ripped off. And let's be reasonable, with the relatively shoddy games library out right now, and with the Playstation Vita available come holiday season, they had to drop the price. So that they go out of their way and give us earlybirds free games is just a really classy thing to do.

 

[Master Sword13]

I hope they're serious about this... IF THEY'RE NOT I'M GOING TO EXPLODE!!!!!!!! But if they are serious, then I can't wait to get on the eShop today.

 

[LolGames4U]

FREE NES GAMES??? That ROCKS!!! I hate when they drop prices RIGHT after I get something. -_-

 

[Volvagia]

The 3ds, now being 80 USD cheaper than the PSVita, will have a MUCH better chance of outselling said console this holiday season. The Vita already had to cut several features in order to keep up with the 3ds, and Nintendo smacks them in the face with this announcement. I also would venture to guess that the Wii U will be significantly less expensive than its competitiors' consoles. Add this to the fact that Nintendo is rewarding its early adopters, and you have a company with a very good outlook for sales in the future.

 

[Pipo]

They aren't selling as much 3DS as they will expect but also, a 3DS *Lite* is on its way.

 

[Blendercat]

PLEASE BE IN CANADA, PLEEEEEASE!

Knowing my luck, it won't be.

 

[squirrelguys]

Can't wait to get my 3DS August 5th. And get my free Legend of Zelda in September.

 

[JamesBond007]

It's already in Europe!
http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/news/2011/nintendo_3ds_ambassador_programme_44123.html
I already visited eShop on my 3DS after reading this. Is this enough?

PLEASE BE IN CANADA, PLEEEEEASE!

Knowing my luck, it won't be.

You can always change country settings on your 3DS from Canada to USA. I live in Poland, but my 3DS is set to UK.

 

[JuicieJ]

I knew the 3DS would soar already, but with this price and the new games coming out, it's gonna blow up like

 

[Michael Heide]

They aren't selling as much 3DS as they will expect but also, a 3DS *Lite* is on its way.

Has a 3DS Lite been confirmed already? Last official word I heard was that they want to establish the 3DS first before introducing upgrades like Lite or XL.

Here's a link:
http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/how-nintendo-3ds-made/1/0

Iwata:
Your work as an industrial designer goes back quite a way to such products as the Play It Loud! series and Game Boy Pocket, right?

Sugino:
Yes. I also participated in Nintendo's first 3D game system, Virtual Boy.

Iwata:
I imagine that in your work designing all those systems, you've noticed a lot of changes in materials and mounting technology.

Sugino:
Yes, especially these last few years. Changes in materials and its miniaturization for cell phones became particularly prominent. Such developments have proven incredibly informative in game system design as well.

Iwata:
When you design a handheld gaming system at Nintendo, everyone says, "Make it thinner, make it smaller, make it lighter."

Sugino:
Yeah. (laughs)

Iwata:
You're also told to make it so it won't break if you drop it, so you have to make a lot of tradeoffs, such that if you do this, you can't do that.

Sugino:
That's our fate. Take the first Nintendo DS, for example. You said, "Make it thinner!" (laughs)

Iwata:
Yeah, I said, "Do you really think this is all right?" (laughs)

Sugino:
I was like, "If I could make it any thinner, I would have in the first place!"

Iwata:
You thought you had made it as thin as you could from the very start.

Sugino:
Yeah. I mean, with a folding body and two LCDs, I didn't see how it was possible. But when I gave it a shot, the result was the Nintendo DS Lite system.

Everyone:
(laughs)

Sugino:
When you changed your approach and got rid of all gaps, Nintendo DS Lite was born. I think that experience can be seen in Nintendo 3DS.

Iwata:
The first thing (Nobuo) Nagai-san, who's in charge at the Uji plant, said to me when he looked over the designs for Nintendo 3DS before mass production began was "This time it's fully packed right from the start."

Sugino:
Oh, really? (laughs) But he was right. That's why we don't have any short-term plans for creating a more compact version of Nintendo 3DS like we did with Nintendo DS Lite. (laughs)

Iwata:
Yeah. (laughs) When making Nintendo 3DS, we used all our tricks for Nintendo DS Lite—and more—for cutting down on size right from the start.

No short-term plans.

 

[Ventus]

$169? SWEET! I can't wait for the price drop to 'officially' take place in my area, I was saving up money for a Wii but the 3DS current lineup looks good enough to justify me going broke. Nintendo, I applaud your business ideals. Thanks Michael Heide for posting this news, otherwise I would've never found out about it =)

If I may complain though, those GBA games not being released to the general public is rather...cheating, I suppose. I mean, not everyone has money just flowing in and out of their pockets. And a counter to my own complaining would be that those games listed are still rather common, at least in the U.S. I can't wait til more GBA games (Minish Cap anyone?) release onto the EShop, that would make for a still impressing system!

 

[Pipo]

@ Michael Heide

It hasn't been confirmed, I'm just assuming things. An announcement to an *upgraded* version of the 3DS by the end of the year will make sens(to me). Here's why: When they announced the 3DS, they had no intentions on losing money on it. Since the launch of the 3DS, Nintendo has lost 25.5 billions Yens, this price cut happens only 6 or 7 months after its original $250 price tag, and 40% is not nothing. The softwares haven't help either(though Ocarina is doing great I heard). They did have a "short-term" plan in mind, unfortunately, now they have to sell the system less then what they originally thought. It goes to say: Sometimes, things don't go as planned.

You don't wanna hear Nintendo say: "We are failing to sell the system and we lost a crap tone of revenue" right? Like I said, I'm just assuming things here and I could be horribly wrong but i'm guessing Nintendo is gonna come up with some sort of: "We have bigger plans for the 3DS and for the people that wants to experience 3D with no glasses." Thats when I think that a superior, or whatever the hell they're gonna call it, 3DS is gonna be announce. But hey, don't take my word for granted, this is all glorious speculation.

 

[LolGames4U]

Nintendo, you have restored my faith in you! And FREE METROID FUSION I AM SO PUMPED!!!!!