You would expect that sales of the 3DS would be really low considering the price was due to drop a week later - everyone knew that, and would decide to hold off from purchasing until the price is lowered.
I read in an article recently (can't remember where though), that while retail sales of the 3DS dropped on the announcement of the price cut, preowned sales soared in Japan because the free games are tied to the device and not the account.
@limewax:
At the moment, the only colours are Aqua Blue and Cosmos Black (which I have, and it looks sexy, lol).
The Flame Red 3DS is launched I think on 9th September.
I think that you will find the 3DS is actually MEETING Nintendo's sales forecast, and is outselling the DS at the same point in its lifecycle.
The reason that they are making losses is because if the Wii and DS - however, they have recently lowered the price of those, and can't do it again so soon.
Nintendo have quite a large line-up of games coming - games that WILL sell well, so I don't think that Nintendo are worried about the 3DS as much as pe...
Isn't it the case that 3DS sales are outpacing DS sales in the same time period?
I think it's more the case that because of the strong Yen, and the fact that they get 80% of their sales outside Japan, that they are simply wanting the 3DS to gain a bigger marketshare quicker, which will lead to stronger software sales, boosting their profits.
So far, the first 5 games for NES and GBA that have been confirmed for download are:
NES - Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong Jr, Balloon Fight, Ice Climber and The Legend of Zelda
GBA - Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ and Mario Vs Donkey Kong
Not too shabby a list so far.
20 games, actually. 10 NES downloads and 10 Game Boy or GBA downloads. There are quite a few great games on all these systems. I'd love a Faxanadu remake on the store. :P
They have 2 rather huge games coming out in time for Christmas, so it's to increase the user base for that time, as well as to impact on Vita sales at launch.
You'll be able to download the games from any free Wi-Fi point, surely? All you'd need to do is take your 3DS out with you - even to a McDonald's.
If the WiiU becomes a Wii again, then surely it's destined to be the biggest seller of that generation, no? :P
At least they haven't said an outright 'No' - just that they have nothing to announce yet.
@blusoops - You do know that a resistive touchscreen (such as that found on the DS, 3DS and now the WiiU) is more accurate than a capacitive screen, and is therefore more suited to gaming, don't you? Not only that, but it is the newer technology of the two screen types.
Also, you don't HAVE to be in the same room as the console - you just have to be within range of the console for the bluetooth connection to work. I think the range is something like 100m, but it ca...
If you read the first comment in the article, who was it that stupidly said: "It doesn't sound like that experience will be 'the best looking games' as I don't believe it was announced to have HDMI, but Nintendo hasn't been going after that market anyway."?
This is a FULL HD system - of course it has HDMI, and there are even photographs taken at E3 that show the HDMI port.
Bit of a misleading title, making people think that the motion control on the Wii U specifically is not precise.
In actual fact, he said that motion control in general was not precise enough at the moment, but the possibilities with the wii U transcend anything he has done before.
Japan doesn't always favour the PSP - the DS was king in Japan for quite a lot of the DS's life. The DS has around a 65% market share in Japan.
But I do agree that Sony would be foolish to let Nintendo have Christmas to itself - especially in the west.
I think it should definitely be released in the West (US and Europe) this year to take advantage of the Christmas rush. Christmas isn't celebrated in Japan the way we celebrate over here, so I think November for the US/EU and January for Japan would be the best solution if they are struggling for stock.
Delaying Europe until after Christmas would be a mistake - the 3DS launched after Christmas, and sales slowed dramatically (although software was a defining factor in tha...
The resistive touch panel is not outdated. In fact, it is a more recent and robust technology than the capacitive one.
Resisitive is FAR mor accurate than capacitive in this particular application of the technology.
I agree with that, although we don't get Netflix in the UK though. I was thinking something along the lines of the 360's streaming, that doesn't need an additional subscription.
DVD functionality would have been nice, though, as it would have meant one less device plugged into the TV.
Wonder why we are both getting phantom disagrees?
I would have liked it to at least play DVDs and have some form of HD movie streaming function.
I can see their reasoning, but maybe if Nintendo gave more options in their hardware, people might be able to free up the clutter of cables and equipment and just have the one machine to do it all.
Well, for a start, very few people have had a chance to hold it, so I don't think that it's very fair that you rule out its comfort without trying it yourself.
Secondy, I have never dropped my controller (not since I was a lot younger), although I have dropped my Android phone plenty times, as well as my Galaxy Tab, and my kids have dropped (and abused) both my DSi and 3DS and they have all been fine.
I think you may just be looking for excuses or rea...
I'm not sure that there will be a 3DS Lite. If anything, I think a 3DS XL would be a better option, with a bigger 3D screen and improved battery. I can't see the benefit of the 3DS getting SMALLER, can you?