The price drop is tempting...but a 3 hour battery? I don't know.

[QUOTE=chimpmeister;8716391]Actually a price drop of this scope, this soon into the life of a new console, is very unusual. Most people including industry analysts would not have predicted this. And Nintendo has traditionally been VERY slow to drop the prices of their hardware (software too for that matter, their greatest hits for Wii just finally game out a few moy a 3DS just for 20 old NES and GBA downloadable games.
I understand what you are saying and I totally agree that this is very unusual, but the fact of the matter is that this is happening and if it did'nt happen now it was probably going to happen when the Vita comes out.

Originally Posted by heybtbm The price drop is tempting...but a 3 hour battery? I don't know.

I am not sure where this whole 3 hour battery crap is coming from. I fully charged my system yesterday after I bought it as youy are supposed to do for anything like a ds, cell phone, psp, etc. Once it was fully charged I did all my setup, played some games, updated the system, and watched Stan Helsing via netflix <while I played some COD black ops on my 360> and it did NOT kill my batter, and that was easily 5 hours of usage.

I honestly think alot of this battery issue comes from people not understanding how these types of devices and their battery charging are supposed to be done. Furthermore, If you really are concerned about the battery not lasting long enough for you, at Best Buy I saw the Nyko battery add-on kit, which has both the battery and charging dock for 14.99. Kind of odd since just the battery was 19.99, but still, thats a very viable option for anyone concerned.

So far I am happy with my 3ds. For what is going to be an eventual 170.00 purchase <once I get my refund in 2 weeks time that is> this has been a worthwhile purchase.

It's 3 Hours if you use the 3D, the higher the more battery too. The sound volume portion doesn't really drain much more though.

Originally Posted by djricekcn It's 3 Hours if you use the 3D, the higher the more battery too. The sound volume portion doesn't really drain much more though.

That's not true. The second part I mean. It doesn't matter if the 3D slider is at 10% or 100%, the battery drain is the same. If it's off it obviously makes a difference, but 3D on "a little" vs 3D on "a lot" makes no difference - the increased battery drain comes from the stronger backlighting needed and the extra GPU power to render every scene twice, it's not like you render the scene twiceer if you have the slider higher. Rendering twice is rendering twice, higher slider just means the rendered images are further apart.

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Well, I tried my own test. I wasn't idle at one single portion so that may have done it but with Tales of the Abyss, 3D all the way up was about 3 hours for me while slightly up was about 4ish hours.

Like I said, I wasn't idle at one place so not sure if that's the case.

Originally Posted by Spyder187 I am not sure where this whole 3 hour battery crap is coming from. I fully charged my system yesterday after I bought it as youy are supposed to do for anything like a ds, cell phone, psp, etc. Once it was fully charged I did all my setup, played some games, updated the system, and watched Stan Helsing via netflix <while I played some COD black ops on my 360> and it did NOT kill my batter, and that was easily 5 hours of usage. I honestly think alot of this battery issue comes from people not understanding how these types of devices and their battery charging are supposed to be done. Furthermore, If you really are concerned about the battery not lasting long enough for you, at Best Buy I saw the Nyko battery add-on kit, which has both the battery and charging dock for 14.99. Kind of odd since just the battery was 19.99, but still, thats a very viable option for anyone concerned. So far I am happy with my 3ds. For what is going to be an eventual 170.00 purchase <once I get my refund in 2 weeks time that is> this has been a worthwhile purchase.

The whole 3-hour battery life comes from...oh I don't know, the 3 hour battery life of the system? It has nothing to do with how people charge the batteries. If you use the system purely for gaming and use the 3D effect, you get about 3 hours of gametime. Taking my 3DS with me to E3 had the battery fully drained after about 5 hours of playing a regular DS game (on the second highest brightness). Yea, if you jump around a bunch of the other functions that are less demanding, the battery does last longer. But if you use gaming alone, at a high brightness level, expect 3-5 hours max of game time.

I bought a blue 3DS today at Best Buy, and I am enjoying it. I like the 3D effect, and it hasn't hurt my eyes any. The Best Buy salesperson confirmed to me that I will be able to do a price match and if for some reason I can't, I can just bring the system back as long as it is in good shape.

Originally Posted by iforeverlovemyfamily I know it's a long shot but is anyone else here hoping and wishing that the 4 outta of 5 remaining unannounced GBA games as part of the 3DS Ambassadors 20 free games program are Sonic Advance 1-3 and Super Mario World aka Super Mario Advance 2?. man i would love to have those on the 3DS to play anywhere . .

I'd like that, but in reality it'd be kind of silly for them to release a GBA port of an SNES game when they should just release the SNES game.

Originally Posted by djricekcn Well, I tried my own test. I wasn't idle at one single portion so that may have done it but with Tales of the Abyss, 3D all the way up was about 3 hours for me while slightly up was about 4ish hours. Like I said, I wasn't idle at one place so not sure if that's the case.

Tales of the Abyss is a 3ds game now?

Originally Posted by kevlar51 I'd like that, but in reality it'd be kind of silly for them to release a GBA port of an SNES game when they should just release the SNES game.

The GBA version got new levels. Just wish they would use the SNES control setting

Originally Posted by Spyder187 Tales of the Abyss is a 3ds game now?

yup

GameFaqs is hilarious right now.

^ why?

So I told my wife all about this deal where people are buying the system at full-price now and getting a refund in 2 weeks and she wants us to buy a 3DS despite the fact that we have two DS Lites right now that get occasional playtime. My wife is just excited about having new technology.

I guess my hesitation is that Nintendo will either abandon the 3DS or release a much better version of it sometime next year. The battery life concerns me as does the current library of games. But I'm a sucker for new technology and the thought of getting 20 free games is pretty enticing. Right now I'm looking into selling my two DS Lites. I can trade in my Metallic Rose one for $50 on Amazon (which is probably the most I'd get for the system but I wouldn't be able to do the Best Buy price adjustment deal). The other one I would just sell on eBay.

So I'm looking at possibly upgrading from DS Lite to a 3DS and I'm wondering is it worth it. If the 3DS library doesn't pan out, I'll just be using it for its online capabilities (shop, Netflix, etc.) and playing regular DS games. Do people think it's a worthwhile gamble to upgrade?

Also, what are people's opinions about a possible 3DS Black Friday deal? I doubt that the price will drop any further, but I'm debating waiting until that time to purchase one hoping to score a free game or two with the system. Right now the only games that interest me are Zelda and LEGO Pirates.

Originally Posted by kevlar51 I'd like that, but in reality it'd be kind of silly for them to release a GBA port of an SNES game when they should just release the SNES game.

No port will ever beat the original SNES version but i'd definatly take the GBA version if it was the only way i could play this game on the go .

Anyone else notice Amazon has different ASIN numbers for the original 3ds and the lower price one? I wonder if that will prevent stores from having to do a price guarantee for returns. Maybe the UPC is different. I could see Nintendo sending fresh supplies to stores and getting the old UPC models back for repackaging.

Originally Posted by metallicoholic So I told my wife all about this deal where people are buying the system at full-price now and getting a refund in 2 weeks and she wants us to buy a 3DS despite the fact that we have two DS Lites right now that get occasional playtime. My wife is just excited about having new technology. I guess my hesitation is that Nintendo will either abandon the 3DS or release a much better version of it sometime next year. The battery life concerns me as does the current library of games. But I'm a sucker for new technology and the thought of getting 20 free games is pretty enticing. Right now I'm looking into selling my two DS Lites. I can trade in my Metallic Rose one for $50 on Amazon (which is probably the most I'd get for the system but I wouldn't be able to do the Best Buy price adjustment deal). The other one I would just sell on eBay. So I'm looking at possibly upgrading from DS Lite to a 3DS and I'm wondering is it worth it. If the 3DS library doesn't pan out, I'll just be using it for its online capabilities (shop, Netflix, etc.) and playing regular DS games. Do people think it's a worthwhile gamble to upgrade? Also, what are people's opinions about a possible 3DS Black Friday deal? I doubt that the price will drop any further, but I'm debating waiting until that time to purchase one hoping to score a free game or two with the system. Right now the only games that interest me are Zelda and LEGO Pirates.

Yes and definatly Yes @ $169.99 w/20 free games .

IMO i definatly see a Black Friday deal. no way there won't be one lol. i also heard news that the Flare Red 3DS has been confirmed for release sometime in november 2011 here in the US, along with the possibly of a Flare Red 3DS/Mario Kart 7 3D or Flare Red 3DS/Super Mario Land 3D bundle. so many sites are saying it's confirmed so i would'nt be surprised to actually see this happen.

If you don't care for the 20 free games offer i'd personally wait until Black Friday for the Flare Red model with (possibly) Mario Kart 7 3D or Super Mario Land 3D bundle. that red one looks amazing .

Originally Posted by sixspeednissan Anyone else notice Amazon has different ASIN numbers for the original 3ds and the lower price one? I wonder if that will prevent stores from having to do a price guarantee for returns. Maybe the UPC is different. I could see Nintendo sending fresh supplies to stores and getting the old UPC models back for repackaging.

Doubt it will make a difference at this point since many people here that just went out and bought their 3DS's this week said that the sales associates at their Best Buy stores told them they'd have absolutly no problems getting the price adjustments come august 12th. things could change between now and then but i doubt anything will happen and they'll more than likely get their price matches as planned.

Originally Posted by sixspeednissan Anyone else notice Amazon has different ASIN numbers for the original 3ds and the lower price one? I wonder if that will prevent stores from having to do a price guarantee for returns. Maybe the UPC is different. I could see Nintendo sending fresh supplies to stores and getting the old UPC models back for repackaging.

I've read that even the existing models which are still likely to be in stores on the 12th will also get dropped in price - if there is in fact a new SKU. I started thinking the other day about Nintendo maybe doing something like taking out the SD card or something along with dropping the price. Unless there needs to be one included for it to work as it does today...

Originally Posted by Kadin I've read that even the existing models which are still likely to be in stores on the 12th will also get dropped in price - if there is in fact a new SKU. I started thinking the other day about Nintendo maybe doing something like taking out the SD card or something along with dropping the price. Unless there needs to be one included for it to work as it does today...

Not going to happen until the next model as far as any changes go. the SD card is necessary so that will never be taken out of 3DS's, this model or future ones. this is simply a price drop. everything will be there. no worries .