3DS MSRP Drop to $169.99 On 08/12/11, already at Target, WM, Amazon

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Pre-order at the lower price at Amazon
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Nintendo 3DS Price Drop Hits on August 9th at Walmart


Quick Details:

Connect to the Nintendo eShop at least once before 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Aug. 11 to qualify for the below free games:

NES Virtual Console games:
Super Mario Bros.
Donkey Kong JR.
Balloon Fight
Ice Climbers
The Legend of Zelda
+ 5 more

Gameboy Advance Virtual Console games (exclusive to this program)
Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island
Mario Kart Advance
Metroid Fusion
Wario ware
Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3
Kirby and the Amazing Mirror
+ 3 more


US Press Release
REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 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:

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. 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.

Japan details
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2011/110728_3e.pdf

For Japan, if you buy before august 12, 2011 -- the day of the price drop you get 10 free VC NES games and 10 free VC GB advance games. the VC gba games will only be made available for early adopters -- and never for those who buy on the price drop date.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/info110728/index.html

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/info110728/detail.html
 
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[quote name='doodofdoods']:lol:

We should be upset but we can't do anything to get the money back. Nintendo failed and us early adopters failed right along with them.[/QUOTE]

Which is the risk of buying electronics new off the bat.

Early adopters have to expect this, no excuses. I got mine in early june so I am glad to get some software in the deal for free.
 
How exactly should "We" be upset? I brought my 3DS day one, moment one (Was at Gamestop before they even opened, first in line before 30 other people).

Did you guys expect the price of the 3DS to steadily rise like Gold or something? Im pretty sure anyone who is intelligent enough to have had enough money to buy something the moment it launched knew that it will inevitably drop in price. (Due to sale, lack of sale, or bundles/upgrades).

Sure you guys may get the console 80$ cheaper, or even still get the 20 free games with it. But the 3+ months and hundreds of hours i had playing it are totally worth 80$ to me. (Especially considering the fact that it got me interested in the DS game library again, seeing as i went straight from a DS Lite to my 3DS)
 
Doesn't Gamestop price adjust within 7 days of purchase? I have about $150.00 in Gamestop gift cards. So, if I buy it within 7 days of 8/12, I can get the free games and a $70 price adjustment?
 
[quote name='antlp89']At that price the console has got some of my interest. Although the poor battery life is a huge turnoff.

Console needs more games.[/QUOTE]

Poor battery life? I NEVER had mine go dead on me, I charge it in its cradle every night, and play it as long as I would like during the day, including taking pictures and what not. I guess if you want to constantly play it for like 8+ hours every day you can complain about the battery life, but there are a lot of factors, two screens (one with 3d feature), that takes up power.
 
[quote name='dgwillia006']How exactly should "We" be upset? I brought my 3DS day one, moment one (Was at Gamestop before they even opened, first in line before 30 other people).

Did you guys expect the price of the 3DS to steadily rise like Gold or something? Im pretty sure anyone who is intelligent enough to have had enough money to buy something the moment it launched knew that it will inevitably drop in price. (Due to sale, lack of sale, or bundles/upgrades).

Sure you guys may get the console 80$ cheaper, or even still get the 20 free games with it. But the 3+ months and hundreds of hours i had playing it are totally worth 80$ to me. (Especially considering the fact that it got me interested in the DS game library again, seeing as i went straight from a DS Lite to my 3DS)[/QUOTE]
eventual price drop is obvious. but nintendo called the release window from may - june, 1 month after the release window, price drops. that doesn't go well for early adopters. that release window was because of the shortage in software, and we accepted it. price drop is something that comes after you warrant that initial buyer, and the re-engineering of the system falls in price.
 
That would really suck if you just bought it right after the price adjustment return period expired. A price drop of that magnitude this fast is still an epic fail by Nintendo.
 
We should be upset if we thought the $250 price was too much but bought it anyway because we assumed a price drop was far into the future, not within 5 months of release. We should also be upset if the titles released in these first couple of months haven't justified your purchase of the system, and it was future software that you were basing your purchase on instead.

If this was your mindset at launch, you would have been better off waiting instead of purchasing at launch. This is the quickest a Nintendo system has ever price dropped as far as I can recall. Certainly not anything within the past decade has dropped this quickly. It's unprecedented. To not see it coming and to be upset when it happens given all of the circumstances(overpriced hardware overpriced software, lack of software, etc.) is a reasonable response.

Fortunately Nintendo has offered some compensation for the price drop, which shows even they expected gamers to be angry with this and there was a need to compensate early adopters.
 
[quote name='doodofdoods']We should be upset if we thought the $250 price was too much but bought it anyway because we assumed a price drop was far into the future, not within 5 months of release. We should also be upset if the titles released in these first couple of months haven't justified your purchase of the system, and it was future software that you were basing your purchase on instead.

If this was your mindset at launch, you would have been better off waiting instead of purchasing at launch. This is the quickest a Nintendo system has ever price dropped as far as I can recall. Certainly not anything within the past decade has dropped this quickly. It's unprecedented. To not see it coming and to be upset when it happens given all of the circumstances(overpriced hardware overpriced software, lack of software, etc.) is a reasonable response.

Fortunately Nintendo has offered some compensation for the price drop, which shows even they expected gamers to be angry with this and there was a need to compensate early adopters.[/QUOTE]

we all bought an incomplete software for the hardware to begin. release window ended june and the store update all hit june. it was basically a one month price drop if you were to take nintendo's idea of the release window for the console.
 
[quote name='Donut2922']That would really suck if you just bought it right after the price adjustment return period expired. A price drop of that magnitude this fast is still an epic fail by Nintendo.[/QUOTE]
Right, which is what someone pointed out earlier in the thread. They basically waited until a month had passed since the release week of Zelda 3DS (ensuring everyone who bought the system for that game was outside the exchange window) and then made the announcement for the upcoming price drop.
 
[quote name='DIMONDA85']Anyone else visit the gamefaqs 3DS forum where a shit storm of hate is going on for people trying to get this deal? It is very lol worthy seeing babies label frugal people as sinister, despicable, slimy, etc.

If you haven't please check out the topic with almost 300 posts.

Anyway, god bless you CAGer's who can get in on the deal of the year possibly.[/QUOTE]

Yeah I post as LexLuth0r on there. And that thread is indeed funny to read through... put in my fair share of opinion in that thread as well.
 
[quote name='guardian_owl']Right, which is what someone pointed out earlier in the thread. They basically waited until a month had passed since the release week of Zelda 3DS (ensuring everyone who bought the system for that game was outside the exchange window) and then made the announcement for the upcoming price drop.[/QUOTE]

Yup, screwed Zelda fanboys the worst with this price drop. Buy it mid june, talk of price drop hits late july, just after exchange period expires. Fail.
 
I found a post relating to Babies R Us, and their policy seems to deduct the coupon/promo first, THEN match. So essentially I'd assume that the $30 giftcard would be nil at that point. Also, it seems the online store doesn't match.

Can anyone confirm this?

If this IS the case, Bestbuy with it's 10% matching guarantee, would be the best bet, effectively dropping the unit to $162, plus tax, and also Reward Certificates too..!
 
The 3DS is worth $250 to me, that's why I bought one at launch and haven't regretted it. This price drop is good for everyone who was on the fence about buying a 3DS.
 
[quote name='Kadin']Yeah I post as LexLuth0r on there. And that thread is indeed funny to read through... put in my fair share of opinion in that thread as well.[/QUOTE]

I'm chrono :D
 
Also with TRU, once the 3DS package is opened, there are no refunds if anything should arise. Technically, it is a price adjustment but who knows with TRU.
 
[quote name='Multicron']I did the exact same thing - planning to keep mine sealed until the 11th.
Where did you find the 30 day pricematch + 10% of the difference stated in their policies? I asked three different BB employees about it, and they all confirmed it, but couldn't find it written anywhere.[/QUOTE]

The only time you get 10% the difference is when it's another stores price, not when it's a best buy price drop. Even if you brought in a Target add showing the new price, you will not get the extra 10% because best buy has it for the same price. As for some people saying that best buy is going to change their policy, that's not going to happen and if it did, check your receipt, their policy at the time of purchase is clearly stated on the back.....trust me, I've been doing this for years.......
 
[quote name='DIMONDA85']Anyone else visit the gamefaqs 3DS forum where a shit storm of hate is going on for people trying to get this deal? It is very lol worthy seeing babies label frugal people as sinister, despicable, slimy, etc.

If you haven't please check out the topic with almost 300 posts.

Anyway, god bless you CAGer's who can get in on the deal of the year possibly.[/QUOTE]

LOL I just found it. There are kids in there e-mailing Nintendo's legal department to try and stop people from double dipping :roll:. Nintendo admits they are selling the product at a loss, why would they do ANYTHING that would stop people from buying their product just because others are crying? LOL.

Besides, there is no way that Nintendo could prevent every retailer from allowing this to happen. In the long run Nintendo will recoup the money in game purchases so its a good deal for them. Anyone who would buy the console just for those 20 free games and not purchase many more games throughout the 3DS's life-span is an idiot.
 
[quote name='guardian_owl']Right, which is what someone pointed out earlier in the thread. They basically waited until a month had passed since the release week of Zelda 3DS (ensuring everyone who bought the system for that game was outside the exchange window) and then made the announcement for the upcoming price drop.[/QUOTE]

Wow.

Stay classy, Nintendo.
 
[quote name='doodofdoods']Yup, screwed Zelda fanboys the worst with this price drop. Buy it mid june, talk of price drop hits late july, just after exchange period expires. Fail.[/QUOTE]

It would only apply to a minority but Best Buy's 45 day return period for Silver members is kick ass.
 
[quote name='dgwillia006']How exactly should "We" be upset? I brought my 3DS day one, moment one (Was at Gamestop before they even opened, first in line before 30 other people).

Did you guys expect the price of the 3DS to steadily rise like Gold or something? Im pretty sure anyone who is intelligent enough to have had enough money to buy something the moment it launched knew that it will inevitably drop in price. (Due to sale, lack of sale, or bundles/upgrades).

Sure you guys may get the console 80$ cheaper, or even still get the 20 free games with it. But the 3+ months and hundreds of hours i had playing it are totally worth 80$ to me. (Especially considering the fact that it got me interested in the DS game library again, seeing as i went straight from a DS Lite to my 3DS)[/QUOTE]

Pretty much how I feel too.

I still have my DS collection and I look forward to the new games this fall. My only, selfish wish is that I want more "core" games I (again selfish) "expect" on a handheld. For example, a new Final Fantasy Tactics or Advance War (Hell, ANY TACTICS/Grid game!!). This fall looks amazing and the free games will be great for me. Win-Win, that is if I can get my 3DS back from my wife, it's her Netflix hub now. Sigh...

Or now I can buy her own!!!!
 
[quote name='Jurassic425']LOL I just found it. There are kids in there e-mailing Nintendo's legal department to try and stop people from double dipping :roll:. Nintendo admits they are selling the product at a loss, why would they do ANYTHING that would stop people from buying their product just because others are crying? LOL.

Besides, there is no way that Nintendo could prevent every retailer from allowing this to happen. In the long run Nintendo will recoup the money in game purchases so its a good deal for them. Anyone who would buy the console just for those 20 free games and not purchase many more games throughout the 3DS's life-span is an idiot.[/QUOTE]


Yeah I read some of the posts in there. These people are mostly just jealous. Some actually have morals and wouldn't do this, which is understandable. Where they go wrong is they foolishly try to apply their personal morals to others which is just a waste of time. Especially since nothing particularly foul is going on here. This isn't a murder, rape, or the global bankster bailout fraud here folks. Let it go. This isn't something worth arguing about. If you're an American you're getting violated in much worse ways than someone getting a refund and 20 games with their gaming system.
 
[quote name='mythus']i want my money back. although i have no chance, i told amazon to research this issue for early adopters. im raging.[/QUOTE]

HAHA, that's funny. Is it not worth $250 to you anymore? If you say no and it's only worth $170 then you should've not bought it at $250 and waited until it was $170. You knew you could've waited and a price drop would come eventually. It might've taken 6 months, 1 year or 2 years. Yet you decided the 3DS was worth $250 and you were going to buy it for that amount. You have no one but yourself to be mad at.

I decided that back in March the 3DS was worth $250 and I don't regret it. I knew I was walking into a slim launch, but still picked up 4 games I enjoy. I also grabbed Zelda when it came out too. So I've been playing 5 3DS games for the last 4 months and have no regrets. Do I wish I could've gotten it for $170, yeah, but I didn't want to wait for a price drop and now I get 20 free games because I decided to buy early. So personally I think I'm making out better then the people who buy at $170. Now the people who are getting it now and will be able to price match and get the 20 games, I'm envious of those people.

[quote name='dgwillia006']Also, all of this bad battery hype on the 3DS is so overrated
 
[quote name='Stry-ker']I wanna say toys r us will ring it as 219 for 3ds and 30 for gift card so still totaling 249, so if u do get and adjust it would be the difference between the 219 and 169 price.

Don't quote me but isn't that how most gift card deals ring up so if something is returned they don't lose the value of the gift card[/QUOTE]

Can someone confirm? I just got mine from BB yesterday but if Toyrus is potential a better deal I would give it a shot too. If worse come to worst, It ring up as 219 and just pm to 169, can I return everything include the gift card and get 100% full refund?
 
[quote name='guardian_owl']Right, which is what someone pointed out earlier in the thread. They basically waited until a month had passed since the release week of Zelda 3DS (ensuring everyone who bought the system for that game was outside the exchange window) and then made the announcement for the upcoming price drop.[/QUOTE]
They deserve it. Buying a $250 console for a lazy port of a poorly-aged 13 year old Zelda game =
koffing.png
 
[quote name='DIMONDA85']I'm chrono :D[/QUOTE]

LOL I just came across on of your quotes in that thread and it made me LOL. See below. :)

[quote name='chrono625']"Are you really comparing people filing fake claims to collect disability for life to people getting a price adjustment of $80 for a video game console..."[/QUOTE]
 
[quote name='DIMONDA85']I'm chrono :D[/QUOTE]

Nice! Your posts have been pretty good actually... :applause:

CEO of Walmart... That Target Executive had me rolling... lol
 
Thank you. I never had this much fun on those forums in a longggggg time.

It really is hysterical to see people compare this to theft/murder.
 
I just want to put this out there for folks who are going to try and use a price match policy to get $80 bucks back. Ask for the difference to be in store credit.

You'll run into less problems with the staff at stores if you ask for store credit vs cash money.

Just take you store credit and buy something else to treat yourself. That's my 2 cents.
 
169.99 is a very fare price. 249.99 was sky high. Nintendo was trying to sell the system at a huge premium. I bet they still are making a decent amount of profit at 169.99.
 
[quote name='Sk']169.99 is a very fare price. 249.99 was sky high. Nintendo was trying to sell the system at a huge premium. I bet they still are making a decent amount of profit at 169.99.[/QUOTE]

SUPPOSEDLY, They are now making a "loss" on every system they sell (I call their bluff on that).
 
[quote name='spidey35']The only time you get 10% the difference is when it's another stores price, not when it's a best buy price drop. Even if you brought in a Target add showing the new price, you will not get the extra 10% because best buy has it for the same price. As for some people saying that best buy is going to change their policy, that's not going to happen and if it did, check your receipt, their policy at the time of purchase is clearly stated on the back.....trust me, I've been doing this for years.......[/QUOTE]

Is this 10% adjustment standard practice? I PM at my BB all the time and they only match the competitor's price. I looked up the policy and didn't see any mention of this 10% adjustment on the website. Please elaborate.
 
[quote name='Donut2922']Is this 10% adjustment standard practice? I PM at my BB all the time and they only match the competitor's price. I looked up the policy and didn't see any mention of this 10% adjustment on the website. Please elaborate.[/QUOTE]They used to do PM + 10% additional difference for competitors way back in the day. They stopped that about 2-3 years ago.

BB PMs against their own prices were just the PM without any difference, and that's never changed.
 
[quote name='Sk']169.99 is a very fare price. 249.99 was sky high. Nintendo was trying to sell the system at a huge premium. I bet they still are making a decent amount of profit at 169.99.[/QUOTE]

I'd like to think that they're still profiting even at $170, but when iwata addressed the shareholders today...
[quote name='"[url=http://kotaku.com/5825872/nintendo-president-takes-blame-for-3ds-getting-50-percent-pay-cut']kotaku[/url]"]Iwata did apparently admit that the 3DS is not profitable at this reduced price, but added that costs would go down once output picks up.[/quote]

Lots of people respect what he did today but still feel that most of what he had to say was a load of baloney.

so yeah I still am subscribing to the idea that nintendo is profiting until hard numbers are out.
 
IIRC The old beat them by 10% was phased out in areas where BB has little to no competition. The 10% extra off was SOP at Circuit City before they went tits up.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']They used to do PM + 10% additional difference for competitors way back in the day. They stopped that about 2-3 years ago.

BB PMs against their own prices were just the PM without any difference, and that's never changed.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, Shrike. Thought I had missed out on a lot of 10% credit owed to me.
 
[quote name='kofijamal']Pretty much how I feel too.

I still have my DS collection and I look forward to the new games this fall. My only, selfish wish is that I want more "core" games I (again selfish) "expect" on a handheld. For example, a new Final Fantasy Tactics or Advance War (Hell, ANY TACTICS/Grid game!!). This fall looks amazing and the free games will be great for me. Win-Win, that is if I can get my 3DS back from my wife, it's her Netflix hub now. Sigh...

Or now I can buy her own!!!![/QUOTE]

Have you seen Ghost Recon Shadow Wars?
 
[quote name='reddjoey']IIRC The old beat them by 10% was phased out in areas where BB has little to no competition. The 10% extra off was SOP at Circuit City before they went tits up.[/QUOTE]It pretty much disappeared a while ago company-wide, about when CC started to go belly up. Since that was their main competition, they decided it wasn't needed any longer.

What I did miss is that CC would PM + 10% against their own prices, which was very nice back in the day. Made for quite a few deals picked up from them for that alone, especially when BB wouldn't PM for some random reason.

[quote name='Donut2922']Thanks, Shrike. Thought I had missed out on a lot of 10% credit owed to me.[/QUOTE]Nope. They weren't doing you wrong on a PM.
 
For anyone looking to buy one before August 12 and do a price match, I believe Sears matches competitors plus an extra 10 percent back. I am going to stick with Best Buy though since I have about $300 in gift cards there.
 
[quote name='GaveUpTomorrow']So I guess selling ~70 Millions systems and following up with a second generation handheld constitutes not being able to sell a dedicated gaming handheld? At least we know your CAG name is very appropriate.[/QUOTE]

Nice ad homonym, maybe you should do some research into how well software has done for those 70 million systems. I suppose you game purely on a psp? With it's immense library of triple A titles? Hell I own 3 for monster hunter parties, but I have no illusion that the PSP failed to take any mindshare in the US. Nintendo dominated based on their software library, even though the PSP is the technically superior gadget.

MS mobile is not part of the gaming division, and they have made their plans pretty clear. Dedicated handhelds are a dying breed, all in one devices are the future. That's why XBLA is integrated into WinMo7.
 
[quote name='Killbomb']I'm still not even considering a 3DS until it's below $100.[/QUOTE]

That may be sooner than you think, if it bombs out hard. :lol:
 
Most hilarious/sad things about the gamefaqs 3DS board post is how quick users are to protect the interest of a multi-million dollar company instead of their fellow consumer.
 
I got one day one and I'm not to upset about the price drop. Who would have guessed the system wouldnt sell well. Nintendo throwing in 20 free games is a very nice gesture, and a suprise.

For me the fact that the system shouldnt be used for kids under 7, or something like that, was a major gamble on nintendos part. You just cut millions of potential sales out the window.
 
Mad about price drop so soon... a little. Nintendo tossing a bone to early users... a surprise and very welcome jesture that makes me all warm and fuzzy.

...but if Nintendo really wants the 3DS to take off, they need to remove all the current DS units from retailers and start fresh.
 
[quote name='Ionotropic']Have you seen Ghost Recon Shadow Wars?[/QUOTE]

I own that, love it. I hope we get MORE tactic games, since the consoles seem to have left that genre alone. But I want my FF Tactics and Advance Wars. I'd shoryuken seven Sagats in a row for a new Advance Wars....
 
I have a DSi with an extended warranty from Best Buy with a sticky left trigger, but I haven't returned it because I would lose my DSiware games. I paid $170 for it a couple years ago, same price as the 3DS now, I will definitely be exchanging it now, the games in the 3DS shop are worth more to me than the Mighty Flip Champs and Flight Control I already own.

I was never willing to buy a 3DS until a price drop or redesign, but I didn't think that'd be til at least a year out. And to get it AUG 1st and price adjust later, as DIMONDA said, deal of the year...
 
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