My Thoughts on 3DS Price

[girlracer]

doesn't matter, buying it anyways

[dlmvii]

I think for me not to buy it at launch, the price would half to be pretty exorbitant, like $300+, which nintendo would never do.

[mrlokievil]

It needs to be less than $200 for it to be a first day purchase for me. Although, if Resident Evil is a launch title then it probably won't matter what the price is.

[ZeroAX]

Just looking at that information it appears the 3DS is going to be launched at a $200 price tag. A moderate step $ wise over the DSi XL but not more than the Wii console... I would be very surprised if it is over $200 because the portable system would be more expensive than the home-based console which has always been superior and offers more content right out of the box. The only thing I didn't like about the DS is the frequent revisions of the portable near the end of its life cycle; it makes it look like they were trying to milk as much money out of old hardware as they could. The DSi came out about 1.5 years ago, the XL came out just under a year after the DSi, and it looks like the 3DS is shaping up to easily come out less than a year after the XL. Three different versions of portable hardware in less than 2 years... although the 3DS is an entirely new portable with beefier hardware.

Remember how the GBA SP had a 150€ price and the Gamecube had a 99€ price?

Oh yeah but the Gamecube's sales were terrible.

Anyway I'm getting what you are saying about the hardware revisions, but as long as the old handhelds still play the new games I don't have a problem with it. I almost bought a DSi since it was announced that it would have some exclusive games, but after seeing what those 2-5 games were I thought I'd wait for the next DS .

Besides, if you look at the iphone, it seams people don't mind giving 600€ for a new phone every 1-2 years, so what is 200€ for what could be the greatest handheld of all time?

[D.D.D.]

If it has games I want at launch, then as long as it's $200 or less, I'm in.

[alienjesus]

I'll be buying it at launch too, but I doubt I'll be buying it if it's much more than £130. Hopefully it's not over 100 though.

You hope it's not over £100 when the DSi is like £130 and the XL is like £160? Overly Optimistic methinks.

I'm predicting a price point of about £180.

[Reprise]

£180!? Fuck that... Who the hell pays £160 for the XL!? (which I didn't even know about, and just had to Google lol). 130 for the DSi is a joke. My brother picked up a DS for what, like £80 when it first came out? Jeeze Nintendo are raking it in by basically rehashing the same product over and over again and charging a fortune...

And whilst it may seem odd, my guess really was stab in the dark. I haven't had an interest in video games since the Gamecube, so I don't really know what pricing is like these days... Apparently I was way off

Now I remember why I gave up on current games and just went full on down the retro route. Unless I get an amazingly well paid job in the next month or two, I think I'll just wait until the price goes down on this. Shouldn't take Nintendo long to just re-hash the product with a new design and then the original 3DS model should drop in price...

[alienjesus]

The DS launched at £100, but I've noticed prices of games and whatnot have increased pretty sharply since the credit crunch, because the value of the pound dropping against the Yen hurts the profit margins of japanese companies. Where they would be getting 200 yen for each pound a few years ago, they're getting 130 now. It sucks for us, but I guess thats how it goes.


I actually bought a DSi for £150, the prices have actually gone down. Its pretty painful pricing, but based on that, I can't imagine the 3DS will be any less than £150.

Then again, the SNES was £150 at launch too, it's not like it's a pricing we haven't seen before :S

[Reprise]

That's why the RRP of the Wii is still about £180 here isn't it? (or is it 200? - I forget). I seem to remember reading about the effect the credit crunch has had on Nintendo's pricing here. It sucks, but I guess you're right.

You're probably right about the SNES, but this is a handheld remember... I just assumed (wrongly maybe) that handhelds should be cheaper than their console counterparts - i.e the Wii RRP is say £180, so 3DS should be at the MOST expensive £150 with £130 being ideal imo.

Guess you're right though. If the DSXL is 160, there's no way this will be any cheaper.

It's just weird for me thinking thay we've gone from the original DS being sold at £100 at launch, to a re-designed version 5 years later going for £160. And then a new DS going for even more. It baffles me.

The thing is as well with me, handheld gaming has never been that serious to me. I don't like looking at a tiny screen up close particularly. It's just something I played casually, and so I can have something to do on the move, like on train journeys and the like. But with this kind of pricing, it's kind of too much for me, when it'll just be something I use every now and again.

I have to say though, although it's probably already obvious, I am massively out of touch with video games and the current scene. So that's why I'm coming across as a bit cheap and grumpy probably sorry.

[alienjesus]

Haha, no problem. I just wanted to explain why I felt it was gonna be so high, I didn;t want to come across as condescending from my last comment.

For me, Handheld gaming is what i do most, so The 3DS is pretty much a dead cert launch day buy (provided they aren't all snapped up too quickly!). I play my DS about twice as much as all of my home consoles combined I reckon.