Nintendo 3DS price dropped to $169.99
Price cut 4 months after launch
July 28, 2011 / 07:22 AM EDT / (@salromano)

Nintendo today announced plans to drop the price of their 3DS handheld. Currently retailing for $249.99, on August 12 the handheld will cost $169.99.

Worldwide, the new price translates to 15,000 yen, 169 EUR, 250 AUD, or approximately £130.

“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 used the news as an opportunity to highlight the handheld’s current and upcoming first-party lineup. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D is the handheld’s current must-have. Star Fox 64 3D is coming on September 9, Super Mario 3D Land in November, Mario Kart 7 in December, and Kid Icarus: Uprising during the holiday season.

The company also announced plans to allow those who’ve registered and accessed the Nintendo eShop before 11:59pm EST on August 11 to download 10 NES games free of charge. They include Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr., Balloon Fight, Ice Climber, and The Legend of Zelda. They will be made available as paid eShop releases after the price drop on August 12. They will be distributed through a program called “Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors.”

Additionally, Ambassadors will also have the opportunity to exclusively purchase 10 Game Boy Advance games on the eShop that Nintendo “currently has no plans” on making available to the general public. They include Yoshi’s Island, Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Krat: Super Circuit, Metroid: Fusion, WarioWare Inc: Mega Microgame$, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong.

Stay tuned for future details.

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  • narutomaki

    well since the e-shop sucks, I would be pretty mad if I had bought a 3DS before the price drop

    • Sal Romano

      @narutomaki: I think that’s the whole point of the 3DS Ambassadors program — to make those who purchased the system early not feel like crap.

      • narutomaki

        @Sal Romano: the thing is though, I have a 3ds and the NES games on there, well, let’s just say isn’t worth the $80 savings people could’ve had by waiting

        • Sal Romano

          @narutomaki: I don’t have a 3DS, so I’m not sure if these are on the store yet, but the free 10 NES games include “Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr., Balloon Fight, Ice Climber, and The Legend of Zelda.”

          Obviously, those games aren’t worth $80, but at least it’s something.

  • Zero

    I’m glad I waited a bit. Perhaps I can find a way to pick one up here soon. This is the price you pay for early adopters. Those who got one at launch cant really complain, this is just part of gaming now. If you are smart, you use the internet and camp out sites like amazon, cheap ass gamer, slick deals, etc for deals on games and systems, etc.

    The reason people buy early because they want it right then, I got a PS3 at launch, and boy oh boy the slim sure looked nice, not to mention the price went way down before that on the fat models.

    I didn’t complain though, I figured as much might happen, and I chose to not regret my early purchase. I eventually sold my old version to get a slim.

    Like I said, this is just part of it, and the free games might not be all that great, but its something. All in all, this is good for the 3DS.

  • Leonix7791

    I’m still not sold,personally there is only 1 good 3ds game for me right now and that is Zelda OTT,i’m just going to wait for more colors,and more great games coming next year.

  • dart2087

    This is the first signal of the announcement of the N3DS LITE….

    • Haku

      @dart2087: I hope you are right. I also I want neo geo pocket games on the VC for this thing.

  • DjangoRaijin

    Damn Sony, There goes the low budget spenders

  • Rezar

    As a 3DS owner the only games that makes the 3DS getting at the moment are the fighting games (Super Street Fighter IV, Dead or Alive Dimensions, and BlazBlue Continuum Shift II) along with Ocarina of Time and Resident Evil The Mercenaries 3D if you liked the merceneries mode in RE4 and RE5.

  • AdamBoy64

    Ah, Nintendo’s reaction to the price of the PSVita.
    I think it was a good move on their part.

    • Sal Romano

      @AdamBoy64: Or maybe it just wasn’t selling well? I heard 3DS sales have been very bumpy since launch. Apparently, it’s only sold 710,000 units since it launched four months ago.

      • DarthXehanort

        @Sal Romano: I think both of you are right. Nintendo’s 3DS is doing, well, abysmally. On top of that, the PSVita is launching soon with a really low $250 price for the technology.

        Nintendo’s act is an act of sheer desperation, but sometimes good things come out of desperation.

      • AdamBoy64

        @Sal Romano: Hmm.. Yes, indeed.
        I also think a lot of consumers seeing the 3DS and the Vita the same price, and seeing the Vita as far more powerful, would gravitate towards the Vita.
        The price drop will hopefully get 3DS sales rolling…

        And it’s going to be quite interesting to see how the Vita goes in it’s first few months.
        It just needs a good launch lineup.. (not sure if details of the launch have been revealed yet.)

        • DarthXehanort

          @AdamBoy64: I’m pretty sure that Uncharted: Golden Abyss is planned as a launch title… If it is, that’s a killer right there.

          • AdamBoy64

            @DarthXehanort: Oh whoa. Man, if that turns out to be the case, 3DS is going to get utterly janked when the PSVita is released.

            • DarthXehanort

              @AdamBoy64: Exactly. xD

              I think that Wipeout might also be a planned launch title.

  • DarthXehanort

    I think this article needs a brother that explains WHY Nintendo made such a drastic slash.

    Check out Nintendo’s sales reports.

  • Faize RoughKnightz

    hmmmm…the chances of me actually playing Tales of the Abyss just went up a bit. Was originally planning to buy it just to support the series but with this new price drop I just might get a 3DS in the near future.

    • DarthXehanort

      @Faize RoughKnightz: Can you not get it for the PS2?

      • Faize RoughKnightz

        @DarthXehanort: Sadly I traded in my ps2 when I went to buy my ps3 3 years ago. At the time I wasn’t aware that the ps3 didn’t play ps2 games anymore. A week before I bought persona 3 and 4 and was planning to play it on my ps3 and when I finally popped it in I get this message saying “this model of the ps3 does not support ps2 software”. *sighs* I wish sony would add ps2 support to the ps3 already because I never did finish most of my ps2 games and there are still a ton of ps2 games I still want.

        • DarthXehanort

          @Faize RoughKnightz: Honestly, the PS2 is only $100… You should just buy one. I guarantee that PS2 support isn’t going to return.