3DS Price Drops To $169 AUG, 12th

[Tattletale1]

I read on the Wii news Channel (scroll to Tokyo on the globe today!) nintendo is reducing the price of the 3DS to $169.99 on August 12, 2011; this is big! I'm calling all my (few) friends now!

[Naesala]

Nintendo took a pretty big blow with the 3DS, sad to see this happing.

[Greenpickle]

The equivalent price here seems to be a little over £100 ATM, so yes, once there are more games I want out.  Of course, there's no indication there'll be a price drop here...

[Hope(N Forever)]

The equivalent price here seems to be a little over £100 ATM, so yes, once there are more games I want out.  Of course, there's no indication there'll be a price drop here...

Actually, the price drop thing is happening in ALL territories! Japan is dropping from 25,000 to 15,000 JPY, North America is dropping from 249.99 to 169.99 USD, Europe is dropping one-thirds their variable prices (example: UK retailers will drop from 230 to 160 GBP), and Australia is dropping from 349.95 to 249.95 AUD!

Furthermore, to justify those who bought the Nintendo 3DS early, anyone who bought the system BEFORE the date of the price drop (a.k.a. 11-12th August), the early adopters will be eligible to enter the Ambassador program, where they will have the right to download 20 retro games for FREE! These include 10 NES games, and 10 GBA games! Furthermore, Nintendo does not even have any plans to release GBA games for the general public anytime soon, which means those who get the GBA games in the coming months will have EXCLUSIVE rights to these games for the time being!

Looks like a great time to get a Nintendo 3DS early! Nintendo's latest news is really mind-boggling! Talk about the awesomeness of being a loyal customer!

I've personally been expecting Nintendo to cut the price early for the Nintendo 3DS ever since Sony officially announced their own prices for the PlayStation Vita. However, I never really expected they would drop it THAT low, and THAT soon as well! I was greatly surprised indeed by those factors! I can now hear Sony's executives being big, cry babies 'cause their announced prices are no longer as competitive as they had been anticipating. Rock on, Big N, rock on!

[Torchickens]

I take it as a sign of weakness on Nintendo's side tbh, I now feel even worse for buying the 3DS early, now that Nintendo announced these free downloads. How can Nintendo differentiate 'loyal' fans from 'other' fans (labels I personally disagree with) just because some people bought the 3DS for more. If Nintendo are going to re-release these NES and GBA games, I don't see why they don't at least make the GBA games available to everyone at the same time! I just don't like how they can make existing games exclusive to a select few people.

Edit: Ugh, I didn't mean to be so biased. Thanks for the kind considerations, Nintendo. I remember Nintendo used to give out free controllers when the N64's price got cut too. Recently, Nintendo seems to have a more personal approach now to its users now (or is it just me?), which is great.

[BrandedOne]

I will thoroughly enjoy my free downloads. Unfortunate for those that can't get them/can't get them for free. 

[Naesala]

So all I have to do is log on to the eshop, no downloading needed?

[BrandedOne]

Assumedly, yes? It would be nice if I got some sort of confirmation statement. "Yes, you have been added as an Ambassador and will receive your downloads in due time."

[E-123Wario54]

So all I have to do is log on to the eshop, no downloading needed?

Yeah, that's basically it. I'm glad Nintendo is compensating the fans that bought it for $250. They didn't have to do it (price drops happen all the time, though this one is a bit earlier than I expected) so it's a nice gesture. Thank you, Nintendo. ^_^

Assumedly, yes? It would be nice if I got some sort of confirmation statement. "Yes, you have been added as an Ambassador and will receive your downloads in due time."

Agreed.

[Naesala]

Iwata taking responsibility and taking a 50% pay cut is VERY impressive. Never would happen in an American company.

[Tattletale1]

The equivalent price here seems to be a little over £100 ATM, so yes, once there are more games I want out.  Of course, there's no indication there'll be a price drop here...

  Nintendo said they would lower the wholesale prices of the 3DS by about 1/3 in Europe, but said they don't set suggested retail prices in Europe.
If Nintendo suggests a retail price, here American stores start competing with Nintendo of America's online prices.

[FlyingRagnar]

I'm one who definitely thought the 3DS was over-priced from the start.  Nintendo has been releasing updated DS hardware every few years without huge price increases.  I think the general public didn't view this any differently.  Unless you have played one yourself, it sure looks like just another DS.

[BrandedOne]

I just received a notification today on my 3DS about the Ambassador program, the same info we've heard before. I logged on to the e-Shop and in the news section, there's another message that begins with "Welcome to the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador program!" I think I'm in 

[Tattletale1]

I'm one who definitely thought the 3DS was over-priced from the start.  Nintendo has been releasing updated DS hardware every few years without huge price increases.  I think the general public didn't view this any differently.  Unless you have played one yourself, it sure looks like just another DS.

For graphics, it's somewhere in between a PSP/PS2 somewhere below a PS3 or Wii U,
for gameplay, it was alot like the PS2 unless tilt & Cameras are involved, the touch screen is only in place to allow backwards compatibility with DS & DSiware titles, if that weren't the case, they'd replace the touchscreen with another C-pad.
The VR gaming is great, shooting Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus (From the DS game shot in the store) in Face Raiders was fun!  Although if you tried to describe what it looked like it's weird...
The Miis have improved, but they probally won't be featured in as many games, I'm hoping for another Crash CTR game that forces the players to be the system Avatar Miis during single card Multiplayer.