Nintendo not having a solid portable bedrock for their stationary enterprises is a big problem for them. Doesn't matter if they get a stronger position towards the Vita - their online is weak, they are attached to game prices from the pre-smartphone era, third parties are going to wait with commitment and now the profit margin is slashed nastily.
These kinds of price cuts can only be the result of sales figures catastrophically falling under projections.
I think it's cute when you're trying to make educated guesses about variating subjects. Keep on fighting the good fight.
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acidlacedpenguinInstitutionalizedSafe in jail.Registered Userregular
This is basically just a meme at this point. There's one code per system, updates and new content download in the background and while the system's asleep, the store is faster and easier to use, online lobbies and such work fine, voice chat games are coming. About the only major thing it lacks is messaging.
These kinds of price cuts can only be the result of sales figures catastrophically falling under projections.
It's already sold 4 million worldwide, about 700k in the US. It's trending above the original DS. This may still be under their expectations but it's not a failure.
and deliciously awful DRM also codes are awful even if one per system is certainly an improvement.
Does it allow you to see friends who are online and/or what game they're playing?
and deliciously awful DRM also codes are awful even if one per system is certainly an improvement.
Does it allow you to see friends who are online and/or what game they're playing?
Yes. You see a yellow light flash that lets you know a friend is online, you can hit the home button to suspend a game, see who's on and what they're playing, and go right back to your game. You can't message them though as I said, which is something that ought to be fixed.
Awful DRM, though? Do you feel the same way about Steam? I realize "tied to the system" is worse than "tied to the account" but people generally aren't going to be using multiple 3DSs like they use multiple PCs. Nintendo has also traditionally transferred games over for people in case you buy a new one. DSi to 3DS transfer works and a 3DS tool is supposed to be coming eventually too.
Dusdais ashamed of this postSLC, UTRegistered Userregular
There's no denying Nintendo's online is weak. Yes, with the 3DS they have gotten most of the features we have on Live or PSN, but the implementation is so fractured and confusing it's difficult to notice.
Example: On Xbox Live you make one account, with one avatar. Your profile follows you wherever you go, the Marketplace is the same one no matter what device you use, and so on.
With Nintendo, you've got the Wii Shop Channel, the DSi Store, the Nintendo 3DS eShop, different Virtual Console offerings on each for some reason (I think?), transferring purchases from the DSi is weird, friend codes are unique to each game on the Wii (except some games that ignore the system entirely) and DS/DSi but unique to the 3DS handheld, each device has it's own messaging system, your Mii's don't follow you anywhere but the games on that device, I don't even know if Wii Shop points even work on the other stores, there are different 'always connected' services under different brand names for each device (Wii Connect24, SpotPass, some other one I can't remember), notifications work on the Wii and 3DS but are differently implemented and I think they even use a different nomenclature and oh my god my brain hurts now.
Nintendo not having a solid portable bedrock for their stationary enterprises is a big problem for them. Doesn't matter if they get a stronger position towards the Vita - their online is weak, they are attached to game prices from the pre-smartphone era, third parties are going to wait with commitment and now the profit margin is slashed nastily.
These kinds of price cuts can only be the result of sales figures catastrophically falling under projections.
I think it's cute when you're trying to make educated guesses about variating subjects. Keep on fighting the good fight.
These kinds of price cuts HAVE only been the result of catastrophic sales figures and sluggish starts that really worry the company behind the console. Saturn, XBox, PS3. Perhaps the 3DS is "different" somehow.
They're not free games. They're $80 worth of games.
They are free games. You aren't entitled to them just because you bought a 3DS when it was overpriced. If you bought a 3DS for $250, then you paid $250 for a 3DS.
They're not free games. They're $80 worth of games.
They are free games. You aren't entitled to them just because you bought a 3DS when it was overpriced. If you bought a 3DS for $250, then you paid $250 for a 3DS.
I'm not seeing the different other than semantics in wording.
They're not free games. They're $80 worth of games.
They are free games. You aren't entitled to them just because you bought a 3DS when it was overpriced. If you bought a 3DS for $250, then you paid $250 for a 3DS.
I'm not seeing the different other than semantics in wording.
When you bought the 3DS at $250, you were willing to pay that price. Anything you get afterward is free and over and above what you were expecting.
We didn't initially know we were getting Excitebike 3D, Pokedex 3D, and Four Swords for free. The fact that we get them doesn't suddenly assign them a dollar amount and mean that we actually got the system for X dollars cheaper.
Oh shit I forgot about getting 4 swords. Also this news is fantastic for those on the fence about the thing. It was absolutely worth $250... At $170 it's a steal!
Well this is early, but I'd call it a smart move. I talk up my 3DS all the time to folks and I've honestly gotten more *looks* from using this thing than any other handheld I've had...people are always just impressed, and I know a few who went out and bought one because of it. But yeah, the adoption rate has been slow...streetpasses are rare, and it took a trip to Disney to even rack up the bulk of the 13 I have so far. That said, I love the unit and the five games are I have for it are stellar, on top of that when I bought the unit I had an $80 giftcard, then sold my DS Lite for about $70 off Ebay, so I don't feel ripped off at all.
Have to give Ninty credit for making good to early adopters by giving them free games...I don't think *anyone* else has done so thus far. My tip of the hat to them, and I look forward to picking mine. :P
Masume on
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mntorankusuI'm not sure how to use this thing....Registered Userregular
even with a dearth of good games I'd bite at that price, but I wouldn't bite at this model.
They have convinced me via history they'll be a better model out in a short enough time I can wait through. Hopefully by which time the games will exist as well.
This is pretty much my stance too. I'm still too attached to my XL and it's adult-sized screens.
Nintendo not having a solid portable bedrock for their stationary enterprises is a big problem for them. Doesn't matter if they get a stronger position towards the Vita - their online is weak, they are attached to game prices from the pre-smartphone era, third parties are going to wait with commitment and now the profit margin is slashed nastily.
These kinds of price cuts can only be the result of sales figures catastrophically falling under projections.
I think it's cute when you're trying to make educated guesses about variating subjects. Keep on fighting the good fight.
These kinds of price cuts HAVE only been the result of catastrophic sales figures and sluggish starts that really worry the company behind the console. Saturn, XBox, PS3. Perhaps the 3DS is "different" somehow.
You're not painting the whole picture. Price cuts affect profit margins, that much is obvious, but it also increases turnover. Those extra sales mean more systems in the hands of people, more market penetration, more software sales and more incentive for third parties to release games for the platform. Nintendo's likely done extensive research on how customers have reacted, what they want and how they can be reached. They've spent large amounts of money to market the device, but apparently that alone wasn't effective in selling the product. A price cut followed by word-of-mouth is apparently a better way to penetrate the market in their eyes. If they've come to that conclusion after months of market research, then who am I to say otherwise? Making wild guesses of Nintendo's sales expectations and comparisons to years-old devices from other companies certainly don't make a strong case.
Well this has got me suddenly much more interested in the 3DS, especially after that solid holiday lineup they showed at E3. But what's up with the GBA games being exclusive?
Well, I think the main problem with the 3DS online is that you can't open your friend list while you're online in a game. That's kind of a big one. If you could open your friend list while you're online, the general "messaging" (status) system they have now would actually be great for inviting people to play with you. Also, if people got a notification when someone changes their status message.
This is a stunning oversight combined with the lack of actual messaging. I was floored to see that in order to see my friends when I am online in SSFIV, I have to go offline, back up two menu steps, then open the 3DS menu to pull up a separate program for friends. The same with DoA when I tried it for a few days.
The sort of status update they have now is still worse than actually sending in-game invites, either cross-game or within the same game.
But whatevs. This price drop move is all kinds of crazy to wake up to! I am a little wrinkled by it, as the main reason I wanted to get a 3DS so early is because I figured there wouldn't be a price drop in a long time (and because I believed the hype of being worried about finding one at all, Wii-style), but it was ultimately a gift so I can't be mad at all. I hope we get to choose what VC games we get, but seeing as how rushed and scrambling the Ambassador program sounds, I'm going to assume not.
It's definitely a panic measure, but it's exciting to see handheld futures get interesting and compete on pricing. I hope this puts a shot in the arm of third-party devs and gets more projects going, though we won't be able to see that for a looooong time.
Well this has got me suddenly much more interested in the 3DS, especially after that solid holiday lineup they showed at E3. But what's up with the GBA games being exclusive?
Well, I think the main problem with the 3DS online is that you can't open your friend list while you're online in a game. That's kind of a big one. If you could open your friend list while you're online, the general "messaging" (status) system they have now would actually be great for inviting people to play with you. Also, if people got a notification when someone changes their status message.
This is a stunning oversight combined with the lack of actual messaging. I was floored to see that in order to see my friends when I am online in SSFIV, I have to go offline, back up two menu steps, then open the 3DS menu to pull up a separate program for friends. The same with DoA when I tried it for a few days.
The sort of status update they have now is still worse than actually sending in-game invites, either cross-game or within the same game.
But whatevs. This price drop move is all kinds of crazy to wake up to! I am a little wrinkled by it, as the main reason I wanted to get a 3DS so early is because I figured there wouldn't be a price drop in a long time (and because I believed the hype of being worried about finding one at all, Wii-style), but it was ultimately a gift so I can't be mad at all. I hope we get to choose what VC games we get, but seeing as how rushed and scrambling the Ambassador program sounds, I'm going to assume not.
It's definitely a panic measure, but it's exciting to see handheld futures get interesting and compete on pricing. I hope this puts a shot in the arm of third-party devs and gets more projects going, though we won't be able to see that for a looooong time.
They are giving us 10 GB games and 10 GBA games. I'm sure they'll be the best of the batch.
If anyone wants to guess what the last 5 GBA games are, here's a list of every GBA game Nintendo published:
Metroid Fusion
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$
Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Advance Wars
F-Zero: Maximum Velocity
Golden Sun
Super Mario Advance
Wario Land 4
Disney's Magical Quest Starring Mickey & Minnie
Game & Watch Gallery 4
Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past/Four Swords
Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2
Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising
Donkey Kong Country
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Fire Emblem
Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak
Hamtaro: Rainbow Rescue
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire
Pokémon Sapphire
Pokémon Ruby
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
Sword of Mana
Top Gear Rally
Donkey Kong Country 2
F-Zero GP Legend
Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls
Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Games
Kirby & the Amazing Mirror
Mario Golf: Advance Tour
Mario Pinball Land
Metroid: Zero Mission
Pokémon FireRed
Pokémon LeafGreen
DK: King of Swing
Donkey Kong Country 3
Dr. Mario & Puzzle League
Dynasty Warriors Advance
Final Fantasy IV Advance
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Mario Party Advance
Mario Tennis: Power Tour
Pokémon Emerald
WarioWare: Twisted!
Yoshi's Universal Gravitation
Drill Dozer
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team
Final Fantasy V Advance (Published by Nintendo in Europe and North America Only)
Tales of Phantasia (Published by Nintendo outside Japan Only)
Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town (Australia Only)
Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town (Australia Only)
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (published by Nintendo in Europe & Australia Only)
Personally I expect Minish Cap, a Kirby game, another Mario game like Pinball Land, and at least one good strategy game, either Advance Wars or Fire Emblem. I want Fire Emblem. We'll see!
Crossing my fingers for Link to the Past, but it probably won't happen. So I'll just have to download these free things from the store? Any idea when we'll get 'em?
Well this has got me suddenly much more interested in the 3DS, especially after that solid holiday lineup they showed at E3. But what's up with the GBA games being exclusive?
Ingenious plan:
Buy from a store with price protection shortly before the cutoff date. Register for 20 free games, get compensated for the price difference by the store.
At $169.99, I don't feel bad asking for the 3DS for Christmas anymore. Perhaps by that time there will be some great games for it. I have no interest in the Zelda or Starfox remakes...I've played those games before.
Switch Friend Code: SW-4598-4278-8875
3DS Friend Code: 0404-6826-4588 PM if you add.
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Brainiac 8Don't call me Shirley...Registered Userregular
Kirby, Advanced Wars, and Drill Dozer please.
Seriously though, I'm hugely stoked about this, as I'm getting a portable Yoshi's Island for free. Still twenty free games, that's a huge value for us with systems already! I can't wait for this.
It is a bit of a stretch to imply sales are the sole reason for this price drop, Absalon. Their competition is coming out in a few months, having a price lower than a lot of people were expecting. Undercutting the Vita is likely an important move in the long term.
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and deliciously awful DRM also codes are awful even if one per system is certainly an improvement.
Does it allow you to see friends who are online and/or what game they're playing?
Yes. You see a yellow light flash that lets you know a friend is online, you can hit the home button to suspend a game, see who's on and what they're playing, and go right back to your game. You can't message them though as I said, which is something that ought to be fixed.
Awful DRM, though? Do you feel the same way about Steam? I realize "tied to the system" is worse than "tied to the account" but people generally aren't going to be using multiple 3DSs like they use multiple PCs. Nintendo has also traditionally transferred games over for people in case you buy a new one. DSi to 3DS transfer works and a 3DS tool is supposed to be coming eventually too.
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
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Add me!
Example: On Xbox Live you make one account, with one avatar. Your profile follows you wherever you go, the Marketplace is the same one no matter what device you use, and so on.
With Nintendo, you've got the Wii Shop Channel, the DSi Store, the Nintendo 3DS eShop, different Virtual Console offerings on each for some reason (I think?), transferring purchases from the DSi is weird, friend codes are unique to each game on the Wii (except some games that ignore the system entirely) and DS/DSi but unique to the 3DS handheld, each device has it's own messaging system, your Mii's don't follow you anywhere but the games on that device, I don't even know if Wii Shop points even work on the other stores, there are different 'always connected' services under different brand names for each device (Wii Connect24, SpotPass, some other one I can't remember), notifications work on the Wii and 3DS but are differently implemented and I think they even use a different nomenclature and oh my god my brain hurts now.
These kinds of price cuts HAVE only been the result of catastrophic sales figures and sluggish starts that really worry the company behind the console. Saturn, XBox, PS3. Perhaps the 3DS is "different" somehow.
I was gonna buy the 3DS eventually anyway, but looks like that day might come sooner rather than later.
Free games are yay though.
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
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// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
They are free games. You aren't entitled to them just because you bought a 3DS when it was overpriced. If you bought a 3DS for $250, then you paid $250 for a 3DS.
I'm not seeing the different other than semantics in wording.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
Edit: On the plus side, I'm really happy I bought a DSiXL
When you bought the 3DS at $250, you were willing to pay that price. Anything you get afterward is free and over and above what you were expecting.
We didn't initially know we were getting Excitebike 3D, Pokedex 3D, and Four Swords for free. The fact that we get them doesn't suddenly assign them a dollar amount and mean that we actually got the system for X dollars cheaper.
Have to give Ninty credit for making good to early adopters by giving them free games...I don't think *anyone* else has done so thus far. My tip of the hat to them, and I look forward to picking mine. :P
Wii U - 'Nocero'
XBox ID - therealmasume
PS4 ID - realmasume
Not if all of the existing 3DS users are playing their free non-StreetPass capable GBA games!
I think all the smart ones will exit their games and leave it on the home screen so you can jump into the Mii Plaza immediately. :P
This is pretty much my stance too. I'm still too attached to my XL and it's adult-sized screens.
You're not painting the whole picture. Price cuts affect profit margins, that much is obvious, but it also increases turnover. Those extra sales mean more systems in the hands of people, more market penetration, more software sales and more incentive for third parties to release games for the platform. Nintendo's likely done extensive research on how customers have reacted, what they want and how they can be reached. They've spent large amounts of money to market the device, but apparently that alone wasn't effective in selling the product. A price cut followed by word-of-mouth is apparently a better way to penetrate the market in their eyes. If they've come to that conclusion after months of market research, then who am I to say otherwise? Making wild guesses of Nintendo's sales expectations and comparisons to years-old devices from other companies certainly don't make a strong case.
They may end up getting just as many sales as otherwise, but with a large portion of them selling at a higher price. That would be a success.
Heh.
This is a stunning oversight combined with the lack of actual messaging. I was floored to see that in order to see my friends when I am online in SSFIV, I have to go offline, back up two menu steps, then open the 3DS menu to pull up a separate program for friends. The same with DoA when I tried it for a few days.
The sort of status update they have now is still worse than actually sending in-game invites, either cross-game or within the same game.
But whatevs. This price drop move is all kinds of crazy to wake up to! I am a little wrinkled by it, as the main reason I wanted to get a 3DS so early is because I figured there wouldn't be a price drop in a long time (and because I believed the hype of being worried about finding one at all, Wii-style), but it was ultimately a gift so I can't be mad at all. I hope we get to choose what VC games we get, but seeing as how rushed and scrambling the Ambassador program sounds, I'm going to assume not.
It's definitely a panic measure, but it's exciting to see handheld futures get interesting and compete on pricing. I hope this puts a shot in the arm of third-party devs and gets more projects going, though we won't be able to see that for a looooong time.
I'm sure it's a timed exclusive.
They are giving us 10 GB games and 10 GBA games. I'm sure they'll be the best of the batch.
Personally I expect Minish Cap, a Kirby game, another Mario game like Pinball Land, and at least one good strategy game, either Advance Wars or Fire Emblem. I want Fire Emblem. We'll see!
So September 1, right?
Ingenious plan:
Buy from a store with price protection shortly before the cutoff date. Register for 20 free games, get compensated for the price difference by the store.
3DS Friend Code: 0404-6826-4588 PM if you add.
Seriously though, I'm hugely stoked about this, as I'm getting a portable Yoshi's Island for free. Still twenty free games, that's a huge value for us with systems already! I can't wait for this.
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!