Iwata/Reggie- 3DS will cost more than DS/DSi

granville · Jun 19, 2010

Among the things not mentioned about the new Nintendo 3DS at E3 this year was a price. Apparently they are avoiding announcing a clear price at this time. Here's an interview with Nintendo of Japan president Satoru Iwata on the pricing vagueness-

“I have to refrain from talking specifically about the price point. What I can confirm is that, in terms of the production costs, it will cost more than the costs for the Nintendo DS today. Having said that, we believe we will produce enough value worthy of the production cost. We do not think we have to sell the products below cost.”Satoru Iwata [/p]

It has also been mentioned by Michael Pachter that Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told him that the 3DS hardware costs "a lot more" to produce than DSi hardware and that they don't intend to lose money on it to offer it at a lower price.

Keep in mind that the most expensive DSi XL sells for $190 USD. We still don't know the real price, but that is a good indication that the price may be well over $200. Some analysts have predicted that the hardware could be priced at $250-$300. It's all unconfirmed until we get a price from Nintendo. You can be pretty sure that it will cost at least $200 if Iwata and Reggie's comments are anything to go by. Keep in mind though, that they just lowered the price of the DSi and the XL in Japan. So these comments may be factoring in the lower prices. Cuts in prices for DSi and XL in Europe and US are also expected.

Guess they want it to keep printing money, but how well will it sell at an inflated price point over the current DS and DSi? A large draw behind the handheld market has always (at least for Nintendo) been to offer handheld systems which were affordable to the masses. If they price this very far over $200, that draw may quickly diminish. And is it even worth that price?

http://www.nintendoeverything.com/43089/
http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=127253

cyberninja · Jun 19, 2010

That's a shame, I was hoping they would keep the price low. The main reason I got a DS was that it was good value at £110 bundled with mario kart and sonic rush.

Thinking about they could bundle the 3DS with a few first party games to make the console seem better value and not lose any money from the hard ware. On the other hand I wouldn't be surprised if some shops sold the console at a loss to themselves, and tries to make the money up from games and accessories.

ChuckBartowski · Jun 19, 2010

250 confirmed.

Veho · Jun 19, 2010

granville said:
What I can confirm is that, in terms of the production costs, it will cost more than the costs for the Nintendo DS today.

Okay, that can be interpreted in two ways. One, the production cost will be greater than the production cost of the DS (which I believe is much lower than the retail price); or two, the production cost of the 3DS will be greater than the retail price of a DS, in which case, we're boned.

Maikel Steneker · Jun 19, 2010

Even if the DS costs $200 to produce, Nintendo isn't stupid. They know that they can release a very succesful hardware platform, and they also know that price plays an important role in that. If Nintendo doesn't make a profit on the hardware now, they will in the future. At that time, they will have launched a succesful new platform that people keep buying games for.

I still say the price will be between 200 and 250 euros.

Range-TE · Jun 19, 2010

i bought a DSi for around 180-200 USD, Costing more is only to be expected but knowing nintendo, it won't be over the top.

GameSoul · Jun 19, 2010

Yep, I'm goin for $220-270. If it's anything over $300 I'd rather get a console.

exangel · Jun 19, 2010

I think it would be a poor and unlikely move for them to price it higher than a PS3 or 360 Elite.
200-225 Euro or 250-280 USD sounds about right, but a price at the high end or greater will significantly reduce their market (especially if it is announced or released during the holiday season)

syko5150 · Jun 19, 2010

exangel said:
I think it would be a poor and unlikely move for them to price it higher than a PS3 or 360 Elite.
200-225 Euro or 250-280 USD sounds about right, but a price at the high end or greater will significantly reduce their market (especially if it is announced or released during the holiday season)

thats not true at all when it comes to the holiday season people get desperate and will spend 2-3 times what something is worth...i remember when the N64 first came out they were selling for $200 a piece my dad went around to different stores and bought a bunch of them and saved them until the holiday season people were paying $500-$600 each. People seem to lose all logic during the holiday shopping season and will do anything to get their hands on certain products to make their family/friends happy. Stores like Gamestop/EB Games take advantage of hard to find Consoles/Handhelds during the holiday and force people to spend $500-$1000 with a bunch of games you may or may not want and they know people will buy it.

altorn · Jun 19, 2010

^ very true. especially the gamestop thing

exangel · Jun 19, 2010

syko5150 said:
exangel said:

I think it would be a poor and unlikely move for them to price it higher than a PS3 or 360 Elite.
200-225 Euro or 250-280 USD sounds about right, but a price at the high end or greater will significantly reduce their market (especially if it is announced or released during the holiday season)

Click to expand...

thats not true at all when it comes to the holiday season people get desperate and will spend 2-3 times what something is worth...i remember when the N64 first came out they were selling for $200 a piece my dad went around to different stores and bought a bunch of them and saved them until the holiday season people were paying $500-$600 each. People seem to lose all logic during the holiday shopping season and will do anything to get their hands on certain products to make their family/friends happy. Stores like Gamestop/EB Games take advantage of hard to find Consoles/Handhelds during the holiday and force people to spend $500-$1000 with a bunch of games you may or may not want and they know people will buy it.

If I was a parent with two (or more) children that wanted to play video games and could only spare about $300 or $400 tops to buy them gifts, you think I'd buy only one 3DS? I'd buy a XBOX 360 or PS3. If we already had such a system I'd buy them games for it. I wouldn't expect two children to share one 3DS. The appeal of handhelds up until now is that they've been in a price range where it's conceivable that parents will buy one for each child, even outside of the United States where people don't tend to materially spoil their kids nearly as much. By raising the price to the highest end of the price range they lose multiple unit sales they would've had from a more reasonable price. It doesn't matter if the 3DS is umpteen times better than a PSP, and backwards compatible, etc. If Nintendo is planning to price this as an adult's toy, they lose a lot more sales than if they priced it as a child's-teenager's most beloved toy.

Jockel · Jun 19, 2010

I'm pretty confident they'll sell it for 199€ and maybe 229$.
First of all, because it's important to not break the 200€ mark from a psychological standpoint,
and second of all you got to consider they only stated that production costs a lot more,
not that the retail price will be far above the price of a DSi.
I mean, they still make profit at 150$ for a DSi...
From my experience at retail i doubt they cost more than 100$ to produce all things considered
(including money for package, transport, promotion and all that).

Overlord Nadrian · Jun 19, 2010

exangel said:
I think it would be a poor and unlikely move for them to price it higher than a PS3 or 360 Elite.

They're not retarded, you know, so they won't do that... Those systems cost A LOT of money, the 3DS will cost a lot too but it won't be as expensive.

exangel · Jun 19, 2010

Overlord Nadrian said:
exangel said:

I think it would be a poor and unlikely move for them to price it higher than a PS3 or 360 Elite.

Click to expand...

They're not retarded, you know, so they won't do that... Those systems cost A LOT of money, the 3DS will cost a lot too but it won't be as expensive.

._. i only said that because someone mentioned a potential price of $300 or higher (250 Euro is ~$308)

edit: clarified

mcboom · Jun 19, 2010

ChuckBartowski said:
250 confirmed.

Source?

Jockel · Jun 19, 2010

mcboom said:
ChuckBartowski said:

250 confirmed.

Click to expand...

Source?

none. cause it's speculation.

PrinceNOOB · Jun 19, 2010

Hopefully it wont go over $350

Blazikun · Jun 19, 2010

$348 confirmed from a site with a name starting with http://www.np or nq. can't remember. they were taking pre-orders, which is weird

Gore · Jun 19, 2010

pyrosurfer said:
$348 confirmed from a site with a name starting with http://www.np or nq. can't remember. they were taking pre-orders, which is weird

wrong, it's $200 confirmed (I made it up and then promised myself it is right)

source or leave. willing to bet there's some less than fine print saying it's a speculative price and not official.

manobon · Jun 19, 2010

exangel said:
syko5150 said:

exangel said:

I think it would be a poor and unlikely move for them to price it higher than a PS3 or 360 Elite.
200-225 Euro or 250-280 USD sounds about right, but a price at the high end or greater will significantly reduce their market (especially if it is announced or released during the holiday season)

Click to expand...

thats not true at all when it comes to the holiday season people get desperate and will spend 2-3 times what something is worth...i remember when the N64 first came out they were selling for $200 a piece my dad went around to different stores and bought a bunch of them and saved them until the holiday season people were paying $500-$600 each. People seem to lose all logic during the holiday shopping season and will do anything to get their hands on certain products to make their family/friends happy. Stores like Gamestop/EB Games take advantage of hard to find Consoles/Handhelds during the holiday and force people to spend $500-$1000 with a bunch of games you may or may not want and they know people will buy it.

Click to expand...

If I was a parent with two (or more) children that wanted to play video games and could only spare about $300 or $400 tops to buy them gifts, you think I'd buy only one 3DS? I'd buy a XBOX 360 or PS3. If we already had such a system I'd buy them games for it. I wouldn't expect two children to share one 3DS. The appeal of handhelds up until now is that they've been in a price range where it's conceivable that parents will buy one for each child, even outside of the United States where people don't tend to materially spoil their kids nearly as much. By raising the price to the highest end of the price range they lose multiple unit sales they would've had from a more reasonable price. It doesn't matter if the 3DS is umpteen times better than a PSP, and backwards compatible, etc. If Nintendo is planning to price this as an adult's toy, they lose a lot more sales than if they priced it as a child's-teenager's most beloved toy.

I think, unfortunately, they're going to Have to price it as an adult's toy (hah!). The features really aren't available on many other devices- portable, glasses free stereoscopic 3D? continuous wireless connection? I mean, just by those things alone, puts it in the range of $280-$300 devices. If the wireless is only wifi, then that should keep it a little lower, but I really hope it isn't- I want this to be as amazing as possible, and that means more money, unfortunately.

Iwata/Reggie- 3DS will cost more than DS/DSi

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