14 DAY TRIAL // In an extremely surprising move, Nintendo has announced that it's going to slash the price on its Nintendo 3DS handheld console to $169.99, a major cut from the current $249.99 the portable device is currently selling for.
Nintendo launched the 3DS earlier this year all around the world and, while the console sold many units, the high price and the pretty major resemblance to the much cheaper DS model made it fall under the expectations of the company.
Now, as big games are being released, including last month's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Nintendo has announced that a price cut will be made on August 11, in Japan, August 12, in North America, and also for the European market, although Nintendo failed to mention a date for that territory.
The new price of the 3DS will now be $169.99, a major drop from the existing $249.99 price tag.
"For anyone who was on the fence about buying a Nintendo 3DS, this is a huge motivation to buy now," said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "We are giving shoppers every incentive to pick up a Nintendo 3DS, from an amazing new price to a rapid-fire succession of great games."
Nintendo highlights that this move will mark a strong holiday season for its device, as well as for the major games that will be released for it, including Star Fox 64 3D, Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart or Kid Icarus: Uprising.
That's all fine and dandy for future owners, but Nintendo also has a plan for the millions of people who already purchased a Nintendo 3DS at full retail price, who will become Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors.
What does this title mean? Basically, anyone who accessed the online Nintendo eShop from their 3DS at least once until August 11 will receive 20 free games of their choice in two batches, one starting on September 1, and the other later this year.
1. Starting Sept. 1, Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors will be able to download 10 NES Virtual Console games at no charge and before they are available in the Nintendo eShop to the general public. These games, including Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr., Balloon Fight, Ice Climber and The Legend of Zelda, are slated to become paid downloadable games, but Ambassadors get them early for free. Once the paid versions of the games are posted to the Nintendo eShop later in the year, the updated versions will be available to Ambassadors for download at no cost.
2. By the end of 2011, Nintendo will provide Ambassadors with 10 Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games. These include games like Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ and Mario vs. Donkey Kong. These games will be available exclusively to Ambassadors, and Nintendo currently has no plans to make these 10 games available to the general public on the Nintendo 3DS in the future.
So, what do you think of this new Nintendo 3DS price cut and the Ambassador program for existing owners? Share your thoughts below.