Nintendo recently had an epiphany, owning up to the 3DS’s slow launch by slashing prices — and paychecks. To make up for shafting early adopters, Nintendo has also said that anyone who has a 3DS before the price drop hits (on August 12th) will be eligible to receive 20 free virtual console games. But what if I told you that you could get a 3DS for the new price and get 20 free games? → Read More
While many would call buyers of the 3DS who picked up their console prior to the $80 price cut expected on August 12 “suckers,” Nintendo is calling them “Ambassadors” and they’e offering them special updates to upcoming downloadable titles. These updates will include multi-player support and improved gameplay.
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When companies go through a rough patch, it’s pretty rare to see the big man upstairs step up in an awesome way.
Take RIM for example. In the middle of security troubles in India and amidst tough competition from Apple and others — right before a major product, the BlackBerry PlayBook was launched — co-CEO Mike Lazaridis shut down a BBC interview not only making himself look overly defensive, but making the company look frazzled.
Today Nintendo’s president took a different route. → Read More
The Nintendo 3DS is dropping $80 – from $249 to $169 – on August 12 in preparation for the launch of the console’s E3 A-List titles including Kid Icarus. This cut is also, presumably, in reaction to slow initial sales of the 3D console.
Current owners of the console will receive ten free NES games along with ten free Game Boy Advance titles on September 1st (provided they’ve logged into the Nintendo eShop before August 12.
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We’ve seen many price drops in the video gaming industry in the last 30 years, but I personally can’t remember such a radical move: Nintendo just announced [in English, PDF] that they will cut the price of their (relatively) new 3D portable gaming system 3DS by a whopping 10,000 Yen ($127) to 15000 Yen ($190). → Read More
Nintendo is working hard at making its 3DS less of a “put in a cartridge, play a game” console, and more of an all-purpose gaming/media/social gadget. They’re awful slow at it, though, since their entire system from the eighties on has been the cartridge thing, more or less.
Perhaps they looked at Apple and said not “oh no, they’re going to get us” but “man, how come we haven’t tried alternative methods of capitalizing on this huge, loyal user base?” This was years ago, mind you, and they still haven’t really branched out (Wii Speak?), but we’re beginning to see the new, rich experience roll out, however slowly. Their curated video channel of 3D content is just about to go live on Japanese 3DSes, for instance. Finally! → Read More
The decision to bring Pokemon to iOS and Android this summer seems to be final but Nintendo would like to remind you that although the made the Pokemon franchise great, the games are actually built by the Pokemon Company (of which Nintendo owns a minority) and that those guys can do whatever they want. → Read More
Although his statement could be an elaborate prima aprilis prank, Nintendo COO Reggie Fils-Aime stated that the Wii U would be arriving after April 1, 2012 and would co-exist on the market alongside the Wii, DSi, and 3DS. In a Forbes interview Fils-Aime said that the two major Nintendo consoles would be on the market simultaneously until they stop supporting the quickly aging original Wii. → Read More
Don’t expect Episode 3 to come to your New Controller any time soon, but Valve’s Gabe Newell has made some noises about Nintendo being included in their “scalability model.” What he means is that there was no way they were downsizing a game to fit on the Wii, but the Wii U might have the chops to make it worth porting games to. For a long time Nintendo has been the whipping boy for AAA developers, who have either designed crippled versions of their franchises or skipped the Wii altogether. But as we saw at E3, many are changing their minds. Nice to be able to add Valve to the list. → Read More
At this E3′s Nintendo press conference, we were treated to a nice little dose of Zelda music, and told there would be a sweet 25th anniversary soundtrack, as well as some traveling concerts and a free DSiWare game. All very good, but I couldn’t help but be disappointed at the lack of a collected edition like that issued for last year’s Mario 25th Anniversary. And according to Nintendo’s CEO Satoru Iwata, that’s not going to happen. → Read More
The original Nintendo DS hit 1 million units in just 4 weeks. It took the new 3DS 13 weeks to hit that milestone. Of course this portable seemingly had more going against it: the $249 price tag, the lackluster launch titles, and many gamers in Japan already had the similar, and still satisfying, DS or DS Lite. Nintendo previously stated that the 3DS wasn’t meeting its expectations although they had moved 3.61 million units into the hands of gamers across all regions by the end of its Fiscal year in March. Hopefully Sony is paying attention and estimating PS Vita numbers accordingly. → Read More
A Sega marketing exec, speaking to Gamespot, blurted out that the Wii U will probably launch spring/summer of 2012, a proposition that sounds a bit fishy. We could see Nintendo announcing availability at E3 2012 and then selling it around the holidays, thereby sewing up 2012 and 2013 in terms of console sales, but a spring launch just doesn’t make much sense. → Read More
There’s seemingly a philosophy inside Nintendo that form factors and ideas don’t die, but rather are shelved and re-released once the proper technology is ready. The Wii U is just the latest in a long line of consoles that use rather old form factors and ideas. Just look at this chart we found on Reddit. The Nintendo Watch & Game spawned the DS 24 years later, the Power Glove preceded the Wii, the Virtual Boy the 3DS, and the Wii U now seems like a proper implementation of the GameCube/GameBoy Advance controller scheme. Not that there’s anything wrong with this process. It clearly works. → Read More
It’s been a hellish month for Sony, which has faced no less than three major data breaches and a number of minor ones. And now the woes have spread to Nintendo… or have they? → Read More
Japanese newspaper the Nikkei has just published a story that confirms the rumors of the last couple months, namely that Nintendo’s new system (codenamed Project Cafe) will indeed use touchscreen controllers with cameras built-in. We had anonymous confirmation before, but the Nikkei has a little more credibility than “a source.” → Read More
The aging Nintendo DS Lite just got a breath of sweet life. If you don’t already own the fantastic handheld, perhaps its new, lower $99 price will bring you aboard the party bus. Nintendo just announced the price drop from $129, which in my mind, does nothing but create a bit more competition for the $249 3DS. Maybe this move is a precursor to Nintendo dropping the 3DS’ price next week at E3. → Read More
Do you need a little something for your retro-gaming man cave? Something that says “I’m a classy guy, but that doesn’t mean I can’t beat Contra in one life,” perhaps? This lamp might be your style. → Read More
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