Nintendo 3DS

[Man0warr]

The 3DS hardware isn't a rushed bandaid, the graphics are much better than the best DS game and it can even do things the PS2 couldn't.

They definitely rushed the release date though, and even at 170$ I bet Nintendo still makes a profit off every one sold, unlike the PS3 where they were losing ~$600 per console early on.

[Oravis]

The 3DS hardware isn't a rushed bandaid, the graphics are much better than the best DS game and it can even do things the PS2 couldn't.

They definitely rushed the release date though, and even at 170$ I bet Nintendo still makes a profit off every one sold, unlike the PS3 where they were losing ~$600 per console early on.

.

[Man0warr]

That's surprising, like the article says, Nintendo has never sold hardware at a loss. They don't have much of a choice though.

They just need to get the first party games out - Pokemon, New Zelda, New Mario, New Mario Kart - and sales will be high. There is just no reason to buy a 3DS right now except OoT 3D.

[Salodin]

They had no other real competition though, why the hell release it so early when the console movers are so far away.

Apple isn't such a big problem to release hardware half ready, I've yet to see a giant core gamer release on a cell phone that wasn't just a crappy port of what id find on console.

You don't release you're high tech 3d machine to compete with shit like Angry birds...

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

[Correction]

The 3DS hardware isn't a rushed bandaid.

To clarify, I was saying the '20 free games' compensation was a rushed bandaid to keep early adopters from returning their consoles and further hurting their FY 2011/2012 projections. Not that the 3DS is itself a rushed bandaid to Nintendo's problem with its fanbase.

[Correction]

They had no other real competition though, why the hell release it so early when the console movers are so far away.

Because Vita, because AppStore, and because this:



Nintendo has always been pretty wishy-washy about the competitive threat Apple presents, but they're not stupid, the numbers are pretty clear.

3DS Sales Q4 FY 2010/11: 3.61 million units
3DS Sales Q1 FY 2011/12: 0.71 million units

Software sales halved over the same time period. Both the DS and the Wii are seeing badly shrinking sales. The analysis on Nintendo's problem pre-dates the 3DS itself. An iPhone 4 is $200. Tough road ahead.

[Seanr]

It's hard to keep numbers up after everyone has one though... almost everyone needs a phone (unfortunately for Nintendo), Not everyone needs a video game system (portable or home console), I think we're close to hitting a wall...

[Man0warr]

They didn't have competition to release the 3DS, but they needed to make money somehow before the Wii U comes out.

The market is pretty saturated with Wii and DS at this point.

[Arelian]

I don't understand why early adopters would return their consoles. I don't think Nintendo ever really gets those numbers or anything. What exactly do they want to accomplish? I can understand trading it in because they're unhappy with the device itself... but because of a price drop?

[Correction]

I don't understand why early adopters would return their consoles.

If you bought one yesterday, you'd still be considered an early-adopter. Now imagine what would happen if Nintendo didn't offer some kind of compensation for the price drop.

[Minions]

I don't understand why early adopters would return their consoles. I don't think Nintendo ever really gets those numbers or anything. What exactly do they want to accomplish? I can understand trading it in because they're unhappy with the device itself... but because of a price drop?

I suppose that some people feel ripped off by a price drop so soon. (Apple refunded money when they did) but nintendo is releasing some games to "pay you back for the $80 drop".... however these games cost nintendo nothing.... other than perhaps a little cost in porting them to work on the new software. However, it really seems like they rushed the ports with little to no other functionality.

I guess nintendo feels like it is out of control and bleeding money. They are attempting to remedy this by NOT refunding any money and hoping that all of its current user base will keep their 3DS's and keep waiting for content. By not refunding money and releasing these games they are basically losing less money than they otherwise would.

People may retaliate by selling their 3DS's as a form of protest. More used consoles on the market, less new consoles being sold. Pretty much everything sold 2nd hand kills sales that the companies would otherwise have by people buying them from stores.

Personally I don't find the price drop all that attractive. At the rate nintendo is going one of two things is going to happen. A) They lose even more games/money (they are now selling the consoles at a loss, something they said they would not do) B) They will release the 3DSlite, with better viewing angles and battery life.... (which I think will happen in the next 6-9 months)

Plus they are going to come out with some decent (delayed) games some time next year. (probably with a hardware revision)

[miokomioko]

It happened slightly sooner than I expected, but I'm not sure how anyone didn't see this coming and didn't hold out for a real line-up anyways. Mario Kart, mmmmm~

[Salodin]

I don't see why they are concerning themselves with a market they can't even reach. You don't release your high tech-3d machine to compete with the people that are offering voice communications and Angry Birds on one device; that's just stupid. Their strengths lie in the gaming that can't be done on mobile devices i.e.: any game worth a damn to what we'd consider a "real gamer"; but then again that would mean catering to the core crowd and they've been ignoring them for years now.

Honestly, now that I think about it, they've been catering to the casual crowd with the Wii and it's lineup of shovelware, but now that shit is easily done on an iphone or android. Quite frankly, if I was a parent, I'd let Salo jr. play with my droid while in the store or on the road instead of buying them a new 3DS or something else along those lines.

I guess it all goes back to Nintendo getting fucked over cause they are catering to the wrong crowd while thoroughly saturating the market with their hardware.

[lathia]

Now give me an updated version with longer battery life and these one hundred and seventy crisp dollar bills will be yours Nintendo!

[Seanr]

I guess it all goes back to Nintendo getting fucked over cause they are catering to the wrong crowd while thoroughly saturating the market with their hardware.

They did... like I said, I think we hit somewhat of a wall. They catered to casuals, saw massive profits, but they lose "core" audience initially by doing that, then casuals in the long run because it's just a fucking fad for them...

[Correction]

After cutting projections more than 80% Iwata has issued a public statement:

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/libr...729/index.html
Full text in spoilers

Spoiler: show

Good morning. Before accepting questions, there is one thing that I would like to address here.

Since the first fiscal quarter has limited importance within the annual business of game companies, it does not make much sense for me to make a detailed presentation on the business in that quarter, so I have not made such preparations for today. On the other hand, a number of people must have such doubts as, "Why does the company have to make such a drastic markdown now?" Please let me talk about that before the Q&A session.

First of all, we have made the decision to markdown the Nintendo 3DS because we recognize that the current situation surrounding the system is different from that before the launch and immediately after the launch.

Having strong momentum is very important for game platform businesses. Once momentum is lost, great power is needed to change that trend.

As we announced at the E3 show, which was held in Los Angeles this past June, we have a strong software lineup for Nintendo 3DS toward the end of this calendar year, with which we were thinking that we would be able to boost the hardware sales, but in terms of the current situation, for us to be able to help Nintendo 3DS to become a sound successor to Nintendo DS, and to get it back on track to its originally-anticipated sales pace for its wide expansion, we concluded that we needed to take drastic measures, and we decided to make the markdown.

Since we will carry out this markdown in a period when Nintendo 3DS does not have such anticipated titles as in the year-end sales season, some seem to have interpreted it as a hasty move.

It is true that a great portion of our sales and profits are generated during the year-end sales season. If we just focused on maximizing the impact of the markdown, it might make more sense for us to do so when a number of anticipated titles are to be launched. In fact, thinking in that way must be the norm, and a number of people must have anticipated that we would make the markdown during the year-end sales season or in fall this year. However, there are some specific reasons why we have decided to make the markdown at this time.

First, since the launch of Nintendo 3DS, one of the things we have learned is that it has taken longer than we had originally expected in order for the appeal of this product to widely spread. We feel that those who have experienced the system appreciate its attraction, but this appreciation has not necessarily been expanding at the speed which we had expected. For us to maximize the effect of the anticipated titles of this year end, it is necessary to greatly expand the installed base (before the launches of the anticipated titles) so that the appeal of the new software will be able to spread to consumers in a short period of time. Without creating such a circumstance, we would not be able to realize explosive sales in the year-end sales season. This is one reason for the markdown.

Another reason is, we thought that eliminating the concerns of future hardware expansion early on would make a great difference to how retailers and software publishers will allocate their energies. The retailers worldwide decide the allocations of store shelves and which products to focus on for the year-end sales season by looking at the results of the summer sales. Software publishers are currently reviewing which development teams will work on which projects, and the results of which shall be launched next year and beyond. Removing their concerns on the sales of Nintendo 3DS hardware will be very critical for us to be able to enrich the applicable software in the years to come. In fact, immediately after our announcement yesterday, Nintendo employees started to receive feedback from retailers and software publishers around the world, and this feedback is, in general, rather positive.

In short, we have concluded that, for Nintendo 3DS to expand enough to become the successor of Nintendo DS, we have to take a drastic approach.

Accordingly, we hope you will look at the long-term effect of the markdown, rather than the short-term one. More specifically, I hope you will at least try to see how it will play out over the next four months, until the end of the year-end sales season, before making any judgments.

On the other hand, a drastic markdown like this, before the mass-production effect can take place for the hardware, will naturally generate red ink on the hardware sales. As a result, a significant minus effect is expected on the profitability of the current fiscal year. Even though we understand this, for us to elevate Nintendo 3DS to be the platform that can sustain our business, we have concluded that we need to take the best possible measure we can take now, even at the cost of short-term profitability.

From Nintendo, "SUPER MARIO 3DLAND," to be launched in November, and "MARIO KART 7" in December are going to be two main titles for the year-end sales season. These software titles can appeal to a wide variety of audiences and have the potential to be purchased by a number of people. Also, the software lineup from the third-party software publishers will be enriched before the year-end sales season.

It is quite unusual for us to change the price in less than half a year from a product’s launch. I am aware that realizing both the short-term and the mid-to-long term profits is one of my responsibilities as part of the management. I feel greatly accountable for having to make the markdown shortly after the launch, for having damaged our consumers' trust, for having made a significant impact upon the financial forecasts, for the annual dividend now being expected to be significantly less than originally expected and for now forecasting that there will be no interim dividend.

We would like to fulfill our responsibilities by getting Nintendo 3DS back on its originally-expected sales track, to make it the successor to Nintendo DS and to recover the sales and profits in the next fiscal year and beyond.

However, for the management to show its accountability for the level of the operating loss of this time and the prospect of no interim dividend, we decided at the directors' meeting yesterday that we would reduce the compensation we will receive as the directors of the company. The directors’ compensation of the company constitutes a fixed portion and a variable portion which is decided by the actual results of the business performance. The decreased profit of the company is reflected as the decreased compensation in the variable portion or, more specifically, the bonus to be given at the end of this fiscal year. However, we understand that the management responsibility this time is heavier than usual, and we have decided to reduce the fixed compensation as well, by reducing it by 50% for the president, or me, a 30% reduction for the representative directors and a 20% reduction for the other directors.

Needless to say, the deduction of the fixed compensation is what we volunteered to do in order to show our sincere attitude and to fulfill our responsibility. We really must recover our financial performance and take Nintendo back into the position in the marketplace where it is well appreciated.

This is all that I wanted to tell you. Thank you.

tl;dr version

- Nintendo is now banking on the end of calendar year results (meaning Mario Kart/Mario Land + 1 month)
- They have to expand the install base of the 3DS now or else 3rd parties (meaning both developers AND retail) won't put any resources into the 3DS come the holiday season.
- The price drop means Nintendo is now taking a loss on every console sold
- Iwata is personally taking a 50% pay cut and reduced bonuses
- effectively, he is asking for four months to turn the console around. Not a lot of time.

[Melena]

I'm actually thinking of getting one soon so I can get the 20 free games, especially since i'm more likely to play old games then the crap that comes out now.

[hey]

Does the acekard 2i work on the newest firmware for the 3ds? For $170, it might be worth upgrading from my dinosaur launch ds, even if zelda would probably be the only 3ds game i buy for the next year.

[Vuitton]

yes the acekard 2i does work on the 3DS. i have one and have been using it without any issues.

So $80 in exchange for 20 games. Of the games many of them are ones I would have wanted to play anyway (Zelda, Mario, ect) or at least try. That's $4 a game, which is a $2-$4 dollars cheaper than what they would sell on the eShop. So, fine with me!

Old Black & White gameboy games and similarly simple games are $2-3
Antipole is $5
Arctic Escape is $5.
Blayzebloo is $5
Ivy the Kiwi is $5
Soul of Darkness is $5
Jewel Keepers: Easter Island is $5
Zelda DX ix $6
3D Classics (NES games in 3D) are $6
Let's Golf! 3D is $6
Mario vs. DK is $8
Plants vs Zombies is $8
Ferarri GT is $8
Hero of Sparta is $8
Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ is $8
Zenonia is $8
Cave Story is $10
Shantae: Risky Revenge is $12 (wow, I think most expensive game on the eShop)

Netflix is free to download but costs $8 a month for streaming.

These are just some of the games available in the eShop.

[6souls]

http://cf.shacknews.com/images/20110...17605.nphd.jpg

It seems there is an issue with 3DS games with and save files. As with the recent Resident Evil game for the 3DS, Namco Bandai’s Pac-Man and Galaga Dimensions only allows for one save file on the cartridge…forever. Want to sell the game? The save file is locked forever. Want to buy the game used? It’s going to have the save file and high scores of the previous owner…forever. It’s pretty unfortunate, and Namco Bandai needs to speak up on this problem.

So they have! In conversation with Shacknews, Namco explains how the save schemata impacts the multitude of games that are in the whole game. Apparently if the game was placed in another 3DS, it can cause some problems with the leaderboards. A Namco rep told them “There is no way to erase the save from within the game itself without misusing the hardware, causing corruption. It takes a very long time to get high scores on all the games to fill up the rankings as each game is a stand-alone title.” All in all, it’s still a weird situation, but at least it makes better sense.

See the reasoning below:

Pac-Man TILT

+High score from EX level 1 – needs 10 medals to open EX1
Level progression 1-25 +5 EX unlockable levels Each level needs to be unlocked by playing the previous level. EX levels are unlocked after earning medals in level progression.
Level high scores, medals awarded (Bronze, Silver, Gold)

Galaga 3D Impact

+High Score
Top 5 High scores
Option settings

Pac-Man

+High score
Access to the highest level achieved
Top 5 High scores on the attract mode screen (no 3 letter name like the original game)
16 badge progression (achievements unlocked under certain conditions)
Option settings

Pac-Man Championship Edition

+High score
High score per each level with an accompanying graph of the game’s stats.
16 badge progression (achievements unlocked under certain conditions)

Galaga

+High score
Access to the highest level achieved
Top 5 High scores on the attract mode screen (no 3 letter name like the original game)
16 badge progression (achievements unlocked under certain conditions)
Option settings

Galaga Legions

+High score
Top 5 High scores Adventure mode
High score for each level
16 badge progression (achievements unlocked under certain conditions)
Option settings

Score Ranking

Keeps one of each of the + scores mentioned above to submit to online Ranking boards.
Keeps a gamer name which the player can input via onscreen keyboard.

http://blog.machinima.com/insidegami...ga-dimensions/
http://www.shacknews.com/article/695...-save-schemata