Nintendo 3DS price dreassed from $249 to $169 in US

The price of the Nintendo 3DS in the US is dropping precipitously August 12th from $249 to $169, with other regions getting a similar price break in their respective currency. Are you one of the 830,000~ US gamers that have already shelled out? Don't be too disappointed, the thank you gift for gamers that have logged into the eShop at least once before the price cut will be 10 free NES virtual console games September 1st, plus 10 more Game Boy Advance virtual console games that Nintendo is not planning on releasing to the general public before the end of the year.


The Japanese videogame giant recorded a net loss for the April-June quarter of ¥25.5 billion ($328.1 million), marginally wider than the year-earlier ¥25.2 billion, and with a very different cause. Last year's loss was largely an effect of the stronger yen, as the company realized ¥70.5 billion in appraisal losses on massive cash deposits and other assets it holds in foreign currencies, while this year's reflected a slump in sales of the aging basic DS and Wii games systems and the much-touted 3DS, which the company said suffers from a lack of hit games.

As a result revenue was down by more than half, to ¥93.9 billion from ¥188.7 billion a year earlier. That led to an operating loss of ¥37.7 billion, compared with an year-earlier operating profit of ¥23.34 billion. Nintendo said it now expects a net profit for the fiscal year ending next March of just ¥20 billion, a cut of more than 80% from its previous forecast of ¥110 billion.

The price of the flagging 3DS, launched amid fanfare earlier this year, will be cut by nearly half in Japan as of Aug. 11, to ¥15,000 from ¥25,000 ($193 from $322), in a move to kickstart sales. The company said in a statement that it hopes the cut will "create momentum...and accelerate penetration" ahead of the year-end sales season, by which time the line-up of games for the platform will feature new titles that include the company's familiar Super Mario character.

Oslo Blast Hits Completed Footage (Video)

At least seven people were killed and 15 injured in the bomb blast, the nation’s worst attack since World War II.

Police Inspector Bjoern Erik Sem-Jacobsen said a suspect in the shooting has been arrested. He said the gunman, who was dressed as a police officer, pulled out a gun and started firing into the crowd of youths. There were unconfirmed reports that five people were wounded in that shooting.

Microsoft unveils Windows 8 (video) -- Update by Engadget

We're live from Microsoft Windows president Steven Sinofsky's keynote at D9, and there's something rather exciting on stage -- a pair of experimental Windows 8 dev boards running an OS that looks very much like Windows Phone 7's Metro UI. All Things D actually sat down with the man earlier today and got a sneak peek at what to expect starting with the live tiled screen you see above -- and yes, like Windows Phone 7, this OS is designed for touch.

There'll be two kinds of applications for Windows 8, one that runs in a traditional desktop, and the other pseudo-mobile apps based on HTML5 and Javascript, but both environments -- rather, the entire OS -- have been designed from the ground up for touchscreen use. Keyboard and mouse will still be options for both sets of programs, but there are multiple virtual sets of keys for different form factors, including a split keyboard for vertical slate use. Multitasking is simply a matter of swiping running apps into the center of the screen, and you can pull windows partway to "snap" them in place alongside other windows -- even mixing and matching traditional desktop programs with web apps simultaneously (like Twitter alongside your spreadsheet). There's a new version of Internet Explorer 10 (which runs Silverlight) and an app store built into the touchscreen interface, along with integrated services like Office 365. Microsoft says the new OS will run on laptops, tablets and desktops when it appears -- whenever that might be.

All Things D didn't have any details on when we'll get pricing or availability, but we're looking at some Intel Atom-based demo units on stage right now, and Microsoft says it will have ARM designs (the OS will support NVIDIA, TI and Qualcomm) viewable on the Computex show floor, and more will be revealed at the Build Windows developer conference in September. We should note that "Windows 8" is just a codename for what we're seeing here -- "we'll figure out the real name in due time," Sinofsky told the crowd -- but we don't see much harm in calling it Windows 8 for now.

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