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.