The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2011
Nintendo 3DS launched at a record price — $80 cut within six months
The priciest Nintendo handheld ever — $249.99 — launched into the mobile-gaming era without flagship software. Six months later: a 32% cut and 20 free games.
Nintendo · 2011-08-12
What happened
The 3DS was Nintendo's answer to the iPhone: glasses-free 3D gaming without the glasses, launched in Japan in February 2011 at ¥25,000 and in North America on March 27 2011 at $249.99 — the highest launch price Nintendo had ever set for a handheld, against the $150 the original DS had cost in 2004. The 3D and the price were the twin bets.
Sales were slower than expected. The price was too high, the 3D caused eye fatigue in adults and carried a warning for children under six, and the launch lineup lacked the flagship franchises that had driven every previous Nintendo handheld. Mobile gaming was eating the casual market from below. In the quarter ending June 30 2011, Nintendo sold about 710,000 units worldwide, 110,000 of them in the US.
On July 28 2011 Nintendo announced the cut: $249.99 to $169.99, a 32% drop — $80 — effective August 12 2011, with the Japanese price falling from ¥25,000 to ¥15,000. To soften the blow for early adopters, Nintendo added the Ambassador Program: 20 free games (10 NES and 10 GBA titles) for anyone who had connected to the eShop before August 21 2011. The 3DS family eventually shipped 75.94 million units — the line recovered — but the record price and the within-months cut defined its launch.
Why it happened
- Nintendo priced the 3DS at a record $249.99 on a glasses-free 3D screen, then launched it with no flagship software to justify that price to a market already playing on phones.
- The novelty of 3D did not hold attention the way a Mario or Zelda launch would: ship the platform, but if the tentpoles are missing the hardware is just an expensive screen with eye-strain warnings.
- The within-months $80 cut taught the trade that the price was a bet, not a value: a 32% drop six months after launch punishes early buyers and had to be bought back with 20 free games.
The lesson
A price is a promise. Nintendo charged the most it ever had for a handheld and shipped it without the flagship software that makes a price fair — then paid $80 and 20 free games to admit it.
Aftermath
Nintendo cut the 3DS from $249.99 to $169.99 on August 12 2011, added the 20-game Ambassador Program for early buyers, and went on to sell 75.94 million units across the 3DS family. The recovery showed the fix worked; the launch remained the cautionary tale.
Sources
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