On August 12, Nintendo is dropping the price of the 3DS from $250 to $170. This is because sales of the system have plummeted (only 700,000 units sold worldwide in the last quarter) and developers have started cancelling existing games or bypassing the system entirely.
I don’t have a 3DS. This is remarkable, since I am more or less a textbook ‘early adopter’. I spend more on games than any person I have ever met, but have so far passed on the 3DS for several reasons:
1) A stunning lack of good games
2) A reluctance to embrace a system with an average game price of $40
3) Irritation at the frankly terrible online support of the 3DS (no messaging, no achievements, no PSN or XBox-live-like system)
4) Virtually zero interest in the main gimmick of the device: the glasses-free 3D
5) The very poor battery life
You’ll note price is not one of the above reasons. Will an $80 drop convince me to buy it? Let’s see.
The above problems with the system are important and need to be fixed as soon as possible. They would be bad enough were Nintendo to not have any competition. Ignoring the old DS itself (which still outsells the 3DS), Nintendo is being absolutely steamrolled by this:
I’ve been saying this for a while, but the iPad/iPhone is changing the way we look at entertainment in so many ways. Why pay $170 for a dedicated gaming system where games are $40 each? When you can buy an iPad (admittedly more expensive), enjoy games for $2, $1 or even free and then use the device for oodles of other things as well?
Customers realize this, and that’s why the iPad has outsold the 3DS 55-to-1. This is why developers are moving to the iPad in droves (Electronic Arts recently said iPad is their fastest growing market and that traditional consoles account for only 40% of their revenue) and this is why the average quality of games on the iPad increases every day. Why spend millions to develop a console game when you can make an iPhone game for under $100 grand and make just as much profit?
I will eventually buy a 3DS. Maybe soon, maybe when Animal Crossing is released. There will be good games on it, of that I am sure. But I truly think the system will be a limited success, if at all. I think Sony’s upcoming Vita will follow the same fate (or perhaps exist more or less as a Monster Hunter enabler, if only in Japan). I think the days of dedicated handhelds may be behind us, to be replaced with iPads and iPhones and whatever future smartphones will be released.
I’ll keep my thoughts about the affect this change will have on the games themselves to a future post.