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  (Source: 3dsemu.com)
Engineers at Nintendo are reportedly working on the second circle pad peripheral as we speak, and the new 3DS system will "tone down" the 3D features

Nintendo's 3DS has had a rocky start since its launch in March 2011. Sales were nothing short of unimpressive, and Nintendo President Satoru Iwata even noted that a poor launch lineup was to blame. 

Only four months after the 3DS' release, Nintendo reported poor first-quarter earnings and believed the disappointing 3DS sales were partially the problem. To remedy this, Nintendo slashed the portable system's price from $249.99 to $169.99 starting August 12. 

The plan worked. Nintendo 3DS sales skyrocketed in Japan, selling 215,000 units between August 8 and 14. This was a victory for Nintendo, considering the fact that only 109,000 3DS units were sold in Japan through the entire month of May in comparison.

Now, Nintendo is keeping its focus on how to continue improving the handheld, and will do so through two new announcements: an external second circle pad add-on, and a completely new model due in 2012.

According to French site 01Net, Nintendo is developing a detachable second circle pad for the 3DS. Nintendo reportedly regretted not having two analogue sticks included in the system's launch in March, and said that the production of the 3DS was "rushed" in order to beat the PlayStation Vita. 

Engineers at Nintendo are working on the peripheral as we speak, and will sell for approximately $10. In addition, developers are working on titles to suit the add-on. 

While it is unclear when the attachment will be available, the report did know of a new 3DS system available in 2012. The new system may not even be a "3DS" anymore, since it will supposedly "tone down" the 3D features significantly. 

But before Nintendo launches another system, it needs to focus on an issue with its dev kits, according to 01Net. Third parties are becoming frustrated with Nintendo because it is only making 300 kits per month, and there is an extensive waiting list.

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Weak Lineup?!
By The Raven on 8/24/2011 11:49:44 AM , Rating: 4
quote:
Sales were nothing short of unimpressive, and Nintendo President Satoru Iwata even noted that a poor launch lineup was to blame.

Poor lineup? What poor line up? The thing plays all the same games as the original DS+3DS games. It was a gimmick with little value to begin with, and that brings us to the proven problem... price.
quote:
Only four months after the 3DS' release, Nintendo reported poor first-quarter earnings and believed the disappointing 3DS sales were partially the problem. To remedy this, Nintendo slashed the portable system's price from $249.99 to $169.99 starting August 12. The plan worked. Nintendo 3DS sales skyrocketed in Japan, selling 215,000 units between August 8 and 14.
The DS has always been king because it was cheap , durable, versatile, and left little for buyer's remorse. But price is key because these are for little kids/casual family gaming for the most part. No one wants to drop $300 bucks on their 10 y/o who leaves their DS at the bus stop.

Iwata-san should smack himself in the head for this. (And not make the same stupid mistake with the "Wii U" BTW. Wiis are popular because they were cheap.)




RE: Weak Lineup?!
By kvn7918 on 8/24/2011 12:16:01 PM , Rating: 2
You're forgetting one key factor games ,the DS didn't really start selling well until great games and the DSlite launched.I really don't hate Nintendo for launching the 3DS at $250,they really thought they could sell it at that price based on reaction of last years E3,and if people did some research they could have got one at launch for $150.All the top brass at Nintendo did smack themselves in the head so to speak by cutting their salaries.


RE: Weak Lineup?!
By The Raven on 8/24/2011 12:55:16 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
The thing plays all the same games as the original DS+3DS games.
Here is me forgetting games.

People had to make the decision: do I want to pay more for a weak little gimmick? The answer was "No"
quote:
and if people did some research they could have got one at launch for $150.
If that is the case then those people who bought them for $150 were morons for not winning them for free by being caller 27 at KZAP. Hello? We are talking standard retail price as mentioned in the article, which determines overall sales numbers. Not BF prices or Amazon gold box prices.

This has nothing to do with game play. It is nothing but a cheap visual gimmick. And this is coming from someone who would love to get his hands on the 3DS Ghost Recon game no matter how crappy it is. UBISOFT! get off your ar$e and finish Future Soldier alreday!


RE: Weak Lineup?!
By kvn7918 on 8/24/2011 2:50:46 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Here is me forgetting games.

And I'm telling you that's one of the main reasons the ds sold well and one of the reasons why the 3DS sold poorly.

quote:
Not BF prices or Amazon gold box prices.

Dude Gamestop which everyone knows and most people/parents go to buy games had a trade-in deal months before the system came out and kept it around months after.I just saying people should be informed consumers and do research before they buy,i'm not calling them stupid.If they want to spend $250 on something that's their money i have no problem with that.

quote:
This has nothing to do with game play

I didn't say anything about game play in my reply to you.You seem really hung on the 3D being a gimmick,if that's the way you feel about it that's fine i'm not hear to change your mind about that.I'm just here to say that games was one of the main reasons why it got of to a bad start.They fixed the other problem and come this winter they are going to fix the lack of games problem.


RE: Weak Lineup?!
By The Raven on 8/24/2011 5:44:21 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
And I'm telling you that's one of the main reasons the ds sold well and one of the reasons why the 3DS sold poorly.
I don't think we are seeing eye to eye on this one. True or false: The 3DS is basically a DS that has a 3D view with some new games that utilize that view. If you say false then and see it as a completely different system then I might agree with you. But I see it as a weak gimmick that gives very little justification to upgrade or even choose the 3DS over other versions of the DS due to the price premium. Those great DS games that you mentioned are playable on all DSs.
quote:
trade-in deal
Seriously? That is worse than saying that you got it on sale. If you sell a DS for $50 to your buddy and then take that money to buy a 3DS for $250 --- you didn't just buy the 3DS for $200. You bought it for $250.
quote:
You seem really hung on the 3D being a gimmick
So you can play Diddy Kong Racing on a DS Lite or you can pay (after trade) $160 to see it in 3D as Pilotwings. I think I will keep my $160. How much better does the game have to be than Diddy Kong Racing for such a small difference in capability? They would have to reinvent the wheel of game software.

On the other hand if this was truly a new system with the ability to render games at higher resolutions and add the use of a Wiimote then I might buy that system and a new souped-up copy of Diddy Kong Racing eagerly because the payoff would be much better than just being able to play in 3D.

But as you mentioned this sort of thing is subject to opinion.
quote:
I'm just here to say that games was one of the main reasons why it got of to a bad start.
I do understand that if they would've come out with some killer app that everyone wanted exclusively for the 3DS then more people would've thrown their money down, but MY point is that look at the numbers and you see that it is the price that dissuaded people and not the game selection. Unless they also released some killer app at the same time as the price change, you are wrong that game selection was very important.

Look at it this way: were DSi sales crappy because of a weak launch lineup? (Which in that case would be downloadable titles and apps I guess.) No. it sold well because it was still in the sweet spot as far as price goes. The gimmick of the DSi was an after thought for consumers regardless if it was good or not. With the 3DS you had to think about if you really wanted the 3D function because the price was so damn high.

You said that I forgot games. I don't care about games and think they are irrelevant in this case. I see the price as the main inhibitor of sales. And according to the sales numbers, so do a lot of other people.


RE: Weak Lineup?!
By kvn7918 on 8/24/2011 6:41:16 PM , Rating: 2
Ok i'm pretty much saying that there is 2 reasons why it sold poorly at launch price and lack of games.Now that they adjusted the price sales are picking up and when they come out with more games sales will pick up even more.
Your understanding of the 3DS capabilities are way off.It is a new system with new hardware that can render at higher resolution than the DS,it's not a overclocked DS with 3D tacked on.And i think that's another reason and probably the main reason it sold poorly at that price,people just thought it was a DS with 3D and that's Nintendo s fault for not separating it from the DS.


RE: Weak Lineup?!
By The Raven on 8/25/2011 10:15:21 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
And i think that's another reason and probably the main reason it sold poorly at that price,people just thought it was a DS with 3D and that's Nintendo s fault for not separating it from the DS.
Wrong IMO. As an owner of 2 DS Lites, I picked up the 3DS at Target and BB, played Pilotwings and DOA. The graphics still looked like crap (which I don't care about) and I couldn't even stand the 3D feature for more than 2 minutes (though I think I like that thumb pad lol). The games were great, but I wasn't buying it at $250 for "processing power" or and a feature that I did not care to pay a premium for nor (as in my case) even will use.

The reason I have 2 DSs is because they were cheap and they were versatile. I wanted mine because of a Japanese dictionary and my wife wanted one so she could "pet" dogs with a stylus. Where is that added functionality/gameplay with features like "3D" or "added processing power"? Can Sonic run faster on a 3DS? Does Mario jump higher? No.

Again, the DS was never about visual performance. Nintendo focused on gameplay that appealed to a broad audience and that is why they "won" the first round vs. the PSP. Same with the Wii. And you can't appeal to a broad audience at $250 as is proven in the numbers.


RE: Weak Lineup?!
By someguy123 on 8/24/2011 7:03:32 PM , Rating: 2
Well, technically speaking the 3DS is a substantial jump in processing power from the DS. Developers worked around this and made some decent products with the sub n64 components, but it isn't nearly as powerful as the 3DS, which is slightly more powerful than the wii.

Clearly pricing is always an issue when it comes to mass market, but I think it is possible to introduce a premium handheld into the market IF you have software that justifies the price. The 3DS only had DS software backing it, and DS software is not up to 3DS's rendering capabilities, nor can they work with 3D, so while they did have quality software, it was more in support for purchasing a DSi/XL rather than a 3DS.


RE: Weak Lineup?!
By The Raven on 8/25/2011 9:50:41 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Well, technically speaking the 3DS is a substantial jump in processing power from the DS. Developers worked around this and made some decent products with the sub n64 components, but it isn't nearly as powerful as the 3DS, which is slightly more powerful than the wii.
So if that's what people want there is a thing called the PSP that BTW has "killer apps". The DS was never about processing power or stunning graphics (which doesn't even matter on a 4 in screen). And that is my point. At $180ish or lower, the DS of any flavor will sell like hotcakes. Raise the price higher than that and you are asking people to really think about if they want to drop that money on their 8 y/o. Dangerous territory. And yes, if it was a magical device that had games called "Straight 'A's Guaranteed" every kid in the world would have one at any price. But it doesn't and it is just a game in the end.
Look at PSP sales (good games included) vs. DS sales. Which do you think is more important? Games or price?

This is what I'm saying. Yes software is always a factor as is the size and weight, but the price issue is king here as is manifest by the numbers (both new and historical).

Want more proof, look at Wii sales and 360 sales after MS dropped the price to Wii levels.


RE: Weak Lineup?!
By someguy123 on 8/25/2011 6:01:42 PM , Rating: 2
Reading through the thread you made it pretty clear that your point was there was no difference, when there clearly is a hardware difference, and that there was available software, when the software is clearly DS related, and thus more supportive of DS purchases, which are already and will continue to be cheaper, which would make the claim that the 3DS has an anemic lineup perfectly justified.

At this point I don't think you had a legitimate point to begin with and just wanted to rant about the launch price. the 3DS launch price was in line with the DS pricing in terms of cost to nintendo. their current price point requires subsidizing, which they claim they've never done before with hardware.


RE: Weak Lineup?!
By The0ne on 8/24/2011 10:20:35 PM , Rating: 2
In your efforts to be right in your own sense you are forgetting the 3DS is a new system that is backward compatible. Since it is a new system consumers expect NEW games, even rehash, to be release when its is released. History has already shown that releasing a system without the games is just a no-no (See Sega).

Yea, you're right you can play older titles on it but that's not people who want to buy the new system want to use it for mainly. They want the new games as well.

You're both right, you're just wanting to see the other side of the business spectrum.


RE: Weak Lineup?!
By The Raven on 8/25/2011 11:11:57 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
In your efforts to be right in your own sense

How about in the sense of others...
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Nin...
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Nin...
Same month and the DS outsold (by blowout) the 3DS. That was the voice of millions of consumers saying that they want a "cheap" portable. You guys act like people stopped buying DSs.
quote:
History has already shown that releasing a system without the games is just a no-no (See Sega).
You mean like the Wii? Unless you consider Wii Sports to be a killer app. Sometimes there is no rhyme nor reason why a console lives or dies. But in this case the evidence is overwhelming that it is price.

Potential is another thing that people will buy consoles for sometimes. That is one reason I bought my DS Lite and it was why I bought a Wii. Neither lived up to the fullness of my expectations (yet) but I have no remorse luckily. As for the 3DS, there isn't any more potential for great games than there is for the DS. If enough people invest in the console, the games will come since publishers want the biggest piece of pie. See Wii sales.
quote:
Yea, you're right you can play older titles on it but that's not people who want to buy the new system want to use it for mainly. They want the new games as well.

These "backward compatible" games are as new as any 3DS game. They are still making DS games. So there are your new games.

Look at it this way. The 3DS is like the Kinect. Except there is no difference in gameplay. With the Kinect at least you gain motion control. There is a reason for buying it and you don't have to buy a new 360 to use it. Are there "awesome" Kinect games? From what I hear, no. But it sold like hotcakes.

Buying the 3DS is essentially like buying a Kinect that requires a new 360 but the only difference is that instead of motion control all you get is some hokey 3D effect. No thanks.
quote:
You're both right, you're just wanting to see the other side of the business spectrum.
Well it doesn't really matter to anyone unless Iwata (or some other future gaming mogul is reading this) but we can't both be right if we are arguing over why the 3DS tanked. I say the price was too high. And they are essentially saying that Nintendo should've tried to copy the PSP.

Speaking of which, I am looking forward to the new PSP and think it has quite a bit of potential and it would be a nice upgrade to my DS. But I am not the average consumer and will not project my personal preference onto the average consumer. I'm guessing it will sell similarly to the PSP. But what I am saying here is that all things being equal, it will not sell DS numbers unless it is at a sub $180ish price point.


RE: Weak Lineup?!
By someguy123 on 8/25/2011 6:07:03 PM , Rating: 2
You're ignoring the fact that you can simply buy a cheaper, and longer battery-life DS to play DS games.

I'm not sure why the idea that software exclusive to the 3DS would help boost sales is that outrageous to you. Microsoft's entire initial campaign for the 360 was exclusivity, which seems to have worked out very well for them.

People need a reason to buy the 3DS. A game for a cheaper handheld is not a good reason, regardless of backwards compatibility, especially when battery life is worse.


RE: Weak Lineup?!
By ShaolinSoccer on 8/24/2011 5:43:24 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Wiis are popular because they were cheap


That may be true but I didn't buy it because of the price. I bought it because my family has a great time playing it. That being said, I ended up buying a few single player games that blew my mind. Games like Resident Evil 4, Silent Hill Shattered Memories, Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, Okami and Zelda Twilight Princess. Those games become greatly enhanced using the Wii's controllers! It makes me glad I bought a Wii. It's truly innovative in my eyes.


RE: Weak Lineup?!
By The Raven on 8/25/2011 11:24:04 AM , Rating: 2
Yes, gameplay is always a factor but so is the family budget.
I'm not going to buy a piece of crap no matter how cheap it is. And on the other hand, I'm not buying a $5000 console even if it does my dishes for me because I can't afford it.

And this is my point, price of the system is key regardless of capability. And in this case Nintendo sold something without added capability (or very little) for a much higher price.


RE: Weak Lineup?!
By ShaolinSoccer on 8/25/2011 9:20:26 PM , Rating: 2
I see what you're saying. I wouldn't mind owning the 3DS to be honest. I also wouldn't mind owning the Sony Vita. But I can't really afford it at the moment so I'm going to wait for prices to go down. I'm also the kind of person that doesn't mind waiting a year or two for $50 games to come down majorly in price, lol. Especially if they are single player games.


RE: Weak Lineup?!
By Samus on 8/25/2011 12:31:11 AM , Rating: 2
I personally feel Ocarina of Time 3D is worth owning the system. They added some pretty awesome stuff to the game (hint movies, second mission ala Legend of Zelda, augmented-reality looking around, etc.)

The fact it is 3D is irrelevent, like it is for most of the games.


RE: Weak Lineup?!
By The Raven on 8/25/2011 11:28:14 AM , Rating: 2
I also enjoyed the games that I played on the 3DS (DOA and Pilotwings). But I sure as hell would rather just play them on my old DS Lite so I wouldn't have to buy a new console for $150 (with trade value) (in other words, double my investment for no reason).


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