As most anyone with a basic knowledge of the current video game market will tell you, the 3DS is a bit of a flop. It really has nothing to do with the technology behind the system, but more so to the fact that there aren’t really any good games for it. Nintendo deflected the first barage of comments to that effect in the beginning. However when they realized that there was no end in site to the nay-sayers, they caved.
Last week Satoru Iwata basically published an open letter to the Nintendo faithful as well as the shareholders. In short he apologized for the lack luster showing that the 3DS was having. This alone is a giant step for a head of a major Japanese corporation. Here in America CEO’s mess up and just say sorry with out thinking about it. In Japan, a country still very deep in honor and personal pride, this means he looses face but it also means he KNOWS things were messed up. Not only did he apologize but he took a self imposed cut to his salary. Great steps in saying “hey, we messed up. We’re sorry, and we will take steps to make it better with the people that got us to where we are.”
Unpresedented in Nintendo hardware history, the 3DS will get a giant price cut next week. If that weren’t enough, Nintendo also unveiled it’s “Ambassador” program for early adopters of the 3DS. Basically it means that if you have a 3DS already you will get access to games before purchaseors of the newly discounted system. As well as getting access to games that will NEVER (according to the press release) become available to late adopters. The Press release in it’s entirety below spells out all the details. The biggest point to take away from this is that Nintendo is trying to mend the situation and is actually offering some quality games in the hopes you will stay with them.
An exciting message for people who own a Nintendo 3DS and those who want to: Nintendo of America today announced plans to drop the suggested retail price of its portable Nintendo 3DS™ system to $169.99 in the United States. The new price takes effect Aug. 12 and makes an outstanding value even better. Building on the popularity of The Legend of Zelda™: Ocarina of Time™ 3D, which launched June 19, the upcoming game calendar for Nintendo 3DS is a Who’s Who of iconic video game franchises. Star Fox 64™ 3D arrives on Sept. 9, followed by Super Mario™ 3D Land in November, Mario Kart™ 7 in December and Kid Icarus™: Uprising during the holiday season. And don’t forget that Nintendo 3DS has a bunch of fun features, including Nintendo Video™, the Nintendo eShop and access to Netflix, that make it a must-have video game system. But what about the 830,000 of you who already own a Nintendo 3DS? You’re some of Nintendo’s most loyal customers, and we’re rewarding you for getting in on the action early with not one, not 10, but 20 free downloadable games from the Nintendo eShop! Here’s how it works: The 20 free games are available to anyone who owns a Nintendo 3DS system and uses a wireless broadband Internet signal to connect to the Nintendo eShop at least once before 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Aug. 11. These users will automatically be registered in the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador program. The program contains two elements: 1. Starting Sept. 1, Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors will be able to download 10 NES™ Virtual Console™ games at no charge and before they are available in the Nintendo eShop to the general public. These games, including Super Mario Bros.™, Donkey Kong Jr.™, Balloon Fight™, Ice Climber™ and The Legend of Zelda™, are slated to become paid downloadable games, but Ambassadors get them early for free. Once the paid versions of the games are posted to the Nintendo eShop later in the year, the updated versions will be available to Ambassadors for download at no cost. 2. By the end of 2011, Nintendo will provide Ambassadors with 10 Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games. These include games like Yoshi’s Island™: Super Mario™ Advance 3, Mario Kart™: Super Circuit, Metroid™ Fusion, WarioWare™, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ and Mario vs. Donkey Kong™. These games will be available exclusively to Ambassadors, and Nintendo currently has no plans to make these 10 games available to the general public on the Nintendo 3DS in the future. More details about this program will be announced in the future. It’s a great time to own a Nintendo 3DS!
Take all that how you like. Nintendo has never really been one to deliver on time most of their games. However, given the fact they are trying to keep people from fleeing their clutches, this may be the one time they swoop in just in time.
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