3DS price compared to other portable launches

@The Joy of Cooking DeMat



Now this is really a way to think positive right?? i´m going to pay exactly the same that i paid for the LYNX??? not to offend anybody at joystick but back THEN, i thought exactly the same that i´m thinking right now of paying 250 dollars, price adjusted or not. Well i have a better idea..... wait until the whole 3d heat fades, and when the 3DSI XXL LITE PLUS appears i´ll pay for it exactly the same that i paid for the NDS XXL.

@Aquaryon

I was confused by that as well. There's no way that's right.

@Aquaryon: Joystiq obviously gets their must-have handhelds out the backs of vans.

@Aquaryon

I remember buying a Neo Geo Pocket Color for $70 a couple months before the GBA debut. I wish the NGPC had better software and marketing because it had superior hardware.

@Aquaryon

It was...but not at launch. More like at the end of its cycle.

So that number lies a bit.

@ShadowXIII

Ahh that makes more sense! I remember buying a GBA with my very first pay check! I was so excited but $90 seemed way too low.

@ShadowXIII
No, I remember paying $90 for a GBA right after it came out. And then I never used it :( I was just a kid with some birthday money and a hole in my pocket..

@Aquaryon

I payed £90 for it, so for the UK that's about right (though currency conversion in not taken into account)

I remember dropping a little over $100 for it, when it came out.

@Foetoid

There's a pattern on that list. Almost every handheld that came out at the $250 and above price bombed terribly. The only exception is the PSP.

@fohf

There's a pattern on that list. Almost every handheld that came out with "Nintendo" in the name sold incredibly well. The only exception is the Virtual Boy. :-)

If the PSP succeeded at 250, what makes you think 3DS won't?

@The Joy of Cooking DeMat

because the PSP didn't really succeed

@The Joy of Cooking DeMat the PSP didn't sell that great in the US, just saying

@aReEeNeN
I feel like the Virtual Boy is the most condemning thing on that list!
A gimmicky hand-held priced significantly higher than the straight-forward popular system?

@MRB1G

I'd like you to define success. I would consider the PSP system a success. I sadly can't say the same for sales of its game library.

@MRB1G I'll say this to nicely: Everyone wanted PSP Go, but whoever bought one had to re-download games they had on UMDs for full price. People weren't happy with this, & Sony responded with some sort of UMD to GO transfer, but most people ignored it, example, PSP Go is very popular in Japan ( why not? ) , but it seems that noone buys any games for it.... an unused handheld.. :(

@kcswanko
Compared to the other systems over $250 in this list, yes, it did.

@The Joy of Cooking DeMat

Compared to how it was hyped as an iPod Killer and next Walkman, or let alone in regards to the DS being written off as an also ran in comparison...yeah it kinda did.

@Xeno378
Good technology
Nice Looking System
Great Potential

however...

A good but limited game library
No clear direction as to whether it was a portable ps2/3, music player etc.
Innovation wasn't its strongest point

BUT the NGP is looking to fix at least two of those :-)

@MrAhh

Think about all those people that buy an iPod touch... which has no real gaming buttons and no 3D.

@Kamalot Yes, but people are USED to paying ridiculous amounts to have an Apple logo slapped on a device that should cost half.

@Kamalot you mean for kids or just in general? for kids...they are dumb as hell...

@Kamalot

Anytime you have to compare the price of a product to an Apple product, you've lost.

@Kamalot But an iPod Touch does a lot more. I know parents who buy that with the mentality that it's just satisfied the need for music, internet, videos, apps to keep the kid busy and games, which are much cheaper than dedicated portable systems. It's worth the investment because it does so much. A dedicated gaming system with $40ish games is a bit different.

@Kamalot As I said for a CHILD. How many brothers and sisters each have their own DS/DSi/DSi XL? Too many, how are the PARENTS going to replace each of them at $250 piece.

@Kamalot

The iPod Touch isn't marketed as a gaming device. It's basically a personal computer in your pocket. I think a $250 iPhone or iPod touch is a better value than a $250 psp or 3ds. But, if you are buying specifically for gaming then it's not even a debate. I don't really use my psp or ds lite that much at all anymore because of my iPhone. There are some games out that rival good ds & psp titles but comparatively they are few and far between. So I have a few "epic" big scope titles but mostly pick up & play games I can play for 5-10 min.

@R Planateer

The old adage is you get what you pay for. IMO and from personal experience, Apple products are worth their weight in gold. It's not like MS products are cheap. Look at the cost of a office suite software license or a stand alone OS.

@Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell Apple alwayscompares the iPhone/Touch to the PSP and DS during press conferences while advertising that they have and sell more games and all that other bullshit that means nothing to anybody that pays attention to games.

@Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell
Not sure if that comparison quite shakes out. Office suite is really for business use, as in something you use to earn money with, and an OS is pretty key to being able to use a computer at all (sure, there's Linux, but opensource is a lot cheaper to develop).

So in both cases they justify a high price, whereas an iPhone or Ipod Touch... well, the market demand is certainly there to justify it, and they are nifty but "worth their weight in gold" seems a bit hyperbolic.

I love the $100 pair of jeans I'm wearing right now, but I wouldn't compare them to a software license of Autodesk Maya

@Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anlWd3-Rde4

it isnt?

@MrAhh

and most of these are children whose parents bought them a DS, then a DS lite, then a DSi, and finally ditched that for a DSi XL. They are going to look at this and say oh well, I have done it umteen times before. These parents buy their children ridiculous items for birthdays or christmas or some wondrous occasion so it is somehow justified.

Once my dad bought me and my brother a gameboy sp for MY birthday.
I was like are you serious dad? this is MY birthday. But it was extremely cool, and I felt awful.

Also, is anyone really surprised with this price?

@Kamalot Apple products may be overpriced, but so are mp3 players in general. I just got an iPod Touch. I was going to go for the Zune until I realized it was the same price and doesn't do as much (not that it's not capable, but no one's developing for it).

@Al2x When I bought it at 5am on launch day it was $279 at both EB Games and GameStop.

@billysea

^ This ^

@billysea

Yeah but the PSP didn't do well. It never attracted the kid market which is a majority of portable gaming. Portable gamers are mostly kids. The adult portable market is very small and mostly going to phones now.

@FriedConsole

Actually the PSP stomped all over the DS in terms of sales in the first few quarters

@FriedConsole

.............................. portable gaming is not mostly kids. It is for the PSP believe it or not. The whole 14-21 market. Nintendo handheld core fans grew up with the Gameboy. I'd say there are a much higher per capita number of adults who own a Nintendo handheld. Kids don't play kids games - outside of obvious mainstream stuff. Adults love what you'd consider "childish" games. I know when I buy a Nintendo handheld I'm looking to recapture my youth! Nostalgia drives a huge margin of handheld sales. I didn't see one kid or mother waiting to buy a Wii or DS at launch. Though when I was waiting for the PSP it was possibly worse than camping out for a Madden game - the most obnoxious spoiled little brats you'll ever meet.

Boys wanna play grownup stuff. Men wanna nostalgia their balls off. Though I'd say Sony did capture a new audience with the PSP - the frat boys.

I dunno about you but once I started paying my own bills handheld gaming was very appealing. Cheap, no BS and can play when I'm on break or on the can and never have to worry about charging the thing every night.

I am pretty pissed about the 3DS battery life though. Nintendo really dropped the ball there, before the 3DS a gamer could always count on several things with Nintendo handhelds. Battery life, durability (no moving parts), fast boot up (flash carts), and the largest library of games on the planet. The first has been removed, which was a huge selling point for me.

@FriedConsole

I completely disagree with your statement. A quick search found the PSP had 62 million sales as of Sept 2010. Hardly something that "didn't do well". I also would not say that the adult portable market is small and mostly on mobile devices. I have many adult friends who own the PSP and/or some iteration of the DS. There is nothing available on mobile devices that compares to games like MGS: Peace Walker, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, or Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core (my personal fav). When you are pulling statements from your arse, make sure to preface them with "In my experience" or "IMHO".

@FriedConsole
PSP losing to the DS was not really a price issue in the beginning. It was the lack of interesting software.

The DS was losing a lot of ground to the PSP until the stream of mainstream and innovative software such as Nintendogs, Mario Kart, Kirby Canvas Curse, Meteos, Brain Age, Trauma Center, Phoenix Wright….all came within less than 6 months, along with the refresh to the sexier DS Lite. Many of those games generated a lot of talk among hardcore and casual crowds, and the touch screen offer a lot of games we never experienced before.

On the other hand, the PSP was stuck with console ports or console game experience, which offer things that people have already seen before.

Since then, the price of each DS iteration have been upped and it was still selling crazy. The DSi price is even higher than the PSP price now.

@Anticrawl "Men wanna nostalgia their balls off."

lol