Target drops Nintendo 3DS price to $170 today (get those 20 free games!)

by Alexander Sliwinski on Aug 10th 2011 8:58AM

Target has dropped the price of the Nintendo 3DS to $170, a response likely initiated by yesterday's opening shot from Walmart. A Target employee tells Joystiq, "There is a message board out to every store that the price changes are active today. Price changes must be activated by corporate."

Officially, the Nintendo 3DS drop is to occur on August 12, reducing the current $250 asking price by thirty percent. Nintendo still has its early adopter bonus going until August 11, meaning if you grab one of these reduced 3DS units, you're still good to get the 20 free downloadable games once you register.

Now, we wait and see if every other retailer jumps into the price cut pool before Walmart and Target siphon all the sales.

[Thanks, Natrino.]

Tags: 3DS, ds, nintendo, Target

Reader Comments (73)

I bought one yesterday. Pretty awesome little console.

If Target had a sponsored Flame "Target" Red 3DS, I would so buy another one.

http://dsmedia.ign.com/ds/image/article/118/1187033/flame-red-nintendo-3ds-coming-to-north-america-20110809063436314-000.jpg

@xiLeShadow

The purple one looks super hottt. It is my fav. color so far.
http://www.nintendo3dsinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/nintendo-3ds-color-purple.jpg

@xiLeShadow
A system is only as good as it's games (it's ORIGINAL games the DS thrived on it's original games rather than remakes and ports) and the 3DS is looking like the Game.com right now.

@Gmail Calendar Rep

They are coming.... this Holiday season is already seeing a good amount of games for the 3DS being released.

and early next year also has a good line-up.

@Gmail Calendar Rep

And they're coming. Its been 5 months, the DS didn't pick up for almost a year. As for what games are coming, here is a good starter list:

Rune Factory 4(2011 in Japan, track record for RF's localization is between 5 and 13 months)
Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracles(2011 in Japan, not sure how caught up Level 5 is with the series outside of Japan)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars(Launch title)
Super Mario 3D Land(November 2011)
Mario Kart 7(December 2011)
Kid Icarus Uprising(2011)
Beyond the Labyrinth(2011)
Paper Mario(2012)
Luigi's Mansion 2(Q1 2012)
Kingdom Hearts 3D(Expected early 2012)

Also, I know we enjoyed a wealth of great titles in the DS' life but go back and look at the beginning, there really wasn't much there. This is just typical of every console launch.

@Suichimo

Yea seriously. It is like people forget that consoles don't that many games, good ones, when they are launched and a little post-pone that.

Xbox 360 had a decent launch and was library dry until Holiday Season 2006.

Playstation 3? Took a long time to get a decent library. Now its pretty good.

Wii? Had the best launch library but was still dry.

PSP? Same thing...

Developers and Publishers aren't going to commit millions of development resources for a console that has recently launch. The units sold aren't worth it.

@xiLeShadow

don't have*

@xiLeShadow

Just because previous consoles may have had poor launch games doesn't mean that the 3DS gets a free pass. People are more upset with the price drop devaluing their purchase 4 months after launch. If it launched for $160 no one would really be complaining about the games. Know what I'm saying?

@Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell

Please. Most of the people that take up that refrain haven't bought it. Otherwise why buy it in the first place? The sales numbers in North America, which I'll make the reasonable assumption most of the posters here are from, support that. I'd go further and wager many will NEVER buy it, having already decided to find some reason to not like it. Which is certainly their prerogative, but not exactly a strong stance.

And if it's a truth for just about every console yet made why SHOULDN'T there be a pass? Or, from my view, why is it appropriate to judge it differently than every other console?

@houser

I bought it. Tired of the argument that says "if you are complaining about the price then you didn't buy one derp derp" ... I bought one at midnight at gamestop in fact and I was actually pretty banannas about the thing initially.

No one gets a free pass for a paltry launch lineup nor should they. With that said, it's been over 4 months and we still don't have anything new from Nintendo and nothing from 3rd parties. Combine that with the raping of early adopters and you have the powder keg that now exists which has led the 3DS to be a huge failure thus far. Did Nintendo actually think people were going to be happy about the price drop so long as they got 20 ancient games they probably wouldn't have bought anyway? Not only that but it's a double whammy because new purchasers also get the 20 free games and the price drop.

The whole thing stinks. Something as simple as a $50 e-shop credit for all existing owners and an open letter of apology would have made me a happy camper. Iwata dropping his salary in half was for shareholders not early adopters so I am really unimpressed with it. He goes from making 1.5 mil to 750K ... oh how will he ever survive?

@Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell

So when Vita comes out and it has a paltry line up for a few months you're going to bash it like crazy too? Right?

They gave the launch to third parties because they're always whining and bitching about how they can't compete with Nintendo's first party titles. You now see that their whining and bitching was absolutely hollow. They did nothing with this window that they were given. So, yes, there isn't much there right now. But Nintendo's games are just a few months away.

However, I wonder how many people have pointed out that the 3DS has, so far, done better than the original DS despite a much worse launch period, Spring compared to Holiday, and at a much higher price. I'm not sure I would call that a failure, or anything close to it. But hey, say something enough and it eventually becomes truth, right?

@Gmail Calendar Rep Every system takes a year to actually uptake, everything released in the first year of a system's lifetime are projects which were specifically planned to run on next-gen hardware and had been in development before launch.

The danger of the 3DS to Nintendo is that it doesn't attract enough buyers to justify moving projects over to the new system. In this case third-party support, traditionally strong on the DS, will simply evaporate. The PSP had a similar problem - developers didn't want to move projects over to a second handheld with lackluster sales, and they ran out of early adopters to sell it to. So it took a good three years, a bunch of software upgrades, and loads of extra functionality for the PSP to actually be considered as a serious handheld platform.

Oh and no, the PSP did not have a rough time because of piracy. That is a myth generated by platform fanboys who don't want to admit that they bought into a crappy platform. The PSP had a rough time because it was too expensive, just like what's going to happen to the 3DS. But if Nintendo's aggressive price cuts actually work, then we probably will see some more 3DS games sooner.

Still no english shops....

Goddamnit.

@Rob Liv
Actually...
http://mynintendonews.com/2011/08/10/nintendo-3ds-gamestop-selling-the-nintendo-3ds-for-134-97/

@Rob Liv

If you mean English as in England, I heard from a couple of buddies that ASDA dropped the price down as well in the UK.

Even.. more....tempting! Now I don't have to support Walmart and their slave wages.

I'm trying to save up for the R2 360, Nintendo. How dare you torture me!

@Shockwave
Watch the Penn and Teller's BS episode for Wal-Mart. Ain't no slave wages.

Still to expensive and the 3D doesn't impress me. Game prices have gotten too expensive for hand helds as well.

@Pipp

Yeah, paying $40 for anything less than a AAA First Party title is pretty much nuts at this point and I think publishers are starting to figure that out. The landscape for 3DS (and probably Vita) software is going to be pretty bleak compared to their predecessors.

@Pipp This is easily addressed with more bite size downloadable games. I'd much rather buy all my games digitally from here on out. I hate it when I want to play a game that's at home on the shelf instead of in my bag with my DS. More digital goodness please!

@Raquor

^What this guy said. It's true that currently the iPhone now a huge competitor to the DS and PSP (in fact it's already surpassed the PSP). However I blame that more on the fact that people like playing bite-sized mobile games.

The 3DS and Vita will level the playing field. Both have the ability to download games. IN fact I dare say the 3DS has an edge since Nintendo can milk it's legendary NES, SNES, and Gameboy catalog.

That being said, I totally agree with you Baby Sea Tuna. The only way I'm paying more than 20 dollars for a handheld game is if it's first party. Of course, there will be the rare exceptions (Kingdom Hearts, MGS, ect)

@NaeemTHM

How has only the PSP been surpassed by the iPhone in your logic? And how is it that Nintendo has an advantage when last I checked the Vita wasn't the first Playstation to be created? (ie: they have classic games for download as well)

@Shockwave

"how is it that Nintendo has an advantage when last I checked the Vita wasn't the first Playstation to be created?"

Whoa calm down there man. Just stating my opinion. I think downloadable NES, SNES games are going to be a huge hit for Nintendo.

"How has only the PSP been surpassed by the iPhone in your logic? "

I was referring to this article:

http://venturebeat.com/2010/09/10/apple-nintendo-mobile-gaming/

"40.1 million of the 77 million Americans playing games on mobile devices play them on the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad — nearly catching Nintendo’s 41 million gamers playing the DS and DSi and blowing well past Sony’s 18 million gamers on its Playstation Portable device"

@Pipp

I love 3D so much now that at this point I'm hoping everything eventually adopts it. I find it so much more immersive and enjoyable.

@NaeemTHM Playing angry birds on the toilet doesnt mean that the handheld market is drying up. Having a 99 cent throwaway game on your iphone is different from having pokemon on your ds. Dedicated handhelds have quality titles where phones have angry birds and fart sound apps.

@Raquor Another person who doesnt like to own their stuff. Thank you for paying into this plague knows as digital distribution. You types are the reason book stores are closing and the cd/pc aisle are slowly diminishing.

Welcome to the world of buying things you dont own.

It was inevitable once Wal-Mart jumped the gun. Target has to follow suit or it'll lose a ton of sales to the other guy.

If you actually buy the 3DS on the 11th can you still get the 20 free games or is today the cutoff date? I get paid on the 11th so..

@Matrixxxx

Yes, you should be able to. As far as I know, the program ends on the 12th.

@Matrixxxx Yeah you can still get the free games.

@DJshadow1
as long as you connect to the eShop by midnight

It's a trap! The discount and free games trick is working. This is still a handheld system that you will grow bored with in a weeks time. Although most of that week will be spent charging the device.

@ZForce915

You don't sound like you own a 3DS, otherwise you'd realize what an idiot you sound like. Price is the big issue here. There are enough games for it to be a supplemental system (as handhelds should be). If this was the only system you owned - Then yes, it's bleak. But between killer backlog of DS games (assuming this is your only system) and a couple of gems on the 3DS between now and Xmas, gaming is definitely not an issue.

And the battery life aint that bad. Just drop it on the cradle when you're not playing instead of in your hamper. Problem solved.

@Punkrawk Bbob

Yeah, I've never had a problem finding something to play on my 3DS, my only real beef was with the fact except for a couple of Zelda games, there's no reason I couldn't have had just as much fun playing my DS or DSiXL. However, this slate of downloadable games (as well as Starfox and, maybe, Mario Kart) will have cemented my purchase as a good idea.

I mean, I've had it for >5 months and I've probably already logged more hours on it than I ever did on either of my PSPs.

@baby sea tuna

With the exception of Dissidia Final Fantasy, I'd agree. I have some 200+ hours on that. With 3DS exclusive titles (no DS cards) I'm at about 60 hours played between Zelda, Pilotwings, and AR games. Really wish Devil Summoner didn't get pushed =(

Will the 2GB card that comes with it enough for 20games?

@Wizardsofwaverly

GBA and NES titles? Easily. Even with the largest games on each system, I doubt it'd take more than 30 MB.

@Wizardsofwaverly

I used to fit 4-6 NES games on a 1.4mb floppy disk back in 99 when I was way into NESticle. 2gb is plenty of space. Even if not, an 16 gb SD card = $25 on Newegg. Problem solved.

I'll agree that the games are expensive, but I don't think the 3DS itself is too expensive now. Its only $20 more than the DS at its launch and Nintendo is now losing money on every system sold.

@Suichimo

Darn you Joystiq comments. This was directed at Pipp above.

Got one yesterday it is a nice little handheld

@Twiztdclwn4life I agree, I was pretty impressed with the system as well when I first picked it up, more to it than people let up. Not a whole lotta games that are must have, but if you are patient, you will be rewarded, just like with the original DS.

It's because of these sales that I'm now having the early adopters remorse since now everyone can get those 20 free games AND save $80. Oh well, I spent my money and knew what risks I was taking.

Urgh, if I knew Walmart and Target would've done this I would've just bought it from them instead of Ebay.

Now I really hope it arrives by Thursday so I can claim the 20 free games...

I picked mine up when Zelda released. Worth it to me since I've never played OoT and I'm looking forward to Kid Icarus.

The price drop stung a little but I'm interested in the list of free games so meh. These early sales are more stinging though since you bastards will get the low price AND the free games.

@Raquor

"These early sales are more stinging though since you bastards will get the low price AND the free games. "
...but you just said the games are 'meh' to you...? Why would you care then? I'm really surprised that Metroid Fusion, Legend of Zelda, and Mario Bros. Advanced are meh to you though. Those are some of the best GBA games you could get. Just drop in like Advanced Wars and really there's no reason to miss your GBA.

@Punkrawk Bbob Read more closely...that isn't what he meant at all.

@Punkrawk Bbob

Did Nintendo release a list of the games yet?

@jph89

We've got 5 announced for each of them so far.

NES:
Super Mario Bros.
Donkey Kong Jr.
Balloon Fight
Ice Climber
The Legend of Zelda

GBA:
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Metroid Fusion
Warioware, Inc.: Mega Microgame$
Mario vs. Donkey Kong

The rest are going to be announced late. Here is hoping for Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 4 and the Golden Suns.

@Suichimo

I literally put down my money on a 3DS on the 1% chance we'll see a multiplayer-enhanced port of Kirby and the Amazing Mirror.

| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 50 Comments

Target drops Nintendo 3DS price to $170 today (get those 20 free games!)

Reader Comments (73)

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:04AM xiLeShadow said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:12AM xiLeShadow said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:13AM Gmail Calendar Rep said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:20AM xiLeShadow said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:59AM Suichimo said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:18AM xiLeShadow said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:18AM xiLeShadow said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 1:19PM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 2:58PM houser said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 3:44PM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 4:01PM Suichimo said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 7:09PM kmeisthax said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:07AM Rob Liv said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:13AM Alex Trebek said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:13AM xiLeShadow said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:21AM Shockwave said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 1:58PM SushiGummy said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:21AM Pipp said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:27AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:16AM Raquor said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:27AM NaeemTHM said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:50AM Shockwave said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 11:21AM NaeemTHM said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 11:24AM ItsameMatt03 said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 3:03PM SuperAnthony64 said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 3:13PM SuperAnthony64 said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:22AM TRTX said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:33AM Matrixxxx said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:00AM Suichimo said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:01AM DJshadow1 said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 11:14AM Super Nintendo Chalmers said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:59AM ZForce915 said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:22AM Punkrawk Bbob said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:42AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Aug 12th 2011 10:23PM Punkrawk Bbob said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:00AM Wizardsofwaverly said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:02AM Suichimo said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:24AM Punkrawk Bbob said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:05AM Suichimo said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:05AM Suichimo said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:07AM Twiztdclwn4life said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:14AM Ryguy226 said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:10AM Ryguy226 said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:17AM YanDaMan said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:19AM Raquor said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:27AM Punkrawk Bbob said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:31AM SimonBelmont said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:44AM jph89 said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 11:11AM Suichimo said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 1:08PM Acosta02 said

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