Why Nintendo cut the price of the 3DS
3,699The Nintendo Switch 2's high price has somewhat shocked and outraged players and fans. But this isn't the first time that Nintendo's consoles have faced backlash due to their price point.
In 2011, when Nintendo launched the 3DS, the $250 price was met with lukewarm reactions. 5 months later, Nintendo was forced to reduce the price by almost a third. Here's the story of what happened, and why Nintendo had to choice but to reduce the price of their game console.
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SOURCES
https://web.archive.org/web/20110107040747/http://www.wiinintendo.net/2010/09/28/nintendo-conference-2010-coverage-3ds-japanese-launch-details-revealed-at-1-am-est-tonight/ Japan 3DS conference blog
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/jan/19/nintendo-3d-console-launch The Guardian price writeup
https://www.eurogamer.net/3ds-price-due-to-e3-reveal-reaction 3DS high price was due to positive reaction at E3 2010 says Iwata
• メガネなしで3D映像 新型ゲーム機に1000人の行列（11/02/26） 3DS Japanese launch news story
• Buy Nintendo 3DS ニンテンドー3DSを発売日に買う Footage of Japanese launch day
https://www.bloomberg.co.jp/news/articles/2011-01-20/LF9IER1A1I4H01 3DS rocket start, sales goal of 4 million
https://web.archive.org/web/20110310185958/https://www.pcworld.com/article/220875/nintendo_3ds_sells_400000_in_japan_already_r4_hacked.html 400,000 units sold in Japan in 2 days
https://web.archive.org/web/20140518032433/https://www.wired.com/2011/04/nintendo-3ds-sales/ “Nintendo Didn’t Expect 3DS Sales to Drop Like This”
https://www.nintendojo.com/features/round-tables/round-table-3ds-price-drop-reactions Reactions to price drop from current owners
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/nintendo-posts-q1-net-loss-cuts-outlook-2011-07-28 Nintendo 2011 financial loss
https://www.theverge.com/2011/07/28/535421/nintendo-slashes-3ds-price-expected-sales 710,000 3DSes sold, price drop
https://www.ign.com/articles/2011/07/28/3ds-price-cut-analysts-respond Pressure from retailers
https://kotaku.com/nintendo-president-takes-blame-for-3ds-getting-50-perc-5825872 Iwata salary cut
https://techcrunch.com/2011/07/29/nintendo-boss-takes-the-blame-for-3ds-sales-cuts-his-paycheck-in-half/ Further info on salary cut
https://techcrunch.com/2011/08/04/debaser-satoru-iwata-apologizes-for-the-3ds-price-drop/ Iwata apologises for price cut
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/after-big-quarterly-loss-nintendo-slashes-3ds-price
• NINTENDO 3DS SALES SKYROCKET! 3DS sales increase after price cut
https://www.theregister.com/2011/07/30/nintendo_make_a_loss_on_every_console_sold/ Nintendo making a loss on each 3DS
https://www.geekwire.com/2020/nintendo-3ds-2011-2020-strange-life-quiet-death-potential-end-mobile-gaming-dynasty/ Nintendo discontinuing 3DS in Sept 2020
https://www.statista.com/statistics/262074/worldwide-sales-of-the-nintendo-3ds-since-2004/ 3DS sales year by year
https://www.digitalspy.com/videogames/wii-u/a348113/wii-u-learned-a-bitter-lesson-from-3ds-launch-says-nintendo/ “We learned a bitter lesson with the launch of the Nintendo 3DS” - Iwata
MUSIC
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CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
1:10 2010
2:57 January 2011
4:27 February 2011
4:53 March 2011
6:34 April 2011
7:41 May 2011
8:19 June 2011
9:14 July 2011
13:37 August 2011