Nintendo 3DS business/general talk *spin-off feat. 3DS as a P.I. in New Orleans

[AlphaWolf]

Has there been any updates on sales?

Initially after the price cut, there was reportedly a spike but has the increase been sustained?

Have any big games been released yet to help hardware sales or is that going to be over the next 2 months?

there's the NPD numbers

June: 143k
July: Less than 114k
August: 235k (price cut on the 12th, although there were promos leading into the official cut)
Sept: 260k

I have no idea about any titles or anything, but I guess Oct NPD will give you an idea if the price cut has any momentum. It should be interesting to see how it fairs over the holiday where the DS often moved millions in the past.

 

[Mendel]

Mario land 3ds is getting pretty good reviews. Could it be a killer app or is Mario too tired a franchise nowadays?

 

[wco81]

It'll have a good holiday along with titles like Mario.

But tens of millions of smart phones and tablets will be sold during the same time frame, much of it to people who might have bought a 3DS 5 years ago.

 

[sfried]

Mario land 3ds is getting pretty good reviews. Could it be a killer app or is Mario too tired a franchise nowadays?

I just got it. It's pretty killer, surprisingly. (Starts out deceptively simple yet addictive, then you get to a certain point and it's all out hardcore platforming.) Not only best use of 3D, but best execution of 3D (since camera stays relatively focused on Mario).

Mario Kart 7 is sure to sell a lot. The multiplayer modes alone look enticing.

 

[patsu]

3DS About to Cross Three Million Mark, Mario Kart Sells 420,000 Units
http://andriasang.com/comz7n/3ds_sales/

3DS will soon cross the three million sales mark, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata told Nikkei in an interview yesterday. This will be two weeks ahead of the DS.

Iwata told the paper that the 3DS has regained its vigor following the August price drop and release of major titles. He also explained the phenomenon of high hardware sales and low software sales that we saw in October, saying that players were preparing for the release of upcoming titles.

Nintendo expects the system to reach the four million mark before its one year anniversary, Iwata said.

Iwata also gave an indication of how well Mario Kart is performing. Released on December 1, the game sold around 420,000 units in its first week. This is around double that of the DS version.

...

In North America and Europe, the holiday sales rush started about two weeks later than usual, Iwata believes.

...

He also noted that the Mario titles are off to a better start internationally compared to Japan.

...

 

[wco81]

When did they have to cut prices on the DS?

 

[Turtletwig]

When did they have to cut prices on the DS?

If you meant the 3DS, it's because the sales of the 3DS was stagnating, and it wasn't looking good for Nintendo. Looking back, I think the price cut was in the right moment.

 

[wco81]

No I meant when did the DS first get its price cut? Probably not within the first year as the 3DS has had to?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

DS launched at $150, and dropped to $130 a year later. I'm sure if DS launched at $250 like 3DS it wouldn't have struggled perhaps to the point Nintendo had to do a similar emergency price drop.

 

[patsu]

PSA: 3DS firmware update is live
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/12/06/psa-3ds-firmware-update-is-live/

I just updated my 3DS, and other users are reporting that they've been asked to do so as well. This is the delayed "November update" meant to add DLC capabilities, 3D video recording, and more.

Looking around my system, I see a new "Nintendo Zone" app for interfacing with "participating locations," to receive special content from certain free wi-fi hotspots. The "3DS Camera" app now has a toggle for video or stills, and -- most unexpected of all -- there are new "accomplishments" (achievements, kind of) in the StreetPass Mii Plaza. A few popped up immediately upon starting the app (above). You can see them all in a list within the Mii Plaza. I have 20 total (!) relating to the number and location of the people I've met.

Other new stuff in the StreetPass Mii Plaza includes a music player for Mii Plaza music, new Find Mii stuff (Find Mii 2 game and lots of new hats, accessible only to those who have all the hats from the first game), new Puzzle Swap puzzles, and even some kind of new SpotPass connectivity, to bring Miis into your Plaza from the internet.

...

 

[patsu]

Nintendo, Boingo bring free airport WiFi to 3DS, commuter rage to slightly dip
http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/09/nintendo-boingo-bring-free-airport-wifi-to-3ds-commuter-rage-t/

if you've got Nintendo's latest portable handy, you'll at least have a free internet connection to latch onto, courtesy of Boingo. The company's recently announced an agreement with the Big N to make its service free of charge to users across 42 of our nation's airports. You'll be able to take advantage of the gratis goods once your console receives a scheduled firmware update, due to roll out today.

 

[patsu]

3DS Slide Pad Expansion: 480 Hours of Play on One Battery
http://andriasang.com/comz90/slide_pad_480_hours/

Someone who got the peripheral in advance of its December 10 release date, and was so anxious for dual analogue controls that he tore the box open, says that the manual promises 480 hours of play time off one AAA battery.

...

 

[Deleted member 13524]

3DS Slide Pad Expansion: 480 Hours of Play on One Battery
http://andriasang.com/comz90/slide_pad_480_hours/

Not only I find it a bit too awful, I'm also disappointed with the fact that the expansion doesn't work as a secondary battery for the 3DS that charges the main one (like the Nyko's Power Pack +), rather than something that'll suck its own power.

Nintendo's hardware department can't seem to score a positive goal anywhere, lately.

 

[patsu]

Nintendo 3DS GBA Ambassador line-up revealed internationally
http://www.shacknews.com/article/71568/nintendo-3ds-gba-ambassador-line-up

On top of the ten NES games for early adopters, ten Game Boy Advance titles are en route.

Europe and Japan have revealed their games, and the US lineup is likely to be the same. The five additions to the line-up run the gamut of Nintendo franchises: Wario Land 4, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap, and F-Zero: Maximum Velocity.


Those are on top of the five GBA games mentioned in the initial announcement: 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 in Europe and Japan on Friday. Nintendo of America has yet to confirm if these selections will also be available at that time.

 

[Sigfried1977]

Nice. I always wanted to play The Minish Cap.

Still, once I'm done with Resident Evil Revelations I'll probably just sell the damn thing. Should soften the Vita's blow on my wallet quite a bit.

I also wouldn't be surprised if the Vita gets Revelations at a later date. This is Capcom after all, and the game should transition fairly well too.

 

[Jedi2016]

The Ambassador GBA games are up on the North American store, but it looks like the servers are getting hammered. I tried to download F-zero and it just errored out. I'll try again in a week or so.

 

[Teasy]

3DS sold 350,321 last week in Japan (773,422 for the month) and 795,000 last month in the US.

 

[patsu]

Monster Hunter 3G Tops One Million Shipments
http://andriasang.com/comzfy/monhan3g_shipments/

Capcom announced today that Monster Hunter 3G has topped the one million shipment mark.

The game was released on December 10 and sold 471,055 in its first week (according to Media Create statistics). 3DS also benefited from the game's release, selling 378,114 that week, the system's highest one week total ever.

 

[patsu]

Fix Your Zelda Save File with the Zelda Data Restoration Channel
http://andriasang.com/comzfs/zelda_restore_channel/

Nintendo said last week that it would be providing Skyward Sword players with a downloadable program for fixing their save file in case they'd encountered a particular bug that rendered it impossible to progress further in the game. The program became available for download today in the form of the "Zelda Data Restoration Channel."

Free 3DS Spot Pass Diary Program Available Today
http://andriasang.com/comzfq/3ds_diary/

...

Nintendo released Itsu no Ma ni Koukan Nikki (lit, "Spot Pass Exchange Diary") today (12/21). You can download it for free.

Spot Pass Diary is a communication tool for writing and exchanging journal entries with friends. You're free to use the program on its own just to write and store journal entries, or you can enable the system's Spot Pass and Street Pass wireless functionality to transfer entries to others.

The system uses your 3DS friend list to send out your journal entries. You can select to send to individual friends, or you can have the program do a mass send to all your friends.

...

 

[patsu]

Screenshots of Nintendo's free 3DS messaging app:
http://andriasang.com/comzga/swap_note_screens/