Nintendo DS pricing, launch date and software.

[j^aws]

Retail reports indicate Nintendo DS pricing, launch date, software
Rob Fahey 16:18 14/07/2004

November 4th, 19,000 Yen (140 Euro), with five to six launch titles and 11 by 2005

Unconfirmed reports from Japanese retail sources suggest that Nintendo is planning to roll out the DS handheld on November 4th priced at 19,000 Yen (140 Euro), followed by a US launch on November 11th at $179.95 (145 Euro).

The same sources indicate that the Japanese launch of the handheld will be accompanied by five to six software titles, with Nintendo aiming to have 11 titles on the market by the end of 2004.

Nintendo reportedly aims to sell three million units of the Nintendo DS worldwide by the end of fiscal 2005 next March - a period which should encompass both the Japanese and US launches before Christmas, and the European launch in early 2005.

While these figures certainly seem plausible, it should be noted that Nintendo has issued no official confirmation of the launch date, price or software support for the Nintendo DS as yet; in fact, we're still not even sure what the DS will be called at retail, since Nintendo DS is still officially a codename, not a final product name.

The retail prices suggested in this report would almost certainly make the NDS significantly cheaper than the PlayStation Portable, which is expected to cost well over 30,000 Yen (220 Euro) when it arrives in Japan later this year, ahead of a US and European launch in 2005.

Earlier this week, a Nintendo spokesperson criticised the PSP in an interview with Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, arguing that the handheld could not be classified as a true video game system because of its integration of music and movie playback functions.

Source

The gloves are coming off one by one...

 

[hey69]

i bet the DS will cost minimum 179euro tax included when it is launched here in europe. heck the gbasp is still 139euro everywhere

 

[thop]

good price, gba sp is 99€ here everywhere.

 

[cthellis42]

Already had some pricing conjecture in this thread which makes one wonder... They're usually off and "auto-updating" on release days, but do they usually list prices until they have something to go by?

At any rate, it'll be interesting to see how the retailers shift their order statuses between now and when Nintendo delivers an official price. It looks like they're aiming higher than people have expected so far, though.

 

[wazoo]

sp is 129E in europe.

so a 50E pricetag for twice the screens + touchscreen + wifi + higher clocked first procesor + 2nd faster processor ??

They will not lower the SP price untel GBA sales slow down which is not soon.

They will not put DS at SP price if they stick to their 20M GBA sales projection. They do not plan to replace SP by DS so fast.

 

[evil]

Eh, the DS isn't a replacement for the SP either way ;p

 

[Farid]

so a 50E pricetag for twice the screens + touchscreen + wifi + higher clocked first procesor + 2nd faster processor ??

Five years Later. BTW the GBA have never been an "impressive piece of hardware"

They will not lower the SP price untel GBA sales slow down which is not soon.

Didn't they started (planned?) stoping delivering GBA (classic) in some part of the world?

 

[cybamerc]

Vysez:

> Five years Later.

3.5... or ~1.5 after the SP.

 

[cthellis42]

It's Spong, but even they can't mess up exact quoting like this, can they?

Yukihito Morikawa on DS game pricing and beyond.

Muumuu president Yukihito Morikawa has seemingly let slip Nintendo?s projected pricing of its DS software in a recent entry on the developer?s company website.

Morikawa-san claims that Nintendo will offer the games at Japanese retail for 3,800 yen - under £19 ? a price he feels will be too high given the kind of software he hints is at the forefront of most developers? minds.

...

 

[jvd]

I was told that the sp will drop to 79.99 usd after this xmass .

I guess if true they feel the ds will be largely sold out and people will still buy the sp at the current price

 

[wazoo]

It's Spong, but even they can't mess up exact quoting like this, can they?

Yukihito Morikawa on DS game pricing and beyond.

Muumuu president Yukihito Morikawa has seemingly let slip Nintendo?s projected pricing of its DS software in a recent entry on the developer?s company website.

Morikawa-san claims that Nintendo will offer the games at Japanese retail for 3,800 yen - under £19 ? a price he feels will be too high given the kind of software he hints is at the forefront of most developers? minds.

...

Wat is Muummuu Software ?? It seems at every console launch, we got some unknown developpers we'll not hear about it after that. Who cares if that guys has no gameplay ideas worth a full game.

 

[Guden Oden]

I hope the DS gets a more square-y design before it launches, the rounded corners on everything looks asstastic. The overall look is quite retro and reminds me of the old Game&Watch thingies - which is good - but the corners still kill it overall IMO.

 

[cthellis42]

Wat is Muummuu Software ?? It seems at every console launch, we got some unknown developpers we'll not hear about it after that. Who cares if that guys has no gameplay ideas worth a full game.

As if it matters overly? We're always in the habit of collecting quotes. Besides, more people are interested in the "price" bit than what the guy has to say otherwise. Anything else will pan out over time and have a lot more developers comments to throw into the mix as well.

At any rate, they don't seem to have a huge repertoire, and would be best known by us for Jumping Flash 1 & 2 and most recently Kuma Uta. Mainly stylish and zany games, or so it seems.

 

[wazoo]

[
We're always in the habit of collecting quotes. Besides, more people are interested in the "price" bit than what the guy has to say otherwise.

I think this guy was dreaming about Nintendo pushing "simple games". Maybe he was thinking, DS would be the home of 5$ game ?? For Nintendo "simple" refers to the interface and not the game complexity or length. So games will priced at GBA (or higher) level like the GBA superceeded the GBC.

 

[Tysan]

The retail prices suggested in this report would almost certainly make the NDS significantly cheaper than the PlayStation Portable, which is expected to cost well over 30,000 Yen (220 Euro) when it arrives in Japan later this year, ahead of a US and European launch in 2005.

I highly doubt PSP will be released under 300 €, with two high performance chips, 32 Mb Ram, disc unit and 16:9 hi-res lcd is difficoult to think it can be priced at 220€, today high quality mobile phones are quite more expensive and they carry a lot less tech...

 

[London Geezer]

The retail prices suggested in this report would almost certainly make the NDS significantly cheaper than the PlayStation Portable, which is expected to cost well over 30,000 Yen (220 Euro) when it arrives in Japan later this year, ahead of a US and European launch in 2005.

I highly doubt PSP will be released under 300 €, with two high performance chips, 32 Mb Ram, disc unit and 16:9 hi-res lcd is difficoult to think it can be priced at 220€, today high quality mobile phones are quite more expensive and they carry a lot less tech...

Well yeah is that because most of today's mobile phones make a big fat profit to the manufacturers, or for other reasons? PSP doesn't have to turn profitable anytime soon, so it will be priced as competitively as Sony can afford.

 

[Teasy]

Tysan

One thing to remember is that mobile phones are sold at a profit by the manufacturer, since they make all there money selling the hardware itself. Where as gaming hardware is often sold at a loss and the money made back on game sales and game sale royalties. You might still have a point though depending on the sort of loss Sony decides make on PSP hardware (if any).

 

[jvd]

Tysan

One thing to remember is that mobile phones are sold at a profit by the manufacturer, since they make all there money selling the hardware itself. Where as gaming hardware is often sold at a loss and the money made back on game sales and game sale royalties. You might still have a point though depending on the sort of loss Sony decides make on PSP hardware (if any).

I don'[t know if sony is willing to take a loss on the psp. Its still an unknown. Where as the playstation line has been a top seller for two generations .

I still say the psp will cost at least 250$ usd for us as consumers to buy at a store

 

[wazoo]

I don'[t know if sony is willing to take a loss on the psp. Its still an unknown. Where as the playstation line has been a top seller for two generations .

I still say the psp will cost at least 250$ usd for us as consumers to buy at a store

at E3, Kaz Hirai said that the psp will earn money only on the long term.

 

[jvd]

I don'[t know if sony is willing to take a loss on the psp. Its still an unknown. Where as the playstation line has been a top seller for two generations .

I still say the psp will cost at least 250$ usd for us as consumers to buy at a store

at E3, Kaz Hirai said that the psp will earn money only on the long term.

THat doesn't mean it will loose money