Japanese Nintendo 3DS Sales Boost 40%
When wind first broke of the Nintendo 3DS consumers far and wide were filled with intrigue. Not only does the portable device feature a 3D display but you don’t even need glasses to view said display thanks to autostereocopic 3D display technology. Now, smartphones such as the HTC EVO 3D come complete with a similar display but at the time the Nintendo 3DS was announced this kind of thing set for the mass market was unprecedented.
Due to such advanced technology stuffed within the Nintendo 3DS originally launched with a price tag of $249.99 which, coupled with a barren launch library, made the device a bit slow out of the gates. Luckily, with new titles getting released all the time and new ones over the horizon (Pokemon 3D, anyone?) along with Nintendo’s slashing of the price tag down to $169.99 things have finally started to pick up.
In fact, in Nintendo’s home land of Japan, the Nintendo 3DS has seen a none-too-shabby sales increase of 40% in the last week going from 64,017 units the week before to 94,011. This news comes after the launch of Kid Icarus: Uprising (which, for those who don’t know, is the first Kid Icarus appearance besides Super Smash Bros. since the original Gameboy) which means it’s definitely possible for hot new titles to push consoles in bulk.
All in all this goes to show you that no matter the industry, gaming or not, it’s very unfair to judge a product right out of the gates as the Nintendo 3DS has been called a failure time and time again. The PS3 is another prime example which hit the markets with a massive $500+ price tag and was met with a slew of criticism only to later go on and flourish. The PSP, however? Well, we’ll save that for another story.
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Mario Creator Shigeru Miyamoto Working on New Original Title
When it comes to hard hitting exclusives it’s hard to compare to Nintendo. Coming out of Nintendo’s labs are franchises that went on to become household names such as Mario, Kirby, Zelda, Donkey Kong and much more. However, while the company has continued to expand on these franchises it seems that Shigeru Miyamoto, the mastermind behind franchises like Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, wants to stray from the well worn path just a bit.
According to Miyamoto, he’s currently at work at creating a brand new original title. If we were to make an educated guess we would say that Miyamoto is looking to introduce a brand new franchise to live on Nintendo’s consoles alongside the already successful above mentioned franchises.
What exactly will this new franchise be, you ask? At this point that’s anyone’s guess but as always we’ll keep you posted.
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Target Offering Nintendo 3DS for $145
Black Friday will soon be upon us where we’re sure to see countless video game related deals. The most recent deal we’ve gotten wind of comes from Target and focuses on the Nintendo 3DS which they will be selling for just $145. According to our sources the deal is going down right now in store as a pre-sale leading up to Black Friday.
Make note that quantities will be limited meaning if you want to get down you will have to make haste. That being said, this may be the perfect time to get down on Nintendo’s glasses-free 3D display touting handheld. You know, unless you’d prefer spending the normal $180 – $200 retailers command for the same device.
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Nintendo 3DS Release Date, Pricing To Be Announced On September 29th
There has been a lot of buzz circulating regarding the Nintendo 3DS. If you haven’t heard about it, it’s Nintendo’s latest portable console that is essentially the same thing as the Nintendo DS but features an upper screen capable of displaying 3D content with no 3D glasses, and twin cameras for taking 3D pictures.
Seeing how such seemingly high tech gadgetry is jammed in to one device, the hype is no surprise.
Unfortunately, while Nintendo has let us take a pretty in depth look at the device, they have yet to announce an official release date or price point. Luckily, it was just announced that they will be letting us in on both the release date and price of the Nintendo 3DS come September 29th, 2010.
Yes, an announcement for an announcement – that’s Nintendo for you.
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