Would you pay $300 for a handheald? (Nintendo's 3DS News)

The Game Room
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http://mystateline.com/fulltext-news/?nxd_id=199185

So it’s 25,000 Yen (about $300) when it launches in Japan this year.

The system is like a regular DS with the upper screen that’s wider and displays a, glasses free, 3D effect. From what I hear, it’s expected to have graphics and possessing capabilities that are generally better than a PSP, (I don’t know just by how much, or any specifics).

It has 3 built in cameras. One facing you when opened, the other two are on the outside of the handheld, allowing one to take 3D pictures, (not sure about video).

A touch screen on the bottom.

Here is a video showing some of it’s functions.

I HEAR, (from GAF), it comes with a 2 GB SD card. It will have 3DS Virtual Console for Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and maybe Game Boy Advance titles, (any in 3D, IDK but there were demos of old games in 3D shown on the system before). It will always be on Tag Mode that will exchange data for a game, even for games not being played; If a game has saved it’s data on your 3DS, the game doesn’t have to physically be in the unit. The “Home” button brings up an ingame menu enabling users to browse the web, turn Wi-Fi on/off and modify other settings without exiting. There’s a “Mii Studio” Application: Take a picture of yourself and have it auto converted into a Mii. An “AR Games” Application: Built in augmented reality games (comes with six paper cards for these – as seen in the video). A Nintendo 3DS Cameras" Application. A Nintendo 3DS Sound Application. A Book Application. 3DSWare games can be moved from one 3DS to another, and some DSiWare games can be moved to the 3DS as well.

Nintendo DID confirmed that they have partnered with big name studios such as Disney, Warner Bros. and Dreamworks to bring 3D movies to the 3DS handheld.

It sounds great, but one thing that makes handheld’s popular, is that each player needs one.

Would it be worth the $300 to you?

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If game developers can use the 3D to its fullest, absolutely. The DS has been Nintendo’s strongest product for a long time now and if the 3DS’s library can maintain the same level of quality while using the 3D well, it’ll definitely be a good buy.

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But wouldn’t the DS’s price would appeal to a more casual, broader marked? Would grandparents care if they can play Brain Age or Professor Layton in 3D or not? And for that price? Plus, it’s wasn’t that long after the DS came out, that the must-have DS Lite came along… might that be a hesitation to pounce?

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Do grandparents really play the DS now? I honestly don’t know - I kept hearing about the Wii being the cross-generational/demographic game system.

I personally won’t pay $300 for a handheld. I won’t even pay $100. I know I’m missing out on a lot of games, but I’m already missing out on a lot of games on the two consoles I have. I’m sure this will sell like hotcakes, especially as it drops in price. I don’t think $300 is unreasonable, as everything I’ve heard about the 3D tech is pretty amazing. Just not for me.

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Plenty of “real” gamers like the DS. There’s folks who dismiss the Wii as a toy for children and old people who will die with their DS in their hand.

$300 is a lot, but there’s always an early adopter market and Nintendo is very aware of their demographics and pricing. I figure, provided it doesn’t flop like the Virtual Boy immediately, the price will drop to $200 before Christmas 2011. The fact that it’ll be a 3D movie player as well as a game system will justify the price a good deal, especially for parents.

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It would be worth $300 to me, absolutely, though I’m not sure I’ll have the cash on hand when the release date rolls around. The DS has been one of the all-time great systems, and I don’t see any reason to think the 3DS will be much different.

Having said that, I doubt that it will sell for $300 in the US. I think $230 or $250 is more likely.

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Does anyone happen to know what price the original DS launched at in Japan?

I personally can’t see a handheld selling for more than $200 in the US - not unless Nintendo wants another Virtual Boy on their hands, anyway.

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It’s not going to be $300. Nintendo historically does not do a straight-up yen to USD conversation. It will be $250 max.

At any rate, I’ll buy it at whatever price they charge being as Nintendo is the only company producing a handheld gaming machine worth owning (iPhone included).

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Not me. I don’t own any handhelds. My phone is the free one you get with a new contract.

I have no idea why screens under 5" have a market. You can’t see anything, you don’t get good resolution, and you’re dealing with dead or dying batteries most of the time. I invested in a 22" lcd monitor and would prefer using it than anything smaller.

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I think $300 is way too stiff for a new handheld. I can get a new ps3 for 28000 yen, and I want one of those a lot more than a handheld. The problem with handhelds is that it’s just one more thing to lug around with me all the time, and so I never end up playing them. I have a phone that has games on it, and since it’s always on me I always end up playing that, rather than taking a whole extra thing with me for the specific purpose of games. In a couple years, when it has a built up library and has gone through a price cut or two cause new colors and smaller version have come out? maybe. But certainly not at launch

In Japan they certainly do. I see obaachans on trains playing on their DS all the time

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Because they’re portable and plenty big enough for gaming. It’s about the same size of an iPhone screen and doesn’t need to render text nearly as small–the resolution and size is fine.

And it’s pretty cool that you bought an 22" lcd monitor–have fun playing that on the train, bus, on the plane, etc.

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You are wrong on all three counts. I guess by having the free phone you think all small screens are like that, but on devices designed for gaming and other applications (iPhone, Android phones, PSP, and, of course, the DS) the screens have great resolution for what they need, they are plenty bright and crisp, and the battery (at least on the DS) lasts a LONG time. Seriously, I’ve gone days with my DS, playing a couple hours each day, before having to recharge.

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Being priced on par with the iPod Touch is going to hurt it, if Apple ever decides they’d rather make that mobile gaming money and finds some developers. I guess it’s fine until that happens though.

I mean, what’re people who don’t like it going to do? Buy a non-existant PSP3 instead?

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Nah, different markets. The iPod Touch plays everything and games. The 3DS plays *good *games.

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No way am I spending more than $200 for a handheld. That’s what I paid for my PSP, and that had all sorts of homebrew and emulators making an even better value than all the whiz bang flashy shit this has going (three cameras? I don’t even need one camera). Don’t get me wrong, I still want one, but not at $300.

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I don’t get this argument either. Why do people need to be distracting themselves 24 hours a day for 1-5 minutes at a time? I don’t even own an MP3 player, yet I see people who can’t walk down the street without their cell phone glued to one ear and their iPod in the other.

My wife has an itouch, so I’ve experienced it. I suppose the small screens and pointer systems work if you’re playing something like tetris. But I really doubt you can see what you need to see in something like Madden, Starcraft, Diablo, etc.

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300 is a tough pill to swallow. For a portable? I bought the DS Original at launch, and all these years later, 150 is still the upper limit for me. 300 just stings, period. Either a price drop, or incredible pack-ins

Besides I already bought a Nintendo 3D “portable”.
Yeah.

The DS will sell, and the only way I know this, is if I don’t adopt it early. Besides, I got Sonic 4 and Portal 2 on deck first.

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**
I think I repressed my PSP purchase, entirely. **

To be fair, that was with my Tax Return one year. But yeah, Virtual Boy and PSP are BOTH reasons why I will sit out a 300 hand held.

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I don’t get this argument. Why do people need to go home and distract themselves on their 22" monitor and have meaningless arguments against those who disagree with them.
:rolleyes:

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I don’t know if I want to pre-order it or not… probably wont. Even if it’s $250 in the US… That’s a lot of money. And I doubt Nintendo is going to drop the price any time soon. I DO want one, and who knows when I’ll be able to get my hands on it if it’s a hot item, like the Wii was.