Nintendo 3DS drops to $169 Aug 12; 20 free games for current owners

[Travis]

Nintendo has just announced that the price on the 3DS will drop to $169.99 stateside on August 12. That's down from $250 currently, which we don't have to tell you is a pretty shocking drop, considering the tech involved and how recently the system was released.

A similar cut in Japan (effective August 11) will take the system from 25,000 Yen (around $317) to 15,000 Yen ($190). We don't yet have a specific price for a corresponding European cut, but Nintendo tells Eurogamer the price will drop by "about a third."

Nintendo is looking to reward early adopters of 3DS, or at least incur a last-minute sales burst before $80 (that's over 30 percent!) comes off the system, bringing it down to $170 on August 12. Those who own a 3DS and connect to the Nintendo eShop before 11:59PM EST on August 11 will be automatically enrolled into the "Nintendo 3DS Ambassador" program.

3DS ambassadorial duties mostly involve playing a bunch of free games. The status grants you access to 10 free NES Virtual Console games on September 1 before their general release (these include The Legend of Zelda, Balloon Fight and Ice Climber), along with 10 more Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games by the end of 2011. The GBA games -- like Yoshi's Island, Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames and Mario vs. Donkey Kong -- will not be available to anyone else. Is all that enough to ameliorate early buyer's remorse?

Nintendo claims that it has sold more than 830,000 3DS systems in the US since it debuted in late March, and that it will keep momentum up with several big holiday releases. In the category of games available to everyone: Kid Icarus: Uprising in the holidays, Super Mario Land 3D in November, followed in December by Mario Kart 7.

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[TalesOfPants]

And I still won't get one for a long time.

[Casey]

Oh my goodness!

I'm so honored to be friends with Bayli, a real life Nintendo 3DS Ambassador!!!!

[rman]

Bayli, an ambassador. My my, how our little lady is growing up!!

[Oobs]

If they make MM remake, then I may get one

[Casey]

Majora's Mask was DOO DOO!

[Travis]

What the fuck? Go kill yourself, MM is awesome.

[Casey]

Doo Doo Poo Poo Ca-ca

[Oobs]

What the fuck? Go kill yourself, MM is awesome.

Travis gets +1 awesome point in my book

[Logan]

Bayli Andrew and Casey all hate Majora's Mask.

WHY? Game is great!

[SuperAfroBoy]

Meh, I'm not a huge MM fan. I enjoyed it, but it pretty low on my list of best Zelda titles.

[Travis]

I would put it in my top 5 easily

[SuperAfroBoy]

1. A Link to the Past
2. The Wind Waker
3. Ocarina of Time
4. Link's Awakening
5. The Minish Cap
6. Oracle of Seasons / Ages
7. Majora's Mask
8. Adventure of Link
9. Twilight Princess
10. Zelda I
11. Phantom Hourglass
12. Spirit Tracks

I never played Four Swords.

EDIT: ewps, forgot MM

I placed it at 7th

[Bayli]

I don't hate it, I get really frustrated with it. It might be the guide I'm following that tells me to constantly go back and refight boss fights. I think the characters are great, but the time limits kill me. Not so much the whole 3 Days thing, but god damn there's like a time limit on everything.

Other than just not being good at video games and getting frustrated, I love it.

[Casey]

Yeah, seriously. You have to do everything perfectly or you screw it all up.

Fuck that noise.