It's not punished as much as just showing that they could sustain that price, which in this economy, they could not have risked without such assurance, but also need due to this economy cutting into their profits and stock prices.

there isn't anything wrong with their price or presentation. however, hitting their 4 million shipped target (record setting by the way) will be difficult, especially since so far, their only killer app is nintendogs. hope they announce another soon.

edit: forgot about mario kart. nintendo's being fucking MODEST now.

Where does it say $250? It said $300 in that gamestop article.

I think that's way too much for a handheld. $300 is what a home console should start at.

it said 250,000 YEN (300USD) in the article, to be precise. however, traditionally, nintendo likes to set the yen and USD exchange rates differently than global does, so 250 USD is very much in the ballpark (though 300 isn't out either). and it's very nice of you to give your opinion on how much things are worth, but you don't set prices. the market does, and nintendo is just guesstimating what they think market will pay.

They're doing an exact exchange rate on the known Japanese price of 25,000. Pound-for-pound, America has usually paid less than Europe or Japan.

If it's 25,000 Yen, $250, and 250 Euros, Americans will be paying the least by a good stretch (Japan would pay $300 and mainland Europe $350 or so. Britain might pay upwards of 400 USD)

They don't need to price it low. They have no competition. Theres no PSP 2. They can also price discriminate. If you're cheap you can buy a DS. If you're cheap and already have a DS you can wait. If you want it now you can pay out of the nose to have the luxury of buying it before anyone else does. I don't really see why they would rush a lower price point.

All right cool. Thanks for explaining.

"Britain might pay upwards of 400 USD"

We would? :o

i wont disagree in the points you noted , but while parents are frowned upon buying expensive phones and gizmos for their barely able to handle kids at some point they do,specially if the income is good.I also dont pull my ideas of psp markets out of anecdotal evidence, as if i follow what ive seen, id confirm that kids love to ask their parents psp*specially young teen boys*, due to the cool factor. However, by checking most surveys the results show that the age gaps between the DS consumer and PSP isnt noticeable, and its been stablished that ADULTS are the  majority of the market in the end, even if young kids are a good chunk( i believe it was something around 60% from 12-30 in rough terms).Is not shocking to me, and certainly not what wed come to expect if we follow forum wars. The amount of adults owners of DS following games like Layton is huge, and in japan, i wouldnt be surprised if surveys showed similar results. I wont disagree that casual is a big DS market, if not biggest, but casual does not equals kids market. Nintendo loves parents to buy ds for their kids, but in the manner of sales, is not what it has come down to in the end.Lots of adults have been buying DS for their gaming needs. Also, if you really want to be lieve that the, what, 60 millions of gba users were not interested in following trend with the DS and its backwards ability, you are doing it wrong. If you wanted to label GBA owners as kids, then how would you lable them years laters as consequential DS owners?time passes, brand loyalty remains, sequels of GBA biggest hits most likely will hit Nintendo*doh*, so they wont buy Sony products. Same goes for 3ds. Mario and luigi, Mario kart, they all follow trend on next nintendos console.And sure, you could be a kid owner of GBA, but 10 years later, you arent.

the case of the 3ds is very unique and different from PSP or PS3.You have to account for everything. Just remember nintendo has a huge market from the past that is loyal, its much older and backwards compatible. GB   has been since antiquity. However, the  new gamers that were drawn to flashier looks and overall appeal of games like NFS(on the PSP)r Assasins creed, will also have their games on the nintendo system. Theres the tradition, the casuals, the kids, the old PSP market(AC, MG, DOA,etc and much more afterwards).Again, if PSP once priced, without the weapons 3ds is sporting now, that price, and still did fairly well*on par with previous nintendo handleds*, nintendo SURELY can do so and be twice as succesful.

Honestly. I do think they are. The price in Japan is high and it's not going to fair well if that same price point hits the west. Nintendos not alone though, many companies are arrogant nowadays because they had great success in previous gens.

Sony was arrogant and they admitted it, but look how far they have come with the PS3. 2-3 years ago the PS3 was jack but now it has arguably one of the best libraries of the current gen and even previous gens.