http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/30932/3DS_Seen_As_Expensive_Unknown_In_Japanese_Surveys.php

3DS Seen As Expensive, Unknown In Japanese Surveys
by Kyle Orland

A recent survey shows widespread ignorance among the Japanese public about Nintendo's upcoming 3DS handheld, with a second survey showing many think the system's planned price as too high.

The first survey, conducted by online research firm Macromill for the Nikkei Shimbun newspaper (both surveys via 1up), found 55.9 percent of 1,000 online respondents hadn't heard of the Nintendo 3DS, despite the system's international unveiling at June's E3 conference and a press conference announcing the system's Japanese launch details just last month.

A further 36.9 percent of respondents knew "a little" about the 3DS, with only 7.2 percent saying they knew "all about" the system.

Respondents showed similar ignorance of The PlayStation 3's recently added stereoscopic 3D game offerings, with 57.8 percent saying they didn't know about the option.

A separate survey of anonymous web users published on Getnews.jp found only 16.4 percent of Japanese respondents found the 3DS' planned price of 25,000 yen to be "reasonable," with nearly 80 percent saying the system was either "a little expensive" "expensive" or "exceedingly expensive."

The Nintendo DS is the best-selling system in Japanese history, with over 30 million units of the DS, DS Lite, DSi and DSi XL combined selling in the country over the last six years.

Not surprising. Likewise, I am sure past surveys on the DS and PSP said the same thing. What do you think?

It's worrisome indeed, though the fact it's online survey devalues results somewhat.

I'm just reposting what I wrote in the identical thread.

"I don't think people are putting this in perspective. 45% of the general public in Japan (not gamers, the general public) know about a console that is not releasing till next year. That is insanely high. This will often not even break into two digit numbers if you are just polling the general public about consoles."

Most people really don't give a flip about 3D, that is the truth.

That being said, once a new major game is announced for the 3DS, it will work up the public into a frenzy. Right now of the six biggest games actually shown for the system (RE Revelations/Mercs, Super SF4 3D, LoZ: OoT, Kid Icarus: Uprising and MGS3: NS) only two are not ports and really none of them are really targeting the Japanese audience preferences. The closest thing that seems poised at the Japanese audience might be Nintendogs & Cats.

Once we get closer to the launch date and more titles are shown, there will be more of a build up for the system within Japan, but I suspect that especially given the price (which might drop within the first year if people keep bitching about it), the 3DS will have a solid launch and slowly build up its base to near DS levels. The first major original JRPG will be insane on the 3DS but it probably won't hit until the tail end of 2011 or 2012.

Wait until the mass market advertising hits Japan's air waves as it gets closer to launch.

I dont know about Japan but its too damn expensive for me.......I think Im gonna wait to buy it used

itll still be huge

How can people miss this? And that's before any ad campaing started. Unless this isn't the general public, but even then.

"Respondents showed similar ignorance of The PlayStation 3's recently added stereoscopic 3D game offerings, with 57.8 percent saying they didn't know about the option."

that right there makes me think that either you guys are underestimating the gaming knowledge of the general public in Japan or this isn't the general public being surveyed.  If almost 45% of those surveyed knew about a new feature on the PS3 I don't think it's that amazing that 45% knew about the 3DS.

Yeah, either Japan is really well informed (which makes sense, but this much?) or this shouldn't be very representative of the general public.

Still, 3DS (as far as I know, might be wrong) had very little to no push gearead towards the general public as of yet, so it might make sense that it gets a similar percentage as PS3's 3D. Still, my bet would be it's not that representative of general public, and that it's hard to try to predict anything about 3DS's performance fro mthis.