| Soundwave said:
2DS didn't cause sales to explode in North America, I don't honestly know if there's a ton of appeal for the New 3DS over here. I think it will do quite well in Japan though. But primarily at this point though as others have mentioned I have to wonder if Nintendo is basically just selling different models of the 3DS to people who already own a 3DS. |
2DS wasn't introduce to NA/EU to cause sales explosions, it was just a low barrier-to-entry 3D-free system that was, for them, absolutely dirt cheap to produce. More than likely, even its 99$ price tag is sold at around 2x profit as many of its pieces are very cheap to produce and it has no clamshell or hinges. It was a robust little system for kids or people who didn't want anything to do with the 3D or the ergonomics of the DS-line. All things considered, its actually sold pretty decently as its neither an advertized mainline model nor is it sold in the biggest market. (This is like the GBA micro.) I suspect the 3DS will see a holiday price drop, they are probably looking at massive profitability on current sale-per-unit and can afford the hit.
I can see the n3DS (renamed, obviously) spir on some level of renewed interest, especially if it ships with the Xenoblade game pre-installed or ready for launch NA/EU. That game was and still is decently sought after by RPG fans, and having it available without having to pay 100$+ for the game in and of itself, is probably a nice perk. (The n3DS is definitely more aligned with eastern interest given what we've seen thus far, but there's also the fact that we have no idea what else is in the pipe works for the system.)
The 3DS, after this holiday, I would say has already saturated its nominal market of ~40-50 million market, but then we have to wonder... how large was the genuine market for the DS? I know I went through three DSs due to build issues and quality but have only had one 3DS. (Anecdotal.) All the same, I still expect it to finish around GBA standards unless it falls off a cliff.
