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Soundwave on 13 August 2015
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Miyamotoo said:
Soundwave said:

I think going too cheap is fairly dangerous. You will end up with a product that looks cheap and outdated, and that doesn't sell in today's market anymore. Nintendo needs a more modern product that has functionality that people expect from a mobile device today (even kids are used to tablets, you can't sucker them anymore with a cheap device that has a shitty display for example). 

That's part of the reason the 2DS has not really taken off and why when given a choice between the more expensive 3DS XL and the cheaper regular 3DS and 2DS, the XL is the better selling model. Allowing for easy porting of Android apps would be smart in this case, the device could have a lot of functionality beyond just gaming right from day 1. 

People don't want a cheap product these days. 

Keep it under $250, is still reasonable in pricing, but when you're getting into like sub-$199 ... I think you're getting into a danger zone of having no budget to really make a product that anyone will be impressed by. 

More dangerous is releasing expensive dedicated handheld device in era of smartphones.

3DS is currently $150-200, next handheld with that price point could easily have bigger and better screen with much higher resolution and much stronger hardver, 5-6" display, ARM Cortex A-53 quad core, 2GB Ram, and suitable GPU.

Add to that very strong integration with Nintendo home console and probably playable home console games, you will have pretty popular dedicated handheld device with better third party support than 3DS had.

$150 is a bit too low IMO. 

The 2DS/cheaper 3DS have shown people really don't want to skimp on features just for a low price point, otherwise they should be outselling the 3DS XL, but people who do choose to buy a 3DS choose by majority to pick the most expensive model. 

You can't have "strong integration" with the console if you have such a weak portable, to have somewhat seamless play between the two home/portable you're going to need some decent grunt under the hood too. 

I'd say start at a launch price of $219-$229. Still cheap, still reasoable, only a stone's throw away from the current 3DS XL, but the extra $20-$30 really gives you a lot more leeway on GPU/RAM in specific. Having a strong launch lineup (Mario/Zelda at launch, DQXI?) is a must, not like the 3DS which had an awful launch lineup and having the launch closer to Christmas will ensure a good early sales. 

Then you can scale down in cost to $199.99, 7-10 months later fairly easily as manufacturing costs come down.