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Cerebralbore101 on 26 August 2019
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AHYL88 said:
Cerebralbore101 said:

Regular 3DS was tiny and $250. 3DS XL was $200 and bigger. 

The OG Gameboy launched for $89 back in 89. Factoring in inflation that would be $186 in today's money.

The GBA launched for $99, which is $144 in today's money.

DS Launched for $149, which is $202 in today's money. 

3DS's $249 is $284 in today's money. 

Anyway, the original 3DS model was not priced to be successful. There's a long history of expensive handhelds failing. Even after the XL model launched, the 3DS still only managed to get PSP level sales due to its price. Had Nintendo just launched with the 2DS XL at $180, and a better launch title than OoT Remake it would have done at least PS4 lifetime sales. 

In fairness, you also have to take into account that the 3DS and PSP launched at significantly different eras. True, the launch price of the 3DS was high, but so was the PSP in 2005. The PSP also didn't have to compete with tablets or smartphones either

At $180, the 3DS would've definitely done better but not by too much I think. And it came out in 2011 when smartphones and tablets were already surging their way through in the technology space and eating into the handheld arena. So it was a struggle but still impressive to reach nearly 80 million despite that.

Well, remember that $180 would have been the price for the premium model. A smaller foldable 2DS launching at say $150 would have made a huge difference too. Also, let's not forget that the DS really was a monster in sales. The Gameboy, and GBA only did around 110 (GB) and 80 (GBA) million units each. That includes sales of all Gameboy models including the Gameboy Color. Anywhere from 90 to 120 million units sold would have been par for the course for a Nintendo handheld. Everyone just assumes that because the 3DS failed to sell 150 million, and the Vita just failed, that they were victims of the rise of Smartphones. But they forget that the DS was just a sales monster, that no handheld would ever have caught, smartphones or not. They also forget the myriad of problems that the Vita and 3DS both had. Chief among them both was price. 

Last edited by Cerebralbore101 - on 26 August 2019