EDIT**

You no doubt already know, but the 3DS is $249 in America, and £199 in Europe. Reasonable? I think so!

As part of my ongoing quest to please Beuli2, I am going to be doing a regular series of threads called "against the grain", bringing up news stories which are either overlooked or too big to miss...

However, I have received many messages from users who have commented on how much they enjoy this series. If I can just do that with this writing, then that's important to me. One day, I am to become a writer for this site, or another. Well, actually, I say this, but I'd prefer to be a moderator (so, Machina, if you're reading this!). I didn't really enjoy it beforehand, but I've been getting quite into it now!

Let me just start off by saying that I want a 3DS. I really, really do. And I'm sure that you're also interested in the 3DS. However, I'm willing to bet that there's one thing holding you back from plunging straight into buying one, or pre-ordering one, and that's the price.

Yes, that's right, with a RUMOURED (and I say rumoured very loosely) price tag of $300 or upwards for you Americans, or £250 for us Brits, add the RUMOURED 3-4 hour battery, and the RUMOUR of The Last Story not coming to the west, and you suddenly can see the Nintendo hate train piling up in the distance...

But is this a "new" thing? I'm fairly certain other releases or add-ons have been perfectly successful with a higher price tag (You know, Ipad, Iphone, Kinect, Xbox Live, PS3, HDTV, Modern Warfare 2, etc.), al of which have a price tag at least 3.5X the cost required to actually make them (Except for PS3, but that's an all-new thread entirely )

However, have you noticed something just a little bit strange about that list? Have you noticed that, actually, they all do something "new"? The Ipad, which has an RRP here of £450, still managed to sell over 5 million in its first month. Is this because of it being a "bargain"? No, they al did something new, and innovative. Same for HDTV, which, when it was first released, cpst nearly £1,000 to actually BUY a TV. Did people buy them because it was a "bargain"? No, they bought them because of the quality which was involved, but, no doubt so they could show their friends and say "look at me, I've got a HDTV!", and gloat on...

Rambling again, dammit (you can tell it's been a while since I've done one of these!). 

What actually makes the 3DS so expensive then? In case you didn't know, it's the tech:

"The lenticules direct the pixels' light in different directions, so each eye sees only every alternate column of pixels.

"The graphics chip renders two images, one for the left eye and one for the right. These two images are displayed on the two sets of alternating columns of pixels."

Read more: http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/nintendo-s-new-3ds-technology-explained-679151#ixzz1B6tHmEqI

So, surely this explains the rumoured price?

Me, I'l personally buy one if it's around £20, no more. But the quality of games on offer for it (Layton, Ocarina of time, Paper Mario, Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid...) will justify the high price tag for many gamers, as it did with the PSP and PS3. We'll have to see...

Do you agree? As usual, post your response below!

We'll find out next week what  the price is,  so I will reserve comment.

Maybe I'll wait because I know that in a couple of years time there will be a revision with a better screen with wider viewing angles?

gaming is expensive!

about the 3ds's price, its going to do terrible in my country.

The 3ds will be successful. Gaming can be expensive, but I think for the sheer value for the buck some games/ systems give you, they justify their purchase. I paid a full 60 bucks for a game lastyear and have sunk a good 300 hours into it. I also bought Inception for $20, which, lets say it is 3 hours(I know it is less, but this is to make a point). In order to get the same "bang for the buck"I would have to watch Inception roughly 33 times over the course of one year, in order to get the same value. I can not see myself doing that.

I dunno, I think Nintendo are trying to stop all these revisions

However, I wouldn't be surprised!

Pretty much this. Gaming is an expensive hobby, but in comparison to the amount of "use" you get out of it, it more than justifies the purchase!

Also, since Gaming is now the biggest medium, I feel as though it should get recognised more. Sadly, the case at the moment doesn't allow this...

I aim for a game to last me 1 hour for each £1 spent. So, Red Steel 2 (£25, 47 hours) is good value, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is great value (£30, 88 hours), Mario Kart Wii is amazing value (£28, 477 hours), but Just Dance is poor value (£20, 37 minutes (it was a gift, honest!)). To do this with other mediums would involve so much use the fun is drained out of it :/

(No criticism of my thread? You've certainly changed since my last couple of threads! )

Why? what country do you live in?

Remember people said this about the Wii, and I recently said it about Kinect, so surprises DO happen!

(Also, Gojimaster, I expect the price to be from £170-£210, no more! That's my limits anyway, unless the launch line-up is amazing, but that's a different thread altogether! Or is it?)

I want the 3Ds but Im afraid The system is too expensive, plus theres the fact that once its released theres 100% chance of the whole revision Nintendo loves to do.....So I think Im going to wait till the price of games and the console are lower(perhaps used )

I honestly don't don't think the 3DS will retail for £250 ($396), I think somewhere between £180-200 ($285-$317).  The DS and DSlite launched at £100 ($159) and the DSi and DSiXL at £150 ($240).  Though I wouldn't be surprised if it reached that amount, I think it will go around the £200 mark.

On topic, gaming is a cheap hobby but it is much less expensive that it once was.  Back in the 4th gen, games used to cost £50 ($79).  When one factors in inflation (probably about 2% annually for U.K) and how much real wages have increased, one can understand how much gaming must have been them.