Ironic that the Rueters article on the Wii News channel inadvertantly sums up Nintendo's troubles thusly: "... needed to dramatically drop prices just five months after it launched the 3D version of it's DS handheld device..."  As if the 3DS was just another iteriation of the DS like the DSi and DSXL

My son sells electronics and this is a misconception he sees daily.  People don't get it's a completely new system and don't see why they should pay so much for it.  The fact that there is zero compelling software out for it only excerbates the problem.

DS sales continue to be relatively strong (around 120K last week) despite being such an old system, lacking new games (there's some but not much and dwindling fast) and already being replaced.   At this point every DS sold is a 3DS unsold.  That is a huge problem.

Nintendo has put itself into a precarious situation with 3DS.  By immediately announcing the Wii's dismise after launching 3DS puts the 3DS as the lone system at it's power level.  Every other system on the market (or soon to be) 360, PS3, PC, iPad/iPhone, WiiU, Vita are all roughly equivelant in power.  The same game can be ported to all of those platforms. Combined that is the biggest user base the industry has ever seen.  Or you can make a completely seperate game for 3DS.   If 3DS had DS or Wii's base there would be a good case for that.   But if it's base remains small - It's unprofitable for anyone, even Nintendo, to develop for it.

With the price cut 3DS now will cost about the same as the older DS models.   Everyone is waiting for an announcement that those models will be further discounted.   But that wouldn't help Nintendo at all.   If they make DS cheaper they'll put themselves back into the exact same position but now losing even more money.   Nintendo will need to either keep them at the same price or discontinue the original DS line completely.   If that was the case now, then the 3DS would have the combined sales of both systems - 191k (this week) and would easily be the top selling system on the market.

Does the DS need to die so that the 3DS can live?

The ds dying sounds way to risky what are you a banana? Or more like nuts?

no way especially if there still making a profit. Nintendo needs to advertise better imo.

Not yet, they expect 9 mill this FY, when it gets to the point where it's selling under 5 mill, and it's still hindering 3DS adoption then perhaps. But this is still chucking away profit which they desperately need right now.

No, but I think they need to seriously consider giving the WiiU a different name.

I dont like the whole every DS sold is a 3DS unsold, part. How are we to know those people would just say screw it and not buy anything

Lol that's true. In all reality I am not a big DS fan to begin with, however there are gems to be had on the DS (better version of Chrono Trigger, TWEWY, Bleach RPG games, Order of Ecclesia, among others), and I am sure the 3DS will get respectable software. I do believe that Nintendo perhaps should have marketed the DS better, and I will tell you why. The constant revisions they did to the DS with DSi , DS lite, DSi XL, so naturally the 3DS was most likely seen as another revision. If Nintendo plays their cards right and markets the 3DS with a bit more focus on games and just pushing that the 3DS advantage is giving depth of field as oppose to the shiny pop out images, it will work out well. They are a smart company and I am sure they will do fine. There is no need for doom and gloom. I even think the price point was not a bad idea at all, and the price drop was done mainly to satisfy investors (personally not a smart move in my book) by pushing sales through price point. I think this is a shorter term effect because it is closer to the original DS price point therefore causing consumers to believe even more that the 3DS is a better revision. Who knows, I could be wrong (I hope in the long run I am), but I think Ninty just needs 1 pokemon game, 1 2D mario game and BAM, laugh their way to the bank.

For the love of--you forgot megaman legends 3!!

would be the last fallback plan for Nintendo if this price cut doesn't help to sell 16 mil 3DS this fiscal year.

I honestly do not know how much of a following the Megaman legends series garnered. Personally I loved 1 and 2 on the PS1, but jumping to the 3DS straight at 3 would feel wierd unless they release a trilogy or remake (would be the best idea). Megaman Legends series seems a bit more niche to be quite honest (great games nontheless). I could see a Mario Galaxy on the 3DS as an absolute perfect match for it, but they simply have to be careful with going too crazy with the pop out since it can give headaches if overdone, but depth would work out well. For 2D, I think Nintendo should get Frozenbyte to hop on board and produce a Trine for the 3DS, now THAT would be absolutely gorgeous and the depth perception would be out of this world. I platinumed Trine on the PS3 and loved how tight the platforming felt. I do feel however that from a hardware perspective at this point in time, a single analog nub is archaic. Heck, I believe Sony's biggest mistake was releasing a PSP 6 years ago with a single nub. Despite the stylus, many people do feel more comfortable with dual analog on games nowadays (something nintendo pretty much started in a sense and Sony pushed further). On a side note, God Eater Burst would be the damn near perfect game for me if I didn't have to use the Claw technique to play it (enjoyed it much more than MH, and I recommend you give it a go, the story is awesome too).