Hasta La Gadget!

Can’t wait for August 12th for Nintendo’s 3DS price drop to take effect? Good news, neither could two giant retailers, apparently. Walmart reportedly got the ball rolling yesterday, cutting the asking price down from $250 to $170 in-store, and Target quickly followed suit — the price is still listed as $250 on both sites for the moment. Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata acknowledged late last month that the drops, officially scheduled for August 12th, were due to concerns from retailers and game designers. As Joystiq points out, those who buy the console before the switchover is official will likely be able to take advantage of the price drop and Nintendo’s offer of free games for early adopters. Score.

Walmart, Target jump the gun on Nintendo 3DS price drops originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Aug 2011 09:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Still fuming over that 3DS price drop despite the Big N’s conciliatory make-goods? If you happen to be a resident gamer in the UK, tack some 5,000 free WiFi hotspots onto the company’s apology. According to a report from International Business Times, the service, backed by BSkyB-controlled The Cloud, goes live today, bringing users access to all the console’s usual online features and should come in handy when in-game DLC becomes available later this year. No doubt the move from Nintendo’s British outfit is intended to add a little purchase incentive to the DS’ underwhelming successor, as well as boosting the gaming giant’s own declining earnings. No matter, with twenty free games and gratis WiFi — it’s looking good to be an early adopter.

Nintendo opens 5,000 free WiFi hotspots across the pond, connects your 3DS to The Cloud originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Aug 2011 21:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Have $1,929 Canadian dollars to spare? You can swap those loonies for 2,000 all-American greenbacks, or the current bid on a Nintendo 3DS Panda development model, rounding out its final 24 hours on eBay’s Canadian auction site. This “like new” device won’t be playing retail 3DS or DS cartridges, but it will grant you access to a variety of development functions. The $2,000 current bid is more than a hair higher than the dev hardware’s unconfirmed original price of $324, but if you’re desperate to rank among the few gamers that rock 3DS dev hardware, logic probably won’t reign supreme when it comes time to hit that bid now button.

[Thanks, Julien]

Nintendo 3DS Panda dev model hits Canadian eBay, reminds US how little the dollar is worth originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 16:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo really wants to make it up to those of you who already shelled out $250 for the 3DS, in light of the looming $80 price drop. You probably already knew that you’d be getting a pile of free NES games on September 1st, but you can also expect them to be updated and improved going forward. These aren’t going to be half-hearted ports that get pushed out to early adopters, riddled with bugs, and forgotten. Sometime later this year, they’ll be offered as payed versions through the eShop with features like multiplayer simultaneous play. The best part? Those eligible for the Ambassador Program will get free upgrades to retail version. One feature we can tell you wont be added though, is 3D — the classic titles like Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. will remain blissfully two-dimensional.

3DS NES Ambassador Program games will add multiplayer, other features originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jul 2011 19:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The price of the Nintendo 3DS in the US is dropping precipitously August 12th from $249 to $169, with other regions getting a similar price break in their respective currency. Are you one of the 830,000~ US gamers that have already shelled out? Don’t be too disappointed, the thank you gift for gamers that have logged into the eShop at least once before the price cut will be 10 free NES virtual console games September 1st, plus 10 more Game Boy Advance virtual console games — that Nintendo is not planning on releasing to the general public — before the end of the year. Left holding the bag for all this desperation generosity, are the company’s investors. While pressure from the upcoming Vita is surely playing a part, Nintendo plans to sell 16 million 3DS units in the financial year, but still slashed its financial projections for the year from ¥110 billion to just ¥20 billion. Check out the financial PDFs at the source links below while you decide if 10 potentially-exclusive GBA games are worth paying $80 extra for.

Continue reading Nintendo posts earnings, drops 3DS from $249 to $169 August 12th, current owners get 20 free games

Nintendo posts earnings, drops 3DS from $249 to $169 August 12th, current owners get 20 free games originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 04:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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