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[Nuclear Muffin]

It's still rather old repurposed tech though, and not particularly light on the battery. But indeed, the screen is still cutting-edge. You don't see 3D tech in many phones yet either.

The GPU is not old. It's the first consumer device to actually use a Pica 200 (of which, the architecture is newer than the MBX GPU that powers the iPhone 4)

The RAM type is also the newest and fastest of any mobile RAM available to date (FCRAM). I doubt that even the Vita is using it for its main RAM since it's only available in a maximum size of 64MB. 3DS uses 2 of them (For Vita to use it for it's main RAM, it would have to be using around 8 of them, which of course is too big to fit into a handheld)

Of course it's possible that it could be using it for VRAM which would mean that it would be using 2 like the 3DS.

sorry but i don't believe a cheap ass resistive screen and a not so high res parallax barrier screen can be more expensive than a 960x540 capacitive screen i'll say at least they are on par with cost but everything else on ipod touch is more expensive
materials, SoC(stop the bullshit the ipod touch is obviously more powerful than a 3ds), cameras...

If that's the case, how can Nintendo possibly be making a loss while Apple make a large profit?

 

[LeleSocho]

Because it doesn't have more powerful and expensive hardware. 3D Paralax Barrier screen is bleeding edge tech and the 3DS GPU/CPU is no slouch (not if it can pull off RE: Revelations/Mercenaries and SSF3D visuals)

They have 3D screens now?

sorry but i don't believe a cheap ass resistive screen and a not so high res parallax barrier screen can be more expensive than a 960x540 capacitive screen i'll say at least they are on par with cost but everything else on ipod touch is more expensive
materials, SoC(stop the bullshit the ipod touch is obviously more powerful than a 3ds), cameras...

 

[Mr_Brit]

We know Vita will most likely be sold at a profit according to Sony so we can conclude that there is a maximum of ~$75 difference in cost between the Vita and 3DS and that is crazy when you consider the hardware differerences between the two devices. Nintendo done goofed when they designed the 3DS hardware. Let's hope the Wii U is more smartly designed.

 

[GCX]

We all remember how well that turned out...

GC actually broke some holiday sales records with the $99 price. Too bad it was waaaaaay too late then though.

 

[Father_Brain]

値下げ後の価格ではハードの販売 だけでは赤字になる

Following the price cut, sales of the hardware will go into the red.

Thanks!

 

[Kagari]

The price cut should help things, but I wonder how many people are still just waiting for the inevitable redesign.

I mean Nintendo has pretty much trained us to expect redesigns on every single one of their handhelds. Starting from Game Boy Pocket, to the GBC, to the SP, to the Lite and DSi. And in most cases, those redesigns are so important and so key that you'd be crazy not to get them.

Ever since the 3DS was announced, I'd knew that I'd be waiting for the redesign. I know I'm not the only one, and I wonder how many people are just like me and whether this is actually a big contributor to their lack of sales.

I'm also waiting.

 

[Lonely1]

It's still rather old repurposed tech though, and not particularly light on the battery. But indeed, the screen is still cutting-edge. You don't see 3D tech in many phones yet either.

The GPU is not old. And I doubt that a dual Arm11 is considerably less expensive than an A8. And no, the 3DS is not "less powerful" (at least for a considerably margin) than the iTouch. It also has physical inputs, card readers, dual screens and considerably smaller battery. And aside the great resolution, the iTouch screen is of remarkable low quality (lower contrast ratio than the first PSP). Plus you are locked at 8GB forever, Apple counts for user to opt for the other considerably more expensive sku's to get decent storage.

 

[Mithos]

Alot of shops are and have been selling the 3DS for around 2000 SEK (~$315 for months) and at release it was 2995 SEK (~$470).

So will be interesting to see what the price-drop will do for the price, hopefully it will go down to 1499 SEK (~$235) maybe even lower.

 

[LeleSocho]

The GPU is not old.

it's only from 2005

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

The GPU is not old. And I doubt that a dual Arm11 is considerably less expensive than an A8. And no, the 3DS is not "less powerful" (at least ofr a considerably margin) than the iTouch. It also has physical inputs, card readers and considerably smaller battery. Plus you are locked at 8GB forever. And aside the great resolution, the iTouch screen is of remarkable low quality (lower contrast ratio than the first PSP).

Just to correct you, it was never confirmed that the 3DS is using an Arm 11 (Those leaked specs were proven fake). It could be using a dual core Cortex for all we know.

it's only from 2005

The architecture was first shown off publicly in 2006. That doesn't mean that the chip that the 3DS is using was first manufactured in 2006.

Oh and the MBX architecture that the iPhone 4 and Vita are using was first shown off in 2005. So I guess that Vita is using 2005 tech now...

Sorry but that's not how things work.

 

[PdotMichael]

The GPU is not old. It's the first consumer device to actually use a Pica 200 (of which, the architecture is newer than the MBX GPU that powers the iPhone 4)

The RAM type is also the newest and fastest of any mobile RAM available to date (FCRAM). I doubt that even the Vita is using it for its main RAM since it's only available in a maximum size of 64MB. 3DS uses 2 of them (For Vita to use it for it's main RAM, it would have to be using around 8 of them, which of course is too big to fit into a handheld)

Of course it's possible that it could be using it for VRAM which would mean that it would be using 2 like the 3DS.

If that's the case, how can Nintendo possibly be making a loss while Apple make a large profit?

yeah, strange because the ipod touch 4 is faster than the 3ds.

 

[gkryhewy]

As a (very small -- and getting smaller all the time!) shareholder, I'm willing to take my short term lumps for long term potential. This is a ballsy move to bend the trend, and the Fall software is there to back it up. We'll see.

 

[Lonely1]

it's only from 2005

Vita's is from 2006.

 

[rpmurphy]

DS. Doubt it. Wii? Nope. Wii U most likely but they had better be working on 3DS games. Outside of Kid Icarus, Mario 3D, and Mario Kart the rest have been done by outside studios or were originally DS games just up-ported to the 3DS. Even Kid Icarus from Project Sora isn't in Nintendo proper.

Kirby Mass Attack (HAL) will be released soon for DS. For Wii, there's Zelda, Rhythm Heaven, Kirby (HAL), Mario Party 9 (Nd Cube). I think you need to also brush up on 3DS games and their developers.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Someone reverse the it prints money gif, stat.

 

[Lonely1]

yeah, strange because the ipod touch 4 is faster than the 3ds.

CPU? Yeah. Everything else?

 

[DonMigs85]

The GPU is not old. And I doubt that a dual Arm11 is considerably less expensive than an A8. And no, the 3DS is not "less powerful" (at least for a considerably margin) than the iTouch. It also has physical inputs, card readers, dual screens and considerably smaller battery. And aside the great resolution, the iTouch screen is of remarkable low quality (lower contrast ratio than the first PSP). Plus you are locked at 8GB forever, Apple counts for user to opt for the other considerably more expensive sku's to get decent storage.

Ah I see, but I thought the Pica only supported OpenGL ES 1.1 and lots of documentation was created in 2008 or earlier?

 

[Lonely1]

Just to correct you, it was never confirmed that the 3DS is using an Arm 11 (Those leaked specs were proven fake). It could be using a dual core Cortex for all we know.

A8 wasn't offered in dual core variants. I'm positive is dual Arm11.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Ah I see, but I thought the Pica only supported OpenGL ES 1.1 and lots of documentation was created in 2008 or earlier?

It has 2.0 extensions. It just simply approaches graphics in a different way than Power VR's hardware with it's fixed function shaders (allowing it to do the same level of shaders as a GPU clocked MUCH higher)

A8 wasn't offered in dual core variants. I'm positive is dual Arm11.

If not A9, then A5 perhaps?

 

[friskykillface]

Jeez what a crazy day for Nintendo , bummer to see that but hopefully it works out in the long run.

They scared

 

[evilromero]

Wow. This goes against those who said there wouldn't be a price drop for years. Again, you can't compare the 3DS to the DS at this point. We are not going to see a repeat of the massive success Nintendo saw with that platform in 2005. Also, I don't believe this price drop will have any long lasting effect without the right software.

Saying that, I do hope this price point also hits the states soon so I can go ahead and get a system.

 

[Lonely1]

Ah I see, but I thought the Pica only supported OpenGL ES 1.1 and lots of documentation was created in 2008 or earlier?

Pica200 is not a traditional design. Is compliant with Ogl ES 1.1, but it offers proprietary extensions that do many instructions of the ES 2.0. Is not just an OpenGL 1.1 GPU, far from it.

 

[Ellis Kim]

itnolongerprintsmoney.gif

Someone reverse the it prints money gif, stat.

3rd page and nothing, GAF?

 

[Oozinator]

Don't see how this news is going to affect me, attention span expiring in a few seconds

 

[Lonely1]

If not A9, then A5 perhaps?

Those weren't ready for massive manufacturing by the original projected launch (holidays 2010). Is almost certain they use Arm11.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

$169 for a system whose current design damages itself and has maybe 2 games I'd play before the Vita comes out is still too much for me.

I'd still agree to never bet against Nintendo.

 

[joe1138]

$169 AND an expanded Virtual Console lineup? Call me a fanboy but screw it-I'm in.

 

[decoyplatypus]

I have no thoughts on how this will play to the larger market, but the system is now in my price range, and by the end of the year there may be enough games to tempt me.

 

[Futureman]

We know Vita will most likely be sold at a profit according to Sony so we can conclude that there is a maximum of ~$75 difference in cost between the Vita and 3DS and that is crazy when you consider the hardware differerences between the two devices. Nintendo done goofed when they designed the 3DS hardware. Let's hope the Wii U is more smartly designed.

Pretty sure they said Vita hardware won't be profitable for nearly 3 years, but overall Sony will be profitable from day one when you figure everything in (software licensing fees, software sales, accessory sales, etc).

 

[SykoTech]

Wow, Nintendo taking a loss. I thought people saying that they were panicking were exaggerating, but maybe not.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Those weren't ready for massive manufacturing by the original projected launch (holidays 2010). Is almost certain they use Arm11.

Well I guess it fits with Nintendo's typical handheld evolution cycle

GBA - ARM 7

DS - ARM 9/ARM 7 doubled (DSi also doubled the clock speed of the ARM 9 to 133mhz)

3DS - ARM11 Dual Core + ARM 9/7 from DSi

Still, I wouldn't take those clock speeds given by those specs at face value. After all, that was with the old Tegra version of the 3DS; before Nintendo "doubled the graphics processing power" as mentioned in the 3DS Iwata Asks.

Nonetheless, it's not old withered tech as that guy was claiming and probably costs a good bit more to manufacture than an iPod Touch.

 

[Father_Brain]

Wow, Nintendo taking a loss. I thought people saying that they were panicking were exaggerating, but maybe not.

Others have beaten me to this point, but a price drop of this magnitude seems overly reactionary - I think Nintendo would be fine for some time at $200, and that would leave them more room for future price drops without taking any loss on hardware.

 

[LeleSocho]

as that guy was claiming

D:
I have a (nick)name

 

[(._.)]

Seem like people are shocked by this? was totally expected imo. Overpriced system is finally at the price point it SHOULD be at. system will probably print money come this fall.

 

[SlipperySlope]

Hmm. What will Sony do? They can't compete on price anymore.

I see it as a preemptive strike against the Vita.

 

[Fantastical]

Seem like people are shocked by this? was totally expected imo. Overpriced system is finally at the price point it SHOULD be at. system will probably print money come this fall.

I think its shocking that Nintendo priced it below $200 which is an excellent decision. There are few comparable devices that are under $200.

 

[BurntPork]

How many systems that sell at a loss end up being successful? None?

PS1, PS2, PSP, PS3, XBox 360

 

[lolez2matt]

If nintendo learns from this, is good.
If Nintendo becomes third party or worse because of this, is bad.

 

[Clunker]

Others have beaten me to this point, but a price drop of this magnitude seems overly reactionary - I think Nintendo would be fine for some time at $200, and that would leave them more room for future price drops without taking any loss on hardware.

Random thought: a $169 3DS gives Nintendo some head room for a $199 3DS XL some months/years down the road.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

$169 for a system whose current design damages itself

This is fixed in new units. Anyone with a launch window unit that has this happen can also have it replaced for free.

 

[Salsa]

IT will probably be back to a profit sometime next year, if not sooner

yup

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

Wow that is surprising. So we should not trust Isupply anymore?

 

[SlipperySlope]

My stocks took a beating today. First Nintendo, then Logitech.... :/

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Wow that is surprising. So we should not trust Isupply anymore?

No. As I've been saying for ages they largely make up their numbers (this should've been obvious considering the fact that nobody knows the full hardware spec of the 3DS in the first place)

 

[alr1ght]

 

[KirbYuuYuu]

Wow that is surprising. So we should not trust Isupply anymore?

Shouldn't of trusted them in the first place.

Really upsets me at how when those numbers were first posted, everyone was smart about it, and then suddenly, lets repost the source more and suddenly people believe it.

Fickle people.

 

[wsippel]

iSupply has proven right from the start that they have absolutely no idea what's inside the 3DS. Then again, ChipWorks did a decap and clarified a few misconceptions, but the press continued to quote iSupply's numbers, even though they were proven wrong by the time. Most people don't even understand that iSupply has an agenda, and that agenda is to make everything look cheaper than it actually is. I'd love to see ChipWorks full analysis...

 

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

While I'm not in love with the direction Nintendo has gone it's horrible to see the market leader losing money and have to change its sales plan, makes the whole industry look fragile.

 

[Frankfurt]

Meanwhile, in Scythian's country the 3DS is still $400+ USD
I want to buy your console Nintendo, I really do, but not at that price.
If this price drop gets here I'll be all over it.

It's over 600 bucks here.

 

[Father_Brain]

Random thought: a $169 3DS gives Nintendo some head room for a $199 3DS XL some months/years down the road.

Good point. Certainly more plausible than a 3DS Lite.