Point/Counterpoint: Time for a price cut?

by Chris Greenhough { Sep 5th 2008 at 1:00PM }

Since its release into the wild in 2006, the DS Lite has retained its launch price point in all regions. On the face of it, there's been little reason for Nintendo to tweak the cost of owning the world's greatest handheld. Sales have been consistently sky-high, with demand outstripping supply to an almost embarrassing degree in the early days. But with the holiday season already on the horizon, and the Lite now widely available in stores, should Nintendo consider slashing the price of its handheld phenomenon before the end of this year?

Click onwards to see two bloggers slug it out over this issue, possibly until one meets a bloody, horrible demise, and then cast your vote!

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Tags: business, hardware, price, pricing

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

KaBob799 @ Sep 5th 2008 1:35PM

I hope so cause then I mgiht finally upgrade to lite =p

Jenny Lee @ Sep 5th 2008 4:35PM

I think yes, the price needs to drop. The XBOX 360 just dropped down to $199 CAN here in the land of maple leafs. I just PAID $180 CAN for a Dialga/Palkia box set aand Pokemon Diamond I bought as a gift. I think the price needs to drop soon to match current pricing from consoles. A handheld that is the same price as the console needs to match its abilities, graphics and storage capacity.

BlackDS @ Sep 5th 2008 6:02PM

DS games are much cheaper than XBox 360 games, so the DS is still a bargain.

Plus, you can't take your XBox 360 to the beach. :)

Peace.

rikki @ Sep 5th 2008 2:09PM

The current price is okay.

But from the consumer end, price drops are ALWAYS better. I can't think of anyone who'd say "Stupid Nintendo, I wanted to pay the old price! Screw buying a DS." if Nintendo dropped the USA's MSRP to $99.99...

Suichimo @ Sep 5th 2008 2:34PM

Its a psychological thing. If you price something to low people believe it to be "cheap" and won't buy it. Psychology is also the reason people believe a .99 item is a better deal than a $1 item. Although in the end it is only a grand total savings of a penny people still think that way.

Personally, the DS is good where it is. The only reason the PSP saw a surge in sales recently is thanks to Monster Hunter Portable 2G and that is dying down now.

CrestName @ Sep 5th 2008 2:43PM

Here in Austria, DS Lite still cost an expensive 150�, which translates to 220 United States Dollars.

to-kun @ Sep 5th 2008 3:35PM

Well, here in Norway it's still a whopping $350 :P if that makes you feel better :P

QuestName @ Sep 5th 2008 6:27PM

Actually, it does, you just made my day :)

religiousjedi @ Sep 5th 2008 2:52PM

If it fell to $99.99...I'd seriously consider buying it again. The one I got off ebay after my original Lite broke doesn't play Hunters that well...

Then again...I could send it in for Nintendo to fix (hinge completely broke off). However, I've done that a few times already. And I still need to get my Wii fixed.

CamranChaos @ Sep 5th 2008 3:40PM

I think they should drop the price...just not right now. They need to get the redesign (that we all know is coming) good and announced before they drop the Lite's digits. I'm thinking $90 after the new DS launches to rid us of the Lite while we get ready to pay *wait for it* $129.99 for the new DS. You know that's what'll happen.

iofthestorm @ Sep 6th 2008 3:04PM

I don't think any new DS will be a simple evolution but rather a new handheld, so I'd expect it to come out at $150 like the DS originally did. But I do agree that that would be the perfect time to have a price cut.

Jacksons @ Sep 5th 2008 4:37PM

I'd be happier if the best games went down in price after a year or so. You know, like greatest/platinum hits that both the other console companies do. Another 2 months and Mario Kart will still be full price after 3 years.

Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Sep 5th 2008 5:42PM

And you complain comes from US???

In Germany DS costs 150� (~ $170; excluding taxes and rounding down after conversion).

So STFU. You are not the ones to complain that loud.

Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Sep 5th 2008 5:46PM

BTW, PSP Lite in bundle at 198� looks very very competitive. Unfortunately I know the sad state of PSP game library.... Otherwise, as a n00b buyer, it's very very easy to buy PSP. At least all the values of PSP are much much more obvious than that compared of DS.

And hey, PSP has wide screen and can play video well! For only 198� with game included!!

I think whoever came up with the DS price for Eurozone has to be shot dead on spot.

MidnightScott @ Sep 5th 2008 5:46PM

The price is fine. My original DS was $150 so these people whining about $130 have nothing to complain about.

BlackDS @ Sep 5th 2008 6:10PM

The dollar is a weak currency, and it has fallen against every other currency since the DS was launched in 2004. Although, the dollar hasn't fallen drastically against the yen since 2004 (the dollar HAS fallen against the yen), there is no guarantee that the dollar will NOT fall hard against the yen in the future. The dollar continues to plummet against all currencies due to record budget deficits in the U.S., the result of funding 100+ billion dollars a year War in Iraq.

If I was Nintendo, I would keep the DS Lite priced at $129, that way, if the dollars falls against the yen, I don't have to worry about selling the DS Lite at a loss. Especially, since a drop in the dollar also decreases Nintendo's profits on games sold.

Peace.

aj @ Sep 5th 2008 7:04PM

Dude, I don't think you're allowed to make intelligent comments on the internet.

That being said, I doubt Japanese currency factors into it. The unit itself is made in China, and then shipped to the US to be sold. The only real factor currency would play into the price point would be if the Yuan were to suddenly go up in value (but it won't, artificial currency valuation FTW).

I could be completely wrong, and Nintendo does all it's business in Yen, and the DS ships to the market through Japan or in some other complicated way that makes no sense.

aj @ Sep 6th 2008 12:58AM

Oh, there will be a price drop. There always is. That's why only suckers buy a console in the first two years that it's out. Why pay 300$ when you can pay 100$ if you wait a bit?

Metayoshi @ Sep 6th 2008 4:06AM

I dunno... I guess it makes me a sucker for wanting to play Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl at launch then.

Metayoshi @ Sep 6th 2008 4:03AM

Man... If Nintendo decided to cut the price of a DS lite, I'd be just a little angry at myself for *finally* turning in my DS lite to Nintendo to get it fixed (I turned that wheel HARD in Elite Beat Agents so I've been using a bad touch screen for a while now). It cost me $90, and if they cut the price to $99.99, I could probably save money by selling in my DS lite and buying a new one.

iofthestorm @ Sep 6th 2008 4:08PM

Dude, if I were in that situation I would just sell my DS to gamestop or something and use the credit to buy a brand new one. In fact, I'm probably going to do that at some point since my shoulder buttons are broken, but I'm waiting for a while since I've been playing mostly SRPGs which don't use shoulder buttons, and I have a feeling a new DS or other Nintendo handheld will come out next year. It's been long enough.

Ditikos @ Sep 6th 2008 3:11PM

I would prefer to keep the price of the nintendo at the same level (maybe a 10/15 $ cut).

But there would be a catch. No new redesign. No new features to have on the trustful ds lite. The only that could go on and work, with the current games and stuff is a simple solution.

Since R4 and other carts are banned, have the developers (or nintendo itself) design a cart that could have a browser, a port for accepting special memories (so that nintendo still has branding) that allow the user either to download content from the internet or insert homebrew.

The download content part is the trick one. The cart itself could be DRM'd so that the user could download old games (maybe minus one quarter of year time margin), that could buy JUST the rom from the nintendo shop site. No cart bundles or stuff (just the usual carts that don't require extra hardware). The user can still buy the new releases if he likes in the same price as they are now.

Why to do that? It's obvious. The industry suffers from piracy, but games can be bought at a stable price (maybe a pack or really bundle sales could also be introduced) be OWNED by the user (he can download them just like steam's games), he can put homebrew freely to his ds, he can browse (just the features that missed mostly and not a total redesign which could mean trouble and buying games all over again) he can TRULLY be having a free portable funstation like the GP2X or that line of portable entertainment. The developers would be happy, the sales would be happy (not so happy but would go on) and the games will flow like spice.