3DS Is Nintendo's "Number One Priority" for Holidays

Marshall Honorof

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3DS Is Nintendo's "Number One Priority" for Holidays


With sold-out Wii U preorders, Nintendo focuses on its handhelds.

Running a good business is just as much about rolling with punches as it is about having big ideas. Take Nintendo's holiday plans, for instance. With a brand new console launching in November, one might reasonably expect the developer to push the Wii U this December, but unexpected shortages have tilted the supply/demand ratio too far in the latter direction. Since Wii U preorders are already maxed out and new stock will be scarce, Nintendo has opted instead to focus its attention on its 3DS and 3DS XL handhelds during the 2012 holidays.

"Nintendo's number one priority this holiday is 3DS and 3DS XL," says Scott Moffitt, the executive VP of sales and marketing at Nintendo. "We're seeing an ever-growing momentum in our handheld business. Nineteen months in, we're still a million units ahead of the pace of DS at this point in its life." Moffitt points out that with titles like Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Scribblenauts, and Skylanders: Giants due out for the 3DS, the handheld provides an attractive choice for holiday shoppers. Given the nature of the titles, Nintendo hoping that parents pick up the 3DS for their children seems reasonable.

While Nintendo might have liked to focus its holiday efforts on selling Wii Us, strong interest in presales makes it impossible to even land a preorder in many areas. "Frustration can build up," Moffitt notes, especially since Nintendo had bought space with advertisers well before it knew that it would be marketing to people unable to buy its product. "[We] committed to these media buys long before we knew that we were going to have a sold-out situation to pre-sales. We hoped we would be sold out, that pre-sales would be brisk. But we didn't have the luxury of waiting to see that to know what our major plans would be."

After a price cut and a focus on maintaining a stronger release schedule, 3DS sales, which were anemic at first, have picked up considerably. Nintendo can probably count on a boost to its handheld sales during the holiday season, but it's not clear how many consumers will buy one as an alternative to a Wii U. Parents needing a present for a child might relent, but other potential buyers may be inclined to hold fast until stocks replenish.

Source: VentureBeat [http://venturebeat.com/2012/11/11/nintendos-scott-moffitt-tells-us-what-we-need-to-know-about-the-wii-u-launch-interview/view-all/]

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Atmos Duality

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Yeah, none of those games sound especially appealing to me.

I'd be more inclined to believe Nintendo if they'd just stop monkey-fucking around and localize Fire Emblem: Awakening already.

Welp, back to storage you go, 3DS!
 

FallenTraveler

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I am totally getting a 3dsxl this holiday. I was on the fence for a while, but the 3ds has just too much, I can't even see 3d, so I won't be using that, but man, with Epic Mickey, KH3d, and all the DS games I never got to play this is a very appealing system.
 

GAunderrated

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I can see where they are coming from but to me its a red flag when the hot "new" system coming out during the Holiday season isn't a priority. Especially since of those games they listed, maybe one has the potential to be a system seller but we haven't seen a good one since the game cube version (paper mario).
 

GAunderrated

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FallenTraveler said:
I am totally getting a 3dsxl this holiday. I was on the fence for a while, but the 3ds has just too much, I can't even see 3d, so I won't be using that, but man, with Epic Mickey, KH3d, and all the DS games I never got to play this is a very appealing system.
If you are getting a 3DSxl to play DS games please do some research to see how they come out. I have a 3DS and DS games do NOT look nearly as sharp as they do on my DSi on my 3DS. I remember reading when the 3DSxl came out that it was actually worse so please look into it before you buy it and are disappointed. :)
 

Mr. Omega

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I'll be busy with Paper Mario Sticker Star for my 3DS needs until Fire Emblem arrives. So my priority will be trying my luck getting a WiiU.
 

dragongit

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I'm holding off on most things Nintendo for a while. I'm still trying to even get a job for the first part, and if I do, I'll likely save up for the next Sony system, whatever that turns out to be, as long as they don't promote it as some overly gimicy thing. I'd rather play games that are fun, not because they promote an extra device I gotta waggle or wave at.
 

AzrealMaximillion

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Pre-orders sold out? Why not make a point of the demand for the Wii-U and have more available? The scarcity of the Wii at launch worked in its favour, I don't know if the same tactic will work again.

It's like trying to break atwo different safes with the same rock.
 

Mr.Mattress

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AzrealMaximillion said:
Pre-orders sold out? Why not make a point of the demand for the Wii-U and have more available? The scarcity of the Wii at launch worked in its favour, I don't know if the same tactic will work again.

It's like trying to break atwo different safes with the same rock.
They said this time that they made more WiiU's available at launch then Wii's at launch. If the WiiU is already sold out, then it's not Nintendo's fault this time.

OT: I don't need a 3DSxL, I have a 3DS already. And I love it.
 

Quaidis

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I am apparently getting a 3ds for the holiday and I'm on a waiting list for the WiiU. Safe to say I'm set once winter rolls in.
 

Yopaz

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Mr.Mattress said:
AzrealMaximillion said:
Pre-orders sold out? Why not make a point of the demand for the Wii-U and have more available? The scarcity of the Wii at launch worked in its favour, I don't know if the same tactic will work again.

It's like trying to break atwo different safes with the same rock.
They said this time that they made more WiiU's available at launch then Wii's at launch. If the WiiU is already sold out, then it's not Nintendo's fault this time.

OT: I don't need a 3DSxL, I have a 3DS already. And I love it.
Well, they did kinda underestimate the demand so in a way it is their fault. I guess I and all the others who pre-orderd could be blamed too. Blast us and our anticipation. Actually the only reason I pre-ordered was that I remembered having problems getting a Wii and I didn't want to see that happen this time.
 

Mr.Mattress

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Yopaz said:
Mr.Mattress said:
AzrealMaximillion said:
Pre-orders sold out? Why not make a point of the demand for the Wii-U and have more available? The scarcity of the Wii at launch worked in its favour, I don't know if the same tactic will work again.

It's like trying to break atwo different safes with the same rock.
They said this time that they made more WiiU's available at launch then Wii's at launch. If the WiiU is already sold out, then it's not Nintendo's fault this time.

OT: I don't need a 3DSxL, I have a 3DS already. And I love it.
Well, they did kinda underestimate the demand so in a way it is their fault. I guess I and all the others who pre-orderd could be blamed too. Blast us and our anticipation. Actually the only reason I pre-ordered was that I remembered having problems getting a Wii and I didn't want to see that happen this time.
Oh yes, I forgot that. However, I think everyone was underestimating the demand for the WiiU, including Nintendo, mostly because everyone kept saying that the next Nintendo Console could not be the next Wii or PS2. I wouldn't blame the people who pre-ordered it though.
 

TIMESWORDSMAN

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You heard it here first, early Wii U adopters. Nintendo doesn't give pair of flying dingoes kidneys about you(me).
 

Yopaz

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Mr.Mattress said:
Yopaz said:
Mr.Mattress said:
AzrealMaximillion said:
Pre-orders sold out? Why not make a point of the demand for the Wii-U and have more available? The scarcity of the Wii at launch worked in its favour, I don't know if the same tactic will work again.

It's like trying to break atwo different safes with the same rock.
They said this time that they made more WiiU's available at launch then Wii's at launch. If the WiiU is already sold out, then it's not Nintendo's fault this time.

OT: I don't need a 3DSxL, I have a 3DS already. And I love it.
Well, they did kinda underestimate the demand so in a way it is their fault. I guess I and all the others who pre-orderd could be blamed too. Blast us and our anticipation. Actually the only reason I pre-ordered was that I remembered having problems getting a Wii and I didn't want to see that happen this time.
Oh yes, I forgot that. However, I think everyone was underestimating the demand for the WiiU, including Nintendo, mostly because everyone kept saying that the next Nintendo Console could not be the next Wii or PS2. I wouldn't blame the people who pre-ordered it though.
Blaming the people who pre-ordered was more a joke from my side. However Nintendo is the one putting the console into production so they are the only ones who can be blamed when supply doesn't meet demand.
 

Elvaril

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Hopefully this means they will sell some different colours here in the States. I liked my white DS Lite. I want a white 3DS as a successor.
 

Beautiful End

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AzrealMaximillion said:
Pre-orders sold out? Why not make a point of the demand for the Wii-U and have more available? The scarcity of the Wii at launch worked in its favour, I don't know if the same tactic will work again.

It's like trying to break atwo different safes with the same rock.
Thank you! See, when Blops' Care Package or Borderlands' Loot Chest edition sells out and it's not up for pre-order anymore, I get that. It is, after all, a limited edition.
But when the WiiU's pre-orders "sold out", I just laughed. It either tells me Nintendo isn't really ready to launch the WiiU and should have waited maybe another year instead of jumping ship and trying to beat everyone to the punch or that Nintendo's incredibly dumb by, like you said, trying to repeat the Wii launch madness all over again.

And yes, it is purely Nintendo's fault. If they are indeed trying to be the cool guys by launching their new system first, they should anticipate a lot of people would want it, especially if it's coming out so close to the holidays!

Fool me once, Nintendo.
 

GAunderrated

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AzrealMaximillion said:
Pre-orders sold out? Why not make a point of the demand for the Wii-U and have more available? The scarcity of the Wii at launch worked in its favour, I don't know if the same tactic will work again.

It's like trying to break atwo different safes with the same rock.
I doubt the tactic will work again. The Wii was something new and fresh. However, majority of wii owners that I have known learned that their Wii's have done nothing but gather dust for the past few years (if not sold) and that it wasn't as special as everyone thought.
 

DrunkOnEstus

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May 11, 2012
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After doing this for so many years, I think I've heard enough times that they create scarcity on purpose. With the wild sales of the Wii, and a totally new interface for the WiiU, they had to know that they didn't manufacture enough.

I stayed in line for a midnight launch for the Wii, paid someone $100 for their spot when the girl working at the store put one aside for their boyfriend and knocked me out of line, and it was actually a good idea because I didn't see Wiis anywhere for quite a long time. It keeps the system in demand, it becomes that rare thing that if you see it in the wild you grab it up and buy it immediately, even if it's to sell it on Ebay. I don't know if that's the case this time but I've been though it many times.