Dragonbums said:
Why would they stop? Just because nobody is using the 3D on the 3DS doesn't mean, nobody doesn't want the clampshell design of the 3DS.
Especially when the 3DS XL is selling like hotcakes.
I mean, look at how upset the Escapists got at the notion that they would phase out the 3D part of the 2DS models even we as a collective couldn't give a shit about it?
Thing is though, they've never had to pay royalties on any of their systems before. While 1.82% doesn't seem like much alone, that's about $3.60 or so per 3DS XL and given the
millions of units that have sold then it will add up. Plus it's not that they have to pay it only one time, they have to continue paying that amount for as long as the regular 3DS and the XL models sell. If Nintendo were to bring back the clampshell for the 2DS then most people will have something they want back, you can never please everyone though. Really it all depends on how Nintendo handles it, but I don't think they'd like the fact that they have to pay a royalty for ever 3DS and XL sold, even if their stocks and worth are up so much it's still gonna be seen as a loss from what they would initially make. I mean really the regular 3DS' have been nearly phased out as it is when it comes to buying them in certain retailers, since retailers are carrying more and more XL units. It's similar to how you will rarely see the Basic editions of the Wii U in stores anymore as they've been replaced with the Deluxe edition of the Wii U.
Nintendo tends to do that when they develop a newer version of their system, especially in the handheld sector. When the SP came out, the amount of regular GBA's in stores being sold as new decreased until it was pretty much entirely replaced with the SP. The DS line had the same thing, with the titanium bricks phasing out the DS Lites, and the DS Lites being phased out by the DSis. Same thing is gonna happen with the 3DS more than likely with the 2DS possibly getting some sort of redesign to then phase out the 3DS XLs, many have been predicting a 2DS XL model since this story was out.
All in all one must remember that Nintendo is still a company that is out to make money, and being forced to pay royalties for the device that is selling like hotcakes will diminish the maximum profits that they were once making.
The 3DS has sold as of this point, 11.5 million in the United States alone. Let's assume that half of those are the regular 3DS, about 400k are the 2DS which doesn't have to pay royalties, and the rest are the 3DS XL. So that makes it so that they have to pay royalties on 11.1 million 3DS right now, and as long as the XL and regular version still sell then they have to continue paying royalties for as long as it's supported. The original 3DS currently sells at a price of $179.99, and the 3DS XL currently sells at a price of $199.99. For every 3DS that's sold Nintendo must pay 1.82% of the price of each one. So that means for every regular 3DS Nintendo sells, they must pay $3.28, and for every 3DS XL they sell they must pay $3.63, bundles they'll have to pay more but I'm just going off regular models and not limited edition ones. So that means that puts the total together at $6.91 for every 1 3DS and 3DS XL Nintendo sells. Multiply that by 11.1 million, and Nintendo now has to pay around $7,601,000 for 3DS' sold in the North American region and will not be able to keep that money at all. Meanwhile, if they were to just go to the 2DS then they get to keep that money and don't get a loss. Plus right now they still have to pay the $15.1 million as per court order. It could have been worse because the original percentage was 2.3% or something, but the jury threw that out and the judge cut the damages fine in half from $30 million to $15.1 million
Note that the figures I used were an estimate, but the fact still remains that Nintendo is losing money and not making as much as they used to with the 3DS and the 3DS XL. Now they
can continue to sell the 3DS and the XL models as they are right now if they so want to, but they'd have to accept that they are no longer earning as much money on it as well as the fact that they actually have to pay royalties.
