Nintendo Glad 3DS Isn't Sold Out

[JET1971]

sounds to me more like someone saying "hey we have plenty BUY EM PLEASE so i dont lose my job". as im sure they were prepared for a 600k or more first week sell like the wii had. 400k sold and prepared to have plenty in stock for a 600k sell... thats quite a few not sold.

 

[KCL]

Aye, I think the tag line use of "glad" is a bit wrong. Never heard of a company saying they're glad they didnt sell loads. I think its highly probable they did have some strategy to try and keep the stock levels, well, stocked but I think any company wouldn't mind if they sold out!

The "sell-out" is a common marketing gimmick companies use to puff themselves up. That's why you have to look at the actual numbers. I can print five copies of a book, sell them all, and then brag that my book sold out its first print run. But this isn't an effective measurement of the book's success.

When a new Apple product sells out, for example, it's because Apple intentionally underserves the market for that product in order to make the release look more successful, get extra media attention, and drive additional sales. Nintendo tends not to play these games. They also shy away from loss leaders.

 

[Doclector]

Kinda sounds like rewriting shooting schedules to make it seem like I planned this shoot to take two weeks all along...

Honestly, I would not be surprised. Regardless, if nintendo want to succeed with this there are two things to remember. 1) the casual Market do not want to spend £200+ for a console and a few starter games. And 2) while casual could bring in short term cash, after a while, they usually do one of two things. They move on to the next thing and either stop buying regular new games or stop playing altogether, or they become gradually more hard core (one of ussss...) , seeking more advanced, in depth gaming. Sooner or later, you have to provide for the hardcore audience, and that includes not only old nintendo fans expecting the promised trademark franchises, new hardcore gamers simply looking for the next proverbial level of gaming.

All in all, they can't coast on the casual gravy train forever, although there may always be room for it. Especially with such an expensive console.

 

[icyneesan]

God I hope they release more colors. I want a Sapphire Blue one to match my GBASP and DS. Or at least the awesome purple one they showed off at E3

 

[VGC USpartan VS]

There's only two reasons why I would buy a 3DS.

Mercenaries and Ocarina of Time... oh wait? they aren't out yet? Too bad, so sad. I'm gong to spend my money elsewhere cause Nintendo waited too long.

 

[theultimateend]

Well the library right now is terrible, so once some good games come out for it the sales will most likely skyrocket.

To be fair, this sold less than the DS, which was not exactly endowed with great launch titles.

Which is why I'm not buying the "we're glad the unit hasn't sold out" line. It sounds like Sony after the PS3 wasn't selling well. Nobody is seriously going to say "I'm glad our previous console/handheld outsold our current one by a sizable margin at launch!"

I actually agree with them.

One of the major deterring factors for getting a Wii for me was the lengths to get one. Everyone was sold out and eventually I just lost interest. With them keeping a constant supply, it makes getting a 3DS very easy and simple. Just as it should be.

And yet a deterring factor for you helped keep the Wii a hot item for that period of time. You know how I know that? At a time the other consoles were looking at price cuts, Wiis were still going for double or even quadruple retail on eBay.

Nintendo was "losing interest" all the way to the bank.

Meh. They'll make more money then god, then release the 3DS lite that'll be amazing and sell even more.

I doubt they are honestly worried. Nor should they be.

 

[DeadAccountMoveAlong]

"Nintendo Glad 3DS Isn't Sold Out"

Mostly because during that class-action lawsuit over all the illness and brain cancer caused by playing it, they want as few people joining it as possible.

 

[Raeil]

I tried one at best buy and not even 2 minutes in pilot wings I was getting serious headaches. We play games to get away from headaches not create them. Honestly I don't think the 3DS is capable to show us 3d safely as 3d with glasses does. I know I never got a damn headache from a 3D movie but this 3DS is like instant headache. Maybe that's why you can't sell out geniuses.

Just so you know, I've been playing the 3D onboard games for the past two weeks for up to 30 minutes at a time, and not a single headache. In other words, one of us is an exception to the rule. Considering the economic downturn plus the fact that this is a handheld, not a console, I'm going to take the 400,000 units sold during launch week to assume you're the exception.

I am sorry you can't experience the 3D on the system without headaches though. It's mindblowing at the moment, and can only get better from here.

 

[RaikuFA]

i remember trying to get a wii a few years ago. trying to call toys r us'/gamestops and them hanging up when i asked. people buying 4 or 5 at once just to sell for $600 on ebay(which i think should be illegial). wanted to kick nintendos ass for that

 

[SomebodyNowhere]

So that explains why the store I work at has sold 0 systems and 1 game since release. It was all part of Nintendo's plan.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Hah! You just failed 'cause it was a GIMMICK! /typicalEscapistresponsetoanythingNintendorelated

Serious: Well, with the weak launch line-up, there wasn't much incentive for people to buy one. Just wait a little. Also, a price drop would help, and maybe a game to come with the system? Right Nintendo, you used to do that. What ever happened to including a game to go with the system? You were the last company still doing that. Please don't let it stop now...

Outside of special editions, has there ever been a Nintendo handheld that came with a game?

 

[Jeff Gibson]

Hah! You just failed 'cause it was a GIMMICK! /typicalEscapistresponsetoanythingNintendorelated

Serious: Well, with the weak launch line-up, there wasn't much incentive for people to buy one. Just wait a little. Also, a price drop would help, and maybe a game to come with the system? Right Nintendo, you used to do that. What ever happened to including a game to go with the system? You were the last company still doing that. Please don't let it stop now...

Outside of special editions, has there ever been a Nintendo handheld that came with a game?

Well, the Wii came with Wii Sports, and the 3DS comes with AR Games and Face Raiders, but those are more 'tech demos'. That doesn't stop them from being fun, though.

 

[Mr. Omega]

Hah! You just failed 'cause it was a GIMMICK! /typicalEscapistresponsetoanythingNintendorelated

Serious: Well, with the weak launch line-up, there wasn't much incentive for people to buy one. Just wait a little. Also, a price drop would help, and maybe a game to come with the system? Right Nintendo, you used to do that. What ever happened to including a game to go with the system? You were the last company still doing that. Please don't let it stop now...

Outside of special editions, has there ever been a Nintendo handheld that came with a game?

My memory might be a bit fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure the GBA came with that port of Mario Bros. 2 and the original DS came with Mario 64 DS. Not 100% sure but I think so. They stopped doing that after the DS, though.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Well Nintendo maybe be happy, but 3rd party developers may want to see better sales than that before they invest heavily on the 3DS.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Hah! You just failed 'cause it was a GIMMICK! /typicalEscapistresponsetoanythingNintendorelated

Serious: Well, with the weak launch line-up, there wasn't much incentive for people to buy one. Just wait a little. Also, a price drop would help, and maybe a game to come with the system? Right Nintendo, you used to do that. What ever happened to including a game to go with the system? You were the last company still doing that. Please don't let it stop now...

Outside of special editions, has there ever been a Nintendo handheld that came with a game?

Well, the Wii came with Wii Sports, and the 3DS comes with AR Games and Face Raiders, but those are more 'tech demos'. That doesn't stop them from being fun, though.

Holy crap! The Wii's a handheld console? I didn't know that. But lugging around a TV screen might be troublesome.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Hah! You just failed 'cause it was a GIMMICK! /typicalEscapistresponsetoanythingNintendorelated

Serious: Well, with the weak launch line-up, there wasn't much incentive for people to buy one. Just wait a little. Also, a price drop would help, and maybe a game to come with the system? Right Nintendo, you used to do that. What ever happened to including a game to go with the system? You were the last company still doing that. Please don't let it stop now...

Outside of special editions, has there ever been a Nintendo handheld that came with a game?

My memory might be a bit fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure the GBA came with that port of Mario Bros. 2 and the original DS came with Mario 64 DS. Not 100% sure but I think so. They stopped doing that after the DS, though.

That's odd. My Game Boy Advance was from the store and it came with no games. I got a Game Boy Colour game with it from my father, but no games came with the GBA.

And the DS, I doubt it since my friend got the original DS, and he had no Mario games... but I could be wrong on that.

 

[Jeff Gibson]

Hah! You just failed 'cause it was a GIMMICK! /typicalEscapistresponsetoanythingNintendorelated

Serious: Well, with the weak launch line-up, there wasn't much incentive for people to buy one. Just wait a little. Also, a price drop would help, and maybe a game to come with the system? Right Nintendo, you used to do that. What ever happened to including a game to go with the system? You were the last company still doing that. Please don't let it stop now...

Outside of special editions, has there ever been a Nintendo handheld that came with a game?

Well, the Wii came with Wii Sports, and the 3DS comes with AR Games and Face Raiders, but those are more 'tech demos'. That doesn't stop them from being fun, though.

Holy crap! The Wii's a handheld console? I didn't know that. But lugging around a TV screen might be troublesome.

Whoops. Missed the 'handheld' part.

I need to get more sleep...

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Hah! You just failed 'cause it was a GIMMICK! /typicalEscapistresponsetoanythingNintendorelated

Serious: Well, with the weak launch line-up, there wasn't much incentive for people to buy one. Just wait a little. Also, a price drop would help, and maybe a game to come with the system? Right Nintendo, you used to do that. What ever happened to including a game to go with the system? You were the last company still doing that. Please don't let it stop now...

Outside of special editions, has there ever been a Nintendo handheld that came with a game?

Well, the Wii came with Wii Sports, and the 3DS comes with AR Games and Face Raiders, but those are more 'tech demos'. That doesn't stop them from being fun, though.

Holy crap! The Wii's a handheld console? I didn't know that. But lugging around a TV screen might be troublesome.

Whoops. Missed the 'handheld' part.

I need to get more sleep...

Another reason why I didn't/couldn't go with the home consoles, is the NES came with Super Mario and Duck Hunt.

 

[fundayz]

I'm surprised that they even sold that many considering it's heavy price tag and that it's nowhere near the holidays. The 3DS will probably sell like hotcakes come christmas and keep selling well as it's price drops.

At the moment, a 3ds cost almost as much as a brand new XBOX.

 

[AquaDestruix]

Well, Nintendo said that they were aiming to sell around 400,000 units, and that they did. That's a lot of money and units...