
doing it right
OK, it may not be selling so well and they are forced to drop the price but at least they aren't screwing over the early adopters. Many other companies would have done nothing for them.
With the 3DS price cut imminent, it is claimed Nintendo will lose money on every console sold. The company is also forcing cuts on its employees, reducing salaries by up to fifty per cent. According to Bloomberg Japan, the new 3DS price point means Nintendo will incur a loss on every console sold. We've already talked about …
Given the cost of import duties, sanctions, VAT, the cost of distribution itself, plus in-the-box accessories, manuals, packaging and warranty coverage, it's not really a huge stretch to suggest Ninty are pushing the 3DS to be a loss-leader. The money in the games industry has long been with the games themselves, which cost a lot less to produce and have far bigger margins.
20 free games for early adopters? That's pretty generous! I'm always staggered at these stories where the price of a product drops & the early adopters cry & demand a re-fund etc. In my view if you buy something and then the price drops, be it the next day, week year, then tough!!
Most consumer products that you buy contain a profit margin in the product itself and the manufacturer, distributor and retailer all take their respective cut from that, and everyone (theoretically) makes a profit. Happy days.
The videogame industry is different. Videogame consoles are often sold at a loss on the hardware by the manufacturer and the way they make their money is from software sales from games developed by themselves (1st party titles) and by a licencing fee from anyone else that wishes to make games (3rd party titles) for the manufacturers consoles.
What the manufacturer needs then, when selling a videogame console, is as many people buying the console as possible, as early as possible, so that games manufacturers can have confidence that it is going to be a success that they can make money from, and thus the manufacturer can get their licence fees from the games developer.
If the manufacturer gets it wrong and can't shift enough consoles, then not only have they made a loss on each console, but they then don't have enough software developers paying licence fees or end punters buying games, to make any money at all.
With all that in mind, it then makes perfect sense for Nintendo to give 20 free software titles to early adopters to keep them happy and buying future Nintendo products. It also makes sense for them to drop the price of the console, even if it means making a loss on the hardware, if it drives up the number of sold consoles and therefore software development licence fees that games manufacturers have to pay them (As much as £10 of each console game you buy is the licence fee)
It isn't a reasonable analogy to compare games consoles to the sale of flatscreen TV's for example. Flatscreen TV's pricing is based on everyone in the chain making a profit, whereas games console profits are in the software sold. The likes of Nintendo need to get the early adopters onboard and keep them happy, generation after generation of console and also drive demand through volume sales.
"We've already talked about how the hardware parts of a 3DS cost just £60 and with the new price of the console still more than double that, it would seem someone's been doing some ambitious maths."
I vaguely remember an old quote about why medication costs so much, when it only takes a few pennies to make each pill. The reason being the first pill cost millions.
Its not just the cost of the hardware. Its the development costs they were going to make back. Cost of the software. Assembling. Packaging. Distribution. etc.
If you think you can build and sell handhelds for 60 quid, go on.
Agreed. I think it's nonsense that a site like iFixIt or some such looks simply at the BOM for a product, concludes that an iPad or 3DS costs only 20¢ in parts, and then sites like The Reg quote that as some Holy Number that is a sin to surpass.
Additionally, last I checked it may be unfashionable, but not yet illegal, to make a profit on a device.
That is not to say, of course, that the 3DS was not, shall we say, on the premium end of pricing (Nintendo admitted as much at launch), but market forces have moved the Hidden Hand and Nintendo has reacted, as it should, by bringing the price down to what the market will bear.
Perhaps that's a half truth they've let slip. I highly doubt they're selling at a loss like Sony did with the PS3 originally so perhaps it's a loss of massive profit they're talking about. Still, with the millions and millions of Wii consoles sold they can afford to lose some money for quite a while given that the price stayed as high as it did for so long.
Wii U? I'm not too impressed really. The graphics are brought up to current standards with a gimmick of touchscreen controller that could be useful and work well in some games but I really hope they hire someone that can come up with a better name by release or for their next console.
They minimise profits on the consoles, to mark up the now overpriced games to make their money.
Why do you think they're paranoid about people knobbling consoles (xbox, PSx) to "deprotect" them, even if the end user has no intention of pirating games? They're using them as cheap computers.
So, due to THEIR self-imposed pricing model, they're trying to make us feel guilty because outright blaming us didn't work?
Boo hoo. Watch how hard I cry.
Paris, because it's the closest to a tear there is.
for the big wigs taking some cuts. I have heard this is pretty typical in Japan, though, the company heads actually taking responsibility for their mistakes and the health of the company.
Here in the US, companies that have trouble, the CEOs and bigwigs get huge pay *raises* for "sticking with the company during this troubled time, and trying to turn it around" or some such excuse, even in cases where the bigwigs clearly caused the problems (as opposed to cases where the company's done everything right and sales have just dropped due to the crap economy.) They make damn sure they have a "golden parachute" clause so if they do get fired or quit, they get a huge cash payout. The people who get huge pay cuts, lose benefits, or get fired, are the ones who actually do the work for the company.
At least the head honcho is taking some responsibility for it.
The novelty of the 3DS grabs many, but at the end of the day its still kinda like the same ol' shite.
Everyone I know with a NDS has a R4(or similar) card and wouldn't have bought the DS otherwise.
The games just aren't al that.
As for the 3DS, the 3D isn't amazing and it's a bit of a pain having to hold it in the sweet spot. And then its the same old junk games.
Can we forget all this half assed 3D, gyro, movement etc BS and just get back to making some decent addictive games?
...to NIntendo's bullshit? Re-releasing decade-old games and tacking on additional 3D gimmicks, remaking the same games over and over and over, not giving a shit about the quality of their online service, etc, etc?
Perhaps with their next console they'll get back to actually maki-oh, wait....Wii U.
...it's because "3D" technology is the biggest gimmick around, and too many punters are wise enough not to shell out their hard earned for it.
This commenter will certainly not be bothering with a 3DS, no matter how they appeal to my sense of nostalgia with Ocarina of Time and Pilotwings. I shall not be a nintendo slave! I'll stick with my existing DS lite and original DS and miriad games. Er....
Mine's the one with the copy of Nintendo magazine, December 1999, in the pocket.