Nintendo 3DS — Glasses-Free 3D and an Early Price Cut

The Nintendo 3DS launched in North America on 27 March 2011, at $249.99. Japan had it a month earlier, on 26 February 2011, at ¥25,000 including tax, and Europe two days before North America, on 25 March 2011. Nintendo's IR data likewise gives the 3DS's first release as 26 February 2011, in Japan.

The Nintendo DS had reached North America before Japan; with the 3DS, Japan was first again. Less than six months later, Nintendo cut the price steeply.

From announcement to launch

On 23 March 2010 Nintendo said it would release a portable machine provisionally called the Nintendo 3DS, on which games could be enjoyed in 3D without special glasses, during the fiscal year ending March 2011. It would succeed the DS line and play DS software, including DSi titles, and more details would follow at E3 from 15 June.

The Japanese date and price came on 29 September 2010. Nintendo's IR release listed these features:

The North American and European dates were announced together on 19 January 2011, at events in New York and Amsterdam. Nintendo of America's press release set 27 March at $249.99 and said prices outside the United States would be set by local markets; Nintendo of Europe set 25 March.

28 July 2011: from ¥25,000 to ¥15,000

Five months after launch, on 28 July 2011, Nintendo announced that the suggested price in Japan would fall from ¥25,000 to ¥15,000, both including tax, from 11 August. The reason it gave was to create momentum and speed up the spread of the 3DS ahead of the year-end season, when more software would be available, and it said overseas prices would also fall in the July–September quarter, by different amounts and on different dates. The same notice gave November for Super Mario 3D Land and December for Mario Kart 7.

The same day Nintendo cut its forecasts for the year to March 2012: expected operating income fell from ¥175 billion to ¥35 billion, citing the stronger yen, sales performance and the decision to cut the 3DS price.

Nintendo of America set the new North American price at $169.99 from 12 August. According to Game Developer, Nintendo of Europe said European prices would fall by around a third.

The Ambassador Program

A cut that deep penalised the people who had paid full price at launch. The same day Nintendo posted a message from president Satoru Iwata announcing the Ambassador Program for early buyers. In it, Iwata acknowledged that Nintendo had never before made so large a cut less than six months after a launch, and that it risked the trust of the customers who had supported the 3DS first. He explained that circumstances had changed greatly since before launch, and that without bold action now there was a growing chance the company could not create a future in which many people enjoyed the 3DS.

Eligible owners had to connect their 3DS to the internet and visit the Nintendo eShop once before the cut: by 11:59 p.m. on 10 August in Japan, and by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on 11 August in North America. According to Nintendo of America's press release, the program had two parts:

The NES ten included Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda; the Game Boy Advance ten included Mario Kart: Super Circuit and Metroid Fusion. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime put the price cut plainly: "For anyone who was on the fence about buying a Nintendo 3DS, this is a huge motivation to buy now."

75.94 million

Nintendo IR's regional data gives these totals for the 3DS family, including the 3DS XL, Nintendo 2DS and New Nintendo 3DS models:

Worldwide hardware sales by fiscal year:

From FY3/2012, the year of the price cut, hardware sales stayed above 12 million for three years running. Even so, the lifetime total is less than half the DS's 154.02 million. The regions were evenly balanced, with Japan, the Americas and the rest of the world each taking roughly a third.

For the wider story, see the game consoles timeline; for Nintendo's later hardware, see the Nintendo Switch.