Keith Lui's Blog

The Nintendo 3DS is slated to release in North America on March 27^th, with an initial retail price of $249.99 USD.   Compared with older generation Nintendo game consoles, which simply sold themselves due to Nintendo’s iconic characters and games, the 3DS marks the beginning of a new generation of 3D gaming.

The Nintendo 3DS offers the following features:

• 3D gaming.  By using a process called autostereoscopy, the 3DS will allow gamers to play in 3D without the need of special glasses.  Though the concept of using 3D entertainment is ancient, this will be the first time that a portable gaming console offers glasses-free 3D capabilities, marking the beginning of a new generation of gaming.
• 3D pictures can be taken with built-in 3D cameras.
• Compatibility with Nintendo DS and DSi games.

Here is a look at the ever-important marketing mix of the new 3DS:

• Price – With the Sony Next Generation Portable scheduled to release in the fourth quarter of 2011, the 3DS would, for the next few months, be leading the portable consoles market.   The North American retail price of 249.99 USD would be, on average, 100 dollars more than the current consoles, such as the PSP and Nintendo’s own DS.  Nintendo believes that it can attract gamers with its new features.
• Product – As explained above, the 3DS is a new, innovative approach to portable gaming that will be leading this particular market for the next few months.  It seems as though Nintendo is broadening their market; the 3DS has a powerful processer that would be able to produce graphics like the Xbox 360 and the PS3.  This addresses the needs of hardcore gamers.
• Place – Nintendo plans to ship 4 million units worldwide by the end of March, with 1.5 million in Japan.  Just as soon as pre-orders were available in Japanese retailers, they came to an end.  Nintendo is careful to maintain the exclusivity of these consoles while selling as many units as possible.
• Promotion – The 3DS was initially revealed in June 2010.  Since then, Nintendo has had conferences and events promoting the 3DS in cities such as Amsterdam, New York City, and London.

One possible concern, however, is that playing for extended periods of time could be damaging to your vision, and perhaps cause nausea and dizziness.  Nintendo has already publicly stated that children under 6 should not play the 3DS.

In the end, how successful will the 3DS be?  Knowing Nintendo, it will probably be as good as anything that comes out in the new generation of gaming.

Here is a promotional video of the 3DS: