With the 3DS generating as much hype as it is, it's no surprise that its software may cost as much as your average Wii release. You get what you pay for, and this handheld could hardly be classified in the same ballpark as the Game Boys of yesteryear. No, friends; the 3Ds is nothing less than a Game Man. Or woman.
Gender confusion aside, here's what Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata had to say about it:
As long as you are already creating a fully rendered 3D world, all you have to do in order to create the 3D visual effect is to capture the same images with two cameras, one for right eye and the other for left eye. From a development perspective, it actually does not make much of a difference in terms of development costs to create the 3D visual effect.
On the other hand, because the visual capabilities of Nintendo 3DS are more powerful than the existing Nintendo DS, if you are going to take full advantage of the graphics capability of Nintendo 3DS, the development cost is also expected to rise.
Therefore, if developers decide to try and maximize the graphical powers of the system, then the cost would be more expensive than what it is currently for Nintendo DS and may potentially approach the cost of developing Wii software.
He says a lot of other stuff too, so be sure to check out the full interview. Whether or not this will impact the prices of games at retail only time will tell, but if development costs are to rise it's not impossible that retail prices will have to increase too.
[source nintendo.co.jp]
Comments 44
no matter what it's going to cost a bundle
Oh, God. I suspected this would happen.
Forget Wii pricing; DS games (the good ones, anyway) are expensive enough as it is in this country.
.I don't mind paying a little more for quality first party titles, however I tend to wait until they're $60 or less (most first party Wii games retail for $80-$100 here).
Dont you mean 'Steptoe and Son'..? DS and Wii pretty much cost the same already in the UK, new is normally somewhere between £30-£40.
Sanford and Son is an American comedy that was based on Steptoe and Son.
@sillygostly yeah, but retailers tend to ignore RRP. The RRP for DS games is something silly here like $69AU and for a lot of games retailers follow that.... but they rarely follow the $80-100AU RRP for Wii games.
Take for example JB-HiFi, Super Mario Galaxy 2 isn't out yet but on their site they have it up for $79AU. On the other hand Mario Kart DS is STILL listed as $62AU. With that said a few months ago I got Okami on Wii new for $20 and Animal Crossing with Wii Speak again new for $29. My sister, after loving Animal Crossing on Wii, just got Animal Crossing on DS USED for $34 at the same store!
So Iwata saying DS games will approach the price of Wii games.... to me it seems like DS games are already very similar in price to Wii games. At least in Australia!
Yeah, a Game Woman with 3D curves
no surprise, can't say this bothers me
Looks like I'm the second american here. So my theory it might be round 40 dollars or so here for a game. Wow I can't believe we're at Gamecube level in portable gaming already, so amazing! This is one console I'm gonna pitch a tent for.
@skywake: I'm aware of that, however the only seriously cheap games around are typically clearance titles that have gone out of print (as was the case with JB's obscenely cheap pricing of Animal Crossing Wii).
Game Woman? [insert sandwich-making joke here]
Someone was bound to say something like that.
From what I've heard, Nintendo can slap any price they want on the 3DS and its games, and it's still gonna be a Wii situation where they're out of stock for two years.
Am I the only commenter that read the article? Iwata says that development costs (not game prices) will rise if you fully employ 3DS tech. And then Zach wonders if it may affect game prices. But everyone takes it as if it says that the prices will rise.
Maybe the headline of this article could have been written a bit less lurid to prevent such misinterpretation.
Anyway, just like everyone else here I hope games won't get more expensive.
Can't say for other publishers, but here in the UK, Nintendo's DS titles are usually £30 or £35 whilst their Wii titles are often £35, £40 or £45. I would be happy to pay £35 for a 3DS game, and I think £40 would be an acceptable price tag for some, but any higher is too high.
Edit: Oh, and then there's the VAT hike from 4 January from 17.5% up to 20%, that'll up prices by a couple of pounds.
I added the comment about the potential for rising costs at retail as it seems a valid concern. You're quite right though - the article is about development costs rising.
I get cheap wii games all the time... Just wait for your "second priority titles" to have a price drop and you'll be fine!
Wow the price is the one thing that is scarying me abotu the 3DS. Will not be buying it at launch almost for sure now.
@Bass - I know, just drawing attention to the original classic Galton and Simpson were such great writers afterall.
I cant afford many new games anyway - if I really want something, I have to trade in.
Redd Foxx, ladies and gentlemen.
I feel sorry for aussies. Hopefully it will be no more then $45.99 for US.
AAH thank goodness, I thought it would cost more... I'll keep my fingers crossed... and sorry, good ol' Australian gamers.
They need to tread carefully here. I'm sure there will be a range of titles with a range of prices, but they need to make sure they don't scare people away with prices significantly higher than what they're used to paying. I could see $39.99 (US) as a fair price for a handheld game, as I've paid that price twice (God of War: Chains of Olympus and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant WIngs, both very good games), but anything higher feels like too much.
What is this, national Nintendo bad-news day?
We had to figure this was going to happen! It will sell by the boatloads inspite of the price. Once the hardcore gamers get thier hands on it the price of the system will come down to meet the casual gamers needs. As for the games by then a lot of them will be more afordable. I for one will pay the price for a huge step up in gaming. I do understand that not everyone has that option. You do have about 6 months to start saving. Good luck trying to find one after that. Did`nt get my wii till 3 months after launch. Got lucky!!
NO!!!!
I'm predicting $199 for the 3DS and $39.99 (USD, NA prices)
They are talking about development costs, not retail prices.
Yeah, and all the 3rd party games will release a couple months later with no 3D on the app store for less than $15. Whatever. Man, today is really making me not want to buy a 3DS.
(Though actually OB's prices sound about right for the US, that wouldn't be bad, but there's no way I'm paying $50 for a handheld game).
Nothing to fear friends. I only suspect the price to jump to 39.99 and that's not so bad considering the current DS model games typically are 29.99 and 33.99 for hits like Animal Crossing: Wild World and Mario Kart DS.
@O_B: That's what I'm hoping for, though if it comes out this Christmas I'm betting it'll be around $249 to $299 because they'll be low on stock. I'd much rather it came out in March for $199 and they had plenty of stock.
But I don't have a million dollars!
Wow this is a big turn off. I'm probably not buying at launch if this is true. Psp games launch at 40 and then quickly drop in price which i then buy. I refuse to pay 50 for a handheld game. Especially when game length could be a factor if its cart based.
Come on, $40 tops.
Yeah, I'm thinkin $40 would be about right...but that won't really matter if they price the console above $200, cuz if you can sink >$250 into a handheld money isn't exactly an issue for you (If it is >$250, I'll probably just get a 360 Elite or something).
Come to think of it, a March release could be kinda good, especially considering my birthday is the 28th!
Hopefully this doesn't affect retail pricing. I'm not sure I'd want to pay $50 for a portable game.
I can barely scrape enough together to buy a normal-priced (34.99) DS game. How the heck am I supposed to buy games that cost as much as Wii titles???
Guys, the games are gonna rock.
ill get the syste-i mean handheld and 2 amazing games and the cheapest game i can find
We all know Square-Enix is going to overprice their games. The Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy games costs $40 when it comes out fresh. Funny thing is, now that Nintendo is publishing DQ9, it's only $34 (some other places $30), and THAT game was partially developed by Square Enix (Level 5 primarily developed it).
Expect Kingdom Hearts 3DS to be $50 or even $60- or at least a NEW Square Enix game. Man, this might suck. Then again, I usually only purchase first-party titles which I'm sure would cost around $40 or even $45 (especially that Zelda OoT remake).
Ok now I know he's full of $#!%.
Oh, no. Approximately £35 for Britain?! Darn! ...Well, should be well worth the money!
Everyone is over reacting here.
DS games range from $19.99US new to $34.99US (rare). So I'm thinking 3DS could be $29.99US to $49.99US (rare).
Iwata said if they fully embrace the technology then games "may potentially approach the cost of Wii software".
So sorry to break it to you folks but you probably wont get that $60US game you're anticipating.
I agree with @Caliko. They may cost as much, and some Wii titles are pretty inexpensive. I don't think I've ever seen one for $60. But I could imagine that if they are very graphically impressive, as much as a Wii game, and as big as a Wii game, then why shouldn't they cost as much? I'm sure that if they released a DS-esque game on 3DS, though, it wouldn't cost more than a DS title. Makes sense to me.
When the GBA first came out, I found myself paying for several $50 games, and Gamecube was to be the big main console. It doesn't take a second to know that the 3DS is several times stronger, and games can be up to what, 1.985 or something GB larger? With full 3D, glorious graphics, and several things only the 3DS can pull off? It's still a flick in the groin but when the value of a handheld game is pretty close to that of a console, it's suddenly not so grieving. I'll be stomping my feet raging I paid like $170 for 3 games, then (hopefully...) I'll sit down and really enjoy them.
If the strength of the 3DS is as what everyone says it is, then yes, they games will cost at least $50. (where I'm from) Since the strength is more than the original DS then that means the games will be much longer, the fact that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3-D is being made, making home console games for a portable? Unheard of! points to the 3DS Another thing about the 3DS that I laugh at is that it can take 3-D pictures and may allow video chat, the Microsoft Kincect allows Video Chat, so when Microsoft fans say: "Can the Wii do Video Chat?" I can say: "Nope, but the 3DS can!"
Personnaaly, i understand that people are sort of worried about this fact, even me. Because if i think about it, Nintendo wants me to pay for a system that could be more expensive than a DSi XL(199.99 US $), and expect me to buy games that are more expensive for the 3DS when it is still backward comppatible. I think it's kind of stupid, but yes making 3-D games is more expensive i understand, it's just that i don't think it's a good idea to make them have a higher price than before. :/
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those are just my thoughtsShow Comments
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