Any designer, be an archetypal apparel designer or a trendy tech designer their main goal is to design their current product free from the flaws that were present in their previous design. The same cliché holds good for the Nintendo products too; after literally years of reviewing the flaws in their preceding versions Nintendo developed the recent gaming console 3DS that overcame the flaws of its predecessor Nintendo DS.
Lamentably, this conventional cliché boomeranged for Nintendo since the sale of the old DS product raised considerably (about 386,000 products sold in a month) while the new 3DS is lagging in sales with only 143,000 products sold in the same month. The actual reason for this downfall is not clearly known, yet some of the possible reasons are the lower retail price of the DS console. The pro of DS (low price) turns out to be the con of 3DS.
Additionally 3DS is claimed to cause certain health problems and this buzz started even before the official launch of the 3DS by Nintendo. Some of the alleged problems due to this new gaming console were eye strain, head ache, eye pain, giddiness, nausea, etc (these problems are said to occur in users who play the 3DS game continuously for certain hours together).
When such a grapevine is spreading around like a forest fire most of the parents are hesitant to buy this product especially to their younger children. Another scuttlebutt is that the health problems seem to occur more in younger kids than in teens or adults.
This is not all; to add more misery to the developers various users returned the purchased products and claimed to give back a full refund on the product. The reason for this is still ambiguous.
Within a week of 3DS launch retailers shifted about 400,000 units which came as a shock to the Nintendo (as they weren’t hoping this) albeit this doesn’t seem that bad. Nintendo is again following the prime cliché of surmounting the flaws of the current 3DS with help of their new venture Wii U which is going to be launched officially on Easter Day 2012. Let’s hope that at least Wii U would bring cheers to Nintendo on the auspicious day unlike the current 3DS which became a nightmare.
“You can find radiance even in the darkest times but only when you remember to switch on the light” – likewise you can convert your losses to profits only when you know the business tactics. Amazon.com has boosted the sales of 3DS by its “Buy 2, Get 1” policy. Over this weekend the pre-order sales had a striking increase (credits to the Amazon.com Inc’s strategy). Although not all titles in Nintendo 3DS have been provided with this offer some titles such as Super Mario has been sold under this offer category. Am personally thinking about utilizing this offer to buy the Nintendo’s 3DS (can there be a person who is not tempted by offers and discounts?).
Have you bought yourselves a Nintendo 3DS or have you thinking on the same line like me (to buy through Amazon) or have you placed an order with Amazon.com? If you are the owner of 3DS, what are the disenchantments you facing? With such problems in 3DS, do you think Wii U will be a hit? Share it through comments.
I bought a 3DS on launch and I don’t think I’m alone in saying that it’s mainly DS games I play on it. I suppose the run up to Christmas may help though with some top titles coming out.
I really hope that Nintendo have learnt there lesson in that they aren’t good enough to sell a console with no games and high prices. I am sure it they release highly anticipated titles and the prices are fair then the Wii U will help redeem some of Nintendo’s reputation
Agreed Colin 🙂 Thanks for your comment!