In a Q&A session Nintendo had with Tokyo investors last week, Satoru Iwata was asked how the recent 3DS price drop would affect third party publishers and retailers. Iwata had this to say:
For third parties, the hardware price was a hurdle. Publishers were saying things like, “Even if they are interested in this game, they can’t buy it,” or “We placed a big bet that the 3DS would sell without question, and are a bit disappointed.” These same publishers are now saying “We’re extremely relieved” and “This will definitely sell.”
For retailers, profit margins will also go down. While Nintendo cannot do anything about this, retailers will see benefits from the overall expansion of the 3DS business. One retailer from America (Iwata would not share the name) was so pleased that he said “It’s like Christmas has come early!”
It’s nice to see Nintendo feels good about the support they are getting from third parties and retailers, contrary to how they feel about the support of their fans. It probably helps that Nintendo is organizing a “Price Protection” program where Nintendo will be refunding the difference back to retailers.
If Nintendo has truly learned from past mistakes, we will finally see more massive hits or, you know, more games added to the embarrassing eShop offering to help fill the gap Nintendo is making in their profit margin for the 3DS.
3DS price drop good for developers and retailers, says Nintendo CEO [andriasang.com]
