The electric reaction to the Nintendo 3DS at this year's E3 is one of the reasons Nintendo opted for a 25,000 yen ($300) price point, president Satoru Iwata has told analysts.

As reported by Bloomberg, the Nintendo CEO explained during an analysts meeting yesterday that the excited reaction at E3 was one of "a number of factors" it considered when setting the higher than expected price.

Iwata also told analysts that the company's original plan was to release the handheld in time for Christmas, but it delayed plans until early next year because of fears over supply constraints.

Analyst Colin Sebastian predicted yesterday that the later than expected release will cause supply constraints in the West.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/ar ... ?id=267501

I can't tell if that's the best excuse ever, or if people should learn to be more 'meh' in future

If they charge more than they're worth a lot of people will just wait until they drop the price before buying.

True, but Nintendo don't usually drop their prices over time. The Wii costs pretty much the same as it did at launch (in fact I think the price may even have gone up...) as do all it's peripherals, same for the various DS's.

I think the price for the 3DS is going to be a bit catastrophic to be honest with you. I suspect it'll be £249 in the UK and I really can't see the casual market - who have been buying DS's to play Nintendogs and Kawashima and the like - are going to want to buy in at that price. There's a hardcore fan base in Nintendoland of course but Nintendo have actually been doing pretty much everything they can in the last few years to alienate them. It'll sell in good numbers initially but then I can see sales dieing off in a big way.

Jon

All the previous DS releases won't have helped either (granted, the original looked like a portable sat. dish)