Why did Nintendo take such drastic action?

Many who have been observing the 3DS sales were noting that they were trending with the original DS sales (before the DS took off in 2005 and 2006). If this is true, why did Nintendo take such drastic action?

The answers Iwata gave do not reveal the whole story. Yes, summertime is when retailers plan how to do their holiday plan. Yes, third parties were abandoning the 3DS. And, yes, Nintendo learned from the Gamecube that a price cut needs to come sooner instead of waiting.

But the answers Iwata didn’t give are much more illustrative as to why Nintendo took drastic action.

The difference with the DS and 3DS is that Nintendo was putting out its ‘big games’ early on in the 3DS. The DS just had a Mario 64 port and a Metroid Prime Hunters demo (with junk for third party games). DS was being outsold by the PSP. DS’s fortunes began to reverse with Nintendogs. And then there was Mario Kart DS and Animal Crossing DS. And then there were other big games to come like NSMB DS even though the DS had taken off in Japan in 2005.

The 3DS had all of Nintendo’s ‘big games’. Unfortunately for Nintendo, none of them built momentum.

3DS built in software didn’t build momentum.

Nintendogs 3DS didn’t build momentum.

Pilotwings 3DS didn’t build momentum.

Steel Diver (haha) didn’t built momentum.

None of the 3DS third party software built momentum.

Nintendo was really hoping that Ocarina of Time 3DS combined with things like 3DS Classics, Virtual Console, and Netflix would really get the system going. DS never had Netflix, Virtual Console, or other download games back in 2005. But none of this built momentum.

Ocarina of Time 3DS didn’t build momentum.

Starfox 3DS didn’t build momentum.

Nintendo is panicking because they are running out of games. The only games they have left are Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7.

“Oh, they will sell the hardware for sure.”

Are you sure about that, reader? You were certain that Ocarina of Time 3DS would sell the 3DS. It didn’t. And seeing how Mario 64 DS didn’t exactly sell the DS, it is doubtful that Super Mario 3DLand will sell the 3DS.

So that leaves only Mario Kart 7. But seeing how Mario Kart didn’t make the N64 or Gamecube rise to heaven, this game may not do the job.

And that’s all folks.

Nintendo probably has an Animal Crossing 3DS in the pipeline somewhere and some second party games. But that’s all! All the momentum software is out and the 3DS wasn’t budging. This is why there was a drastic price cut.

Another major difference with the DS and 3DS is that Nintendo must switch to the new home console software sooner. The DS was revealed at E3 2004. The Wii was revealed at E3 2006. Both systems came out the holiday of those years. The 3DS was revealed at E3 2010. The Wii U was revealed at E3 2011. Nintendo is switching gears to make their ‘momentum building’ software on the upcoming home console much sooner than they did. This means Nintendo cannot keep making 3DS software.

What Nintendo isn’t telling you is that the 3DS will essentially get no more Nintendo games than what has already been revealed. That’s it. 

Perhaps the ’emphasis’ now on the download games is because this is all that Nintendo can crank out in the limited amount of time it has left. In terms of major Nintendo releases, it is over for the 3DS. Their development teams are all busy on Wii U software.