Nintendo wants to compete with cheap tablets more than ever, just not the way you think. The company will release a new version of the 3DS, the Nintendo 2DS — and it has a tablet-esque form factor. As the name suggests, it is a cheaper 2D-only handheld console compatible with 3DS and DS games. At $129.99, it is $50 cheaper than its sibling. The company also announced a $50 price cut for the Wii U, ahead of the releases of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
While the 3DS is doing well, it’s another story for the Wii U. As of June 30, Nintendo reported 3.61 million sales. As a reminder, in July 2007, 7 months after the release of the Wii, the company was selling 1.8 million consoles each month. Now, it wants to compete on price.
But the console still lacks games and many third-party games from big publishers, such as Electronic Arts, Activision and Ubisoft, will only be released for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The PlayStation 4 will cost $399 and the Xbox One $499.
Nintendo probably thought that launching the Wii U a year before its competitor was the right move to get a head start. But it was hard to convince existing Wii owners that the Wii U wasn’t just a tiny upgrade with a tablet-like controller. The name of the console itself doesn’t help. It finally is an HD console, but it’s hard to communicate about the number of pixels on a screen.
With the 2DS, Nintendo finally built a gaming tablet. It could have a certain appeal to parents who are hesitating between a cheap Android tablet and a Nintendo handheld console, but the form factor doesn’t seem very practical for the gamer.
As Nintendo suggests in the 2DS promo video, the new console is “a handheld gaming system from Nintendo like you’ve never seen before.” Everyone can agree that Nintendo is right on this one.
Developing…
Source: TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/GZeBAz6Ur0I/
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