(Dollars are rounded down and are using 12/14/2011 data. Prices are also pulled from Suruga-ya 12/14/2011.)
Nintendo's 3DS did not do so hot at the ¥25000 ($320) price point. So they dropped the price.
A solid ¥10,000 ($128) drop.
They gave early adopters ten free Nintendo games back in September. Now they are giving ten free GBA games on December 16. Will these make up for it?
I often use the site Suruga-ya.jp to check used game prices. They seem pretty fair and are usually a bit less than what I see in game stores around me. Now, I know Kansai is said to be a bit more expensive for used games than Tokyo. Okay, but still. Let's hit up Suruga-ya and see what their prices are for the ten games. I went for the "no box, no manual" copies when they had them.
F-Zero GBA : ¥300 ($3)
Wario Land 4 : ¥400 ($5)
WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames : ¥470 ($6)
Mario vs. Donkey Kong : ¥520 ($6)
Mario Kart: Super Circuit : ¥800 ($10)
Kirby & The Amazing Mirror : ¥1050 ($13)
Super Mario Advance 3 : ¥1,060 ($13)
Metroid Fusion (With box and manual) : ¥1,780 ($22)
Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap : ¥2000 ($25)
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (With box and manual) : ¥3600 ($46)
That totals at around ¥11,980 ($149). Not too shabby!
Now, could these games be found cheaper? I do not doubt it. But I could go right now and order all ten games and it would probably cost me at least what the discount on the 3DS was if not more. And even if I did go around stores hunting for the copies, that would take a lot of time.
Out of all ten games I personally only own the US copies of Wario Ware and Fire Emblem. So I lucked out an got eight games that I don't have and I prefer having Japanese copies these days anyway. For something that Nintendo did not have to do, I'd say I'm quite pleased.