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Nintendo reassures UK fans that 3DS won't sell out, but warns that prices will rise
If you didn't pre-order a 3DS for today's UK release -- and you want a 3DS -- Nintendo would like to inform you that you don't have to freak out and rip a display unit out of a store kiosk. Well, that's a bit of a paraphrase. "We have well in excess of the pre-orders available," Nintendo UK's James Honeywell told Eurogamer. He said that there is "literally no reason" shoppers wouldn't be able to buy a 3DS this weekend. You might not have to scramble to secure a console, but if you're interested in one, haste may still be in order -- at least, according to Nintendo, who kind of wants you to buy a 3DS right away regardless. The discounts that UK retailers have been offering for the system will dissipate after the launch period, Honeywell said. "I'm not sure a lot of those offers will be there for the long term. Those are great offers for the launch. There's huge amount of noise and hype around the launch. Those prices will start to revert a bit."
Nintendo 3DS more resistant to piracy, claims Nintendo UK manager
Before all you Zero Cools and Crash Overrides out there start taking the headline you see above as a challenge, we'd like to note that Nintendo wasn't intending on baiting would-be hackers regarding its forthcoming 3DS' hackability (or lack thereof). "It's always like a red rag to a bull isn't it? I almost don't want to comment on that sort of thing," Nintendo UK general manager David Yarnton said in an interview with CVG recently. Yarnton continued, shying away from getting too specific. "We can't divulge any technical details ... but needless to say this is probably one of our best pieces of equipment in that respect," he said, adding, "There are a lot of things we've learned over time to try and improve the security and protection - not only of our IP but of our third-party publishers' IP as well." That said, it's not all technology driving the protection. "People are aware that video games, music and movies make massive contributions to the economies of countries. They need to make sure they start protecting those things," Nintendo UK marketing manager James Honeywell noted. "I think perhaps there's been a 'heyday of piracy' and we've now seen a lot of rules come in to stop it." Honeywell also points out precedent-setting legal cases regarding the R4 cart, and other DS flash carts as helping with the 3DS' piracy protection. "This now makes a precedent that potentially in the future it won't be a viable thing for people to do." We're not sure if additional laws prohibiting piracy will make the act any less viable, but it'll at least drop a hefty penalty on those who get caught.
Nintendo Europe manager speaks, fanboys argue
Remember that song, "Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?" Yeah, it was a classic, wasn't it? Well, I've adopted the song for Sony and Nintendo representatives. It goes like this:Who sold marginally less handheld systems?Sony sold marginally less handheld systems!Who me?Yes YOU!Couldn't be!Then, who?Who sold marginally less handheld systems?Nintendo sold marginally less handheld systems!Who me?Yes YOU!Couldn't be!Then, who?Rinse, and repeat, folks. Rinse and repeat. If you couldn't tell, I'm somewhat sickened by this constant use of sales figures to somehow prove a system's superiority. Once it starts affecting me as a gamer, I'll start worrying. In the latest round of executive fanboyism, Nintendo product manager James Honeywell spoke out about the success of the DS, and how it's theoretically affecting the PSP: "Up until the end of last year sale between the two formats were fairly evenly matched, with DS slightly outselling PSP," he said. "Since the beginning of the year, with our stellar line-up of releases, we have pushed our sales through the roof. Then with the fantastic launch of DS Lite in June we have begun to pull further and further away.""Right now, with the combination of DS and DS Lite we are outselling the competition by a ratio of 3:1. This increase in hardware sales has also driven an increase in DS software sales, moving ahead of PSP in the total number of units and also, more interestingly, we have now seen that the same third party titles are selling more on the DS than on other formats. We are seeing publishers start to rethink their strategies switching development from other formats to the successful DS platform and, more importantly, creating bespoke titles that fully utilise the DS features rather than simply porting content without taking advantage of the great things you can do on DS."Once again, I haven't really seen third parties run away from Sony's handheld. Once quality games stop coming for my system, that's when I'll start to get worried. Until then, I'll enjoy my underappreciated PSP, just as much as I've enjoyed my Gamecube and Dreamcast (I have a real knack for choosing underdogs, huh?).[Via DS Fanboy]
