A report from Bloomberg Japan translated by Andriasang claims that Nintendo will lose money on every 3DS it sells once yesterday’s price cut is introduced.

Nintendo CEO Saturo Iwata justified this strategy at a Japanese press conference by saying that “such major moves were necessary in order to improve fiscal performance next year and beyond”.

Selling hardware at a loss is anything but new in the games industry, with both Sony and Microsoft employing the tactic in an effort to gain market traction.

In Microsoft’s case it has been a notable success, with years of loss making at its Xbox division finally now delivering the goods, having transformed itself into a profit making business.

But for Nintendo this is a very rare occurrence, with the company having succeeded in making a profit off every unit sold for many years now.

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The shockwaves created by the shock 3DS price drop continue to ripple outwards, and now EA has warned Sony that the PlayStation Vita faces some very serious challenges.

“I think it looks like a great device,” EA Play boss Jeff Karp told MCV. “But the real challenge for all game handhelds is how they stack up against mobile and tablets.

“After all, how many devices do people want to carry?

“We are a platform agnostic business and we want them all to succeed, but it will be challenge for handhelds. Just look at how smartphones and tablets continue to grow and emerge.”

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EA CEO John Riccitiello has spoken about EA's plans to move away from 3D, and towards social and online gaming.

"We see really high returns in these markets and very poor returns focusing on 3D, so we are allocating our resources toward new innovations," Riccitiello told stockholders at EA's annual meeting.

"Frankly we have not seen a big uptake for 3D gaming. We have not seen a big uptake in 3D TVs in the home, at least not yet. We are not here trying to drive a market. We are here to react to what consumers are looking for."

He also spoke about the problems faced by Nintendo’s 3DS.

"It was perceived to be the next big thing, there were complaints about is causing headaches and nausea and all sorts of things. Frankly, it didn't do that for me, but there were complaints, and it's not performed as well as they would like."

Earlier this month EA acquired casual games developer Popcap for $750 million.

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Nintendo has expressed concern over a potential backlash from customers who bought a 3DS before today's unexpected price cut announcement.

"Never in Nintendo's history have we dropped a system's trade price so significantly less than six months after launch," the company said in a statement.

"We are aware this may cause you, the loyal fans who supported Nintendo 3DS from the beginning, to lose trust in us, and this is not our intention in any way. All of you who have kindly supported Nintendo 3DS from the beginning are Nintendo's most important customers."

In a bid to prevent consumers "regretting purchasing" a 3DS early, Nintendo has confirmed plans to offer its "special customers" 20 free downloadable games from the Nintendo eShop.

Earlier today, Nintendo revealed global 3DS price cut plans after the portable sold just 700,000 units in the period between its February 26 Japanese launch and the end of the company's financial first quarter on June 30.

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This week's US Nintendo downloads list is out and at the top of the menu is a mean game of golf.

Gameloft's Let's Golf is clearly a shot at Camelot Software and Sony's Hot Shots Golf (aka Everybody's Golf) - a cartoony, anime-style golf game with over 100 courses and plenty of charm - and it's actually pretty good.

Nothing else leaps out at us, but the full list is below. Hit the source link for more info and trailers.

Nintendo eShop
Let's Golf 3D - Choose from eight customizable characters and play in exotic locations, including the Mayan jungle and a winter wonderland. The 3D visuals will let you view your ball's trajectory like never before. (For Nintendo 3DS)

Virtual Console
Brawl Brothers - Rick and Doug know all the moves, from martial arts to pro wrestling throws, and they don't hesitate to use them. You really don't want to mess with them! (For Wii)

WiiWare
Burn the Rope - Try to burn as much of the rope as possible in each level. But there's a catch: The fire only burns upward, so you must rotate the levels to keep your flame alive. (For Wii)

Also new this week:

GO Series: Portable Shrine Wars (Nintendo eShop / Nintendo DSiWare)
Oscar's World Tour (Nintendo eShop / Nintendo DSiWare)
My Australian Farm (Nintendo eShop / Nintendo DSiWare)

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While Sony and Microsoft systematically sell their new consoles at a loss - initially at least - Nintendo is known to refuse such a tactic, instead balancing production costs to maintain a profit margin on its hardware.

But this is a practice Nintendo will forfeit with the 3DS, according to Bloomberg Japan (via Andriasang), who reports that Nintendo will indeed be making a loss on every 3DS sold after it introduces the drastic price cuts announced today.

As reported earlier, Nintendo will chop around a third off the price of 3DS worldwide next month, following lacklustre sales in the early part of 2011.

3DS' RRP will drop from $249 to $169.99 in the US on August 12. A cut to the European trade price will come on the same day. Nintendo is yet to confirm the exact drop for the EU, but has told CVG that it will be "around a third".

Australia will also benefit on August 12, with 3DS dipping from $350 to $250. Meanwhile, Japan will see a price drop on August 11 - to 15,000, down from 25,000.

The firm also announced a '3DS Ambassador' program that will award early adopters 20 free games in an effort to prevent them from 'regretting' purchasing the console early.

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Nintendo had confirmed new names and release dates for the 3DS' two flagship Mario titles.

Traditional platformer Super Mario will now be known as Super Mario 3D Land and will land on UK shelves in November. The new title harks back to the original Super Mario Land series on Game Boy, the first title of which has been released on the 3DS eShop.

Meanwhile Mario Kart 3DS has become Mario Kart 7 and will be released in December. It is the first numbered entry in the long-running series.

Nintendo confirmed to Eurogamer that the new titles will be the final European names for each game.

The amended monikers were first sighted in a Nintendo press release this morning detailing the surprise 3DS price drop.

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I don’t think anyone saw this coming. And if they say they did, they’re either really clever or a liar.

This morning Nintendo announced that it is cutting the price of the 3DS handheld by a third. That should see it retailing for something in the region of £130 in the UK. If recent price promotions continue, you could even see the device hit the magic £99.99 mark before Christmas.

And all of this is happening just four months after launch. Even friends at Famitsu, the magazine that's closer to Nintendo than other, have told MCV of its surprise this morning

It’s not unprecedented, of course. The Xbox launched in March 2002 for £299.99. Just four weeks later Microsoft slashed the price to £199.99.And in that instance it worked, with Microsoft’s machine outselling the £130 GameCube over its lifetime.

But that was a different era. Microsoft was the new kid on the block. It had to be aggressive and is a company that has always been willing to fight retail battles through discounting. But this is Nintendo, the one platform holder that has always had profitable hardware and always doggedly stuck behind its RRP.

The Wii price cut earlier this year was the first time the machine had been discounted since launch. In fact, it even went UP in price in that time.

Plus the 3DS is the successor to the most successful gaming handheld ever produced. It’s the only device to offer affordable glasses-free 3D. We all thought it would be a success. And it still could be, of course.

But the one thing I love more than anything else about the games industry, it’s that it will always surprise you.

Most of my contemporaries believed the Wii would fail. It didn’t. Many doubted the DS could stand up to the PSP. It did. And we all thought the 3DS would be popular. Which as of yet, it hasn’t really achieved.

But despite the enthusiasm for the device, there were always questions hanging over Nintendo’s handheld strategy.

Most importantly, it’s certainly a credible question to ask if dedicated handheld games machines even have a place in the modern games market. With phones offering an increasingly rich gaming experience that’s always in your pocket, the incentive to carry a second, dedicated gaming device is certainly lessening.

And then there’s digital strategy which, let’s face it, has never been Nintendo’s strong point. The biggest question mark for me hovering over the 3DS launch was always the software pricing.

Is £39.99 even remotely viable for a portable game in the modern market? You can pump in all the ‘added value’ that you like, for it matters not when games like Flick Kick Football, Chinatown Wars, Game Dev Story, Drop7, Infinity Blade, Doodle Jump, Fruit Ninja and Espgaluda II can be had for pittance. And you don’t need to swap cartridges to play them either.

Here’s a bit of personal insight for you. Every day I get to the office and immediately crack on with the headline news of the day. After that I need coffee and a ***. After that I tend to browse sites like Touch Arcade and Slide to Play to check out the latest iPhone release. I’ll often drop 69p on one. Effortless. And so very, very cheap.

The 3DS launched without a digital store of any form.

But perhaps the biggest factor, and one even the most ardent critic couldn’t blame Nintendo for, is the Japanese earthquake. The biggest injustice being endured by Nintendo right now is the lack of recognition this terrible event deserves for the part it’s played in the early struggles of 3DS.

Solid, reliable Japanese success has been the backbone of Nintendo’s handheld strategy for years now. While certain international regions can be more varied in their enthusiasm for new hardware, and Nintendo handheld is always guaranteed to shift in Japan.

Then when sales dip, redesign the machine. It will sell even more. New colours? Sure, we’ll buy that. Non-advertised screen-tech upgrade? We know all about, guys. Give me one of those! You’ve changed the box it ships in? Best get me a new one then.

But when Japan was devastated by the earthquake and tsunami earlier this year that all changed. I guess frivolous things like gaming took an understandable back step. And without that to fall back, I’m wondering if Nintendo just doesn’t really know what to do.

None of this, of course, should mask that fact that today’s very significant price drop could be all that’s needed to completely reverse the machine’s fortunes. £130 is a great price for a great piece of kit. It’s ideal Christmas present price, one might argue.

The truth remains, however that £39.99 per game is NOT a great price. And ten free NES games and ten free Game Boy games for current owners? There aren’t even ten of each type available on the 3DS Eshop yet.

Oh, and Apple is expected to launch both a new iPhone and new iPod Touch in September. From my experience, that’s what all the kids want nowadays.

And what does all of this mean for the PlayStation Vita? Nothing, Sony would argue, ...

Having confirmed an unexpected 3DS price cut earlier today, Nintendo has now detailed how it intends to reward those who paid out full price for the system just a few weeks ago.

Every current 3DS owner will be entitled to ten free NES games and ten free Game Boy Advance games when they become available.

All current owners have to do is sign in to the Nintendo eShop at least once before midnight on August 11th. Doing this will automatically enrol them as a Nintendo 3DS Ambassador.

The Game Boy selection, which until now had not been confirmed, will include several top-quality games including Yoshi’s Island, Mario kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare Inc and Mario vs Donkey Kong.

Interestingly, Nintendo reckons all these titles will be available exclusively to Ambassadors and that it has “no plans” to make them available to the general public.

The NES titles on offer will include Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong Jr, Ice Climber and The Legend of Zelda. They will all be released this year, but Ambassadors will be able to download them without charge.

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