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Nintendo drops price of Wii U, unveils new 2DS handheld without clamshell design

Nintendo has made some important announcements today.

The company has unveiled the new "2DS," a tablet-esque version of the 3DS that, as you can imply from the name, does not have 3D capabilities. The handheld is compatible with all DS and 3DS games, however, and will cost just $129.99.



The 2DS is what Nintendo considers to be a gaming tablet as it loses the clamshell design of all the DS before it.

Second, three months ahead of the launch of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, the company has dropped the price of the Wii U console by $50 to $299 for the 32GB model. The Xbox One will sell for $499 with Kinect included and the PlayStation 4 will sell for $399.

Seven months after launch, the Wii U continues to sputter. As of June 30th, Nintendo had only sold 3.61 million Wii U. By comparison, in 2007 the original Wii was selling 1.8 million consoles per month.



Developing...

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 28 Aug 2013 12:51

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• 22 comments

• jjmehm

  Anyone else get the feeling that Nintendo is really grasping at straws here?
  

  28.8.2013 12:57 #1

• Qliphah

  Originally posted by jjmehm: Anyone else get the feeling that Nintendo is really grasping at straws here? They have been since the Wii, the last time they had a console on top was the SNES. And sadly it looks like they will lose the handheld market too. Not that the DS was even comparable to say a decent android phone/tablet but it had a gimmick. But now without the 3D what is it?
  

  28.8.2013 13:07 #2

• DVDBack23

  Originally posted by Qliphah: Originally posted by jjmehm: Anyone else get the feeling that Nintendo is really grasping at straws here? They have been since the Wii, the last time they had a console on top was the SNES. And sadly it looks like they will lose the handheld market too. Not that the DS was even comparable to say a decent android phone/tablet but it had a gimmick. But now without the 3D what is it? The Wii and DS/3DS are major, major winners on any scale and timeframe. They only started having sales issues with the Wii U.
  

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  28.8.2013 13:22 #3

• nintenut

  Oh, my.
  
  Well, the Wii U's price drop is good news, if just a bit late... but, boy, is that 2DS an odd duck.
  Personally, I'd hoped for either a cheaper or higher-res 3DS at the cost of the 3D feature, which is useless to me. The design of this unit, however... well, yuck. Just yuck. The clamshell design was practicality itself, for both the portability and durability of every Nintendo portable since the Gameboy Advance SP.
  How and why did they muck it up so terribly?
  

  
  

  28.8.2013 16:19 #4

• jjmehm

  That's something I didn't even think about, the clamshell design is why my ds isn't scratched to hell, plus it keeps both screens in a small package, so you can carry it in a pocket no problem. The whole, it's a tablet, it's a handheld, no, it's a bastard child of the two with the worst features of both! thing is pretty annoying.
  

  28.8.2013 17:12 #5

• Morreale

  Bring back the Gameboy, I say.
  
  I'll buy one of these if they come out with a limited edition one or something though... Very odd looking lol
  

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  28.8.2013 19:02 #6

• PraisesToAllah

  Looks like a 90's platform.

  28.8.2013 19:49 #7

• Menion

  I'm not even going to get into the debate of the wii-u (Just simply to put it the big N is going nowhere they will continue to produce) Though that 2DS.....stated as an "Odd Duck" I'm with you!! This console takes me back to the GBA Micro, I don't think this will last too long, there's no reason it should either the 3DS is a great console, great design, a fantastic lineup of games and definitely worth the price they ask. This 2DS just looks like Nintendo feels consumers are buying things for what they look like in their case ..A tablet?...then again i guess every apple product looks like an ipod, they might be on to something we aren't seeing but then again i really have my doubts on this one...
  
  though on a side note, this would make a perfect system for those of you who have children under the age of 7 as they can't harm their eyes with the 3D and all 3D titles play just fine in 2D only a handful "Really" require it.

  29.8.2013 01:48 #8

• Dragon3000

  Oh.....my.......goodness! WTF is this 2DS?! it looks awful, what are you doing Nintendo? This won't last for long on the market. I can only assume (I pray) that this is only a concept design rather than final product.
  
  The Wii U news, well that's not new, I knew that Nintendo failed on this console when they intigrated that ridiculously large tablet form controller. That's what put me off it straight away, along with the very low harddrive space. That's not going to encourage me to buy digital games is it?!
  
  If Nintendo released another Wii U with normal controllers and a bigger harddrive, then I would definitely consider buying one. I'm not convinced that interaction with this tablet controller makes it a better gaming experience compared to the original Wii console.
  
  2DS.....honestly!!! I should work! for Nintendo!
  

  29.8.2013 03:58 #9

• Ryoohki

  Man the 2DS looks like crap. This is not something I would imagine an adult gamer wanting to carry around. I just don't know what TPTB at Nintendo are thinking anymore. I am glad they are bringing back compatibility with the other DS games but the design is so ugly and like grasping a brick. I won't be buying that pos even though I have had every other type of DS that has come before it.
  

  29.8.2013 10:39 #10

• deucezulu22

  This article does a poor job of explaining things. The 2ds is meant for kids 7 and under.
  Originally posted by Dragon3000: Oh.....my.......goodness! WTF is this 2DS?! it looks awful, what are you doing Nintendo? This won't last for long on the market. I can only assume (I pray) that this is only a concept design rather than final product.
  
  The Wii U news, well that's not new, I knew that Nintendo failed on this console when they intigrated that ridiculously large tablet form controller. That's what put me off it straight away, along with the very low harddrive space. That's not going to encourage me to buy digital games is it?!
  
  If Nintendo released another Wii U with normal controllers and a bigger harddrive, then I would definitely consider buying one. I'm not convinced that interaction with this tablet controller makes it a better gaming experience compared to the original Wii console.
  
  2DS.....honestly!!! I should work! for Nintendo! The controller has everything any other controller has, a screen does not take that away. Any tech heads know you get more for buying a third party HDD with far more space such as 1tb, rather than having the costs of a HDD included.
  

  29.8.2013 13:43 #11

• Ryoohki

  the promo video clearly shows people older than 7 using it. if they had intended it just for the pre-teen crowd I am sure you would have seen just a bunch of kids in that video instead of trying to appeal to the entire family. i can't see many who would rather get the 2ds instead of 3ds just to save a few bucks. also, it seems like the 2ds is a lot more awkward to hold for people with smaller hands.
  

  29.8.2013 14:17 #12

• deucezulu22

  Video aside, it's stated by Nintendo what the 2ds intended market is which this article does not explain.
  

  29.8.2013 15:00 #13

• Dragon3000

  My child would laugh at this 2DS. Before going back to their DSi.
  

  30.8.2013 04:04 #14

• pufff

  How am I supposed to fit that shit in my pocket

  30.8.2013 10:36 #15

• Ryoohki

  Originally posted by pufff: How am I supposed to fit that shit in my pocket Maybe they are trying to promote 2DS fanny packs :)
  

  30.8.2013 12:29 #16

• sternrulez

  I think they've been grasping for several years now. Within 5 years after the original DS game out, they had 3 other handhelds that played the same damn carts! Now they're doing the same thing with the 3DS, which I believe they rolling out a 3DS XL as well. I sincerely hope no one was silly enough to purchase every one of these...you're falling into their trap if you do. If they don't come up with something original and truly innovative real soon, they're going to go the way of Atari & Sega...just another 3rd party developer with NO hardware...none that people want anyway...

  31.8.2013 15:32 #17

• Ryoohki

  3DS XL has been out for a good while. I got one last year during the holiday season. Its been in the box ever since though lol. I've had the DS Phat, DSL, and 3DS. I didn't bother with the DSi. I won't be bothering with the 2DS either because it is clearly a piece of crap. I wouldn't have the 3DS if it weren't a gift to me. I liked the DS for homebrew capabilities. Nintendo keeps making it harder and harder though. Not everybody wants to use pirated games. Some of us want more options for playing music and videos and such. Since I have an android smartphone now though, I don't bother. I bring my ds with me only if I am going out of town to have a backup media player in case my phone dies and I cannot charge it.
  
  

  31.8.2013 18:14 #18

• sternrulez

  LOL! Thanks for correcting me, Ryoohki. :) That just goes to show you how little attention I pay to Nintendon't anymore :)

  1.9.2013 06:14 #19

• deucezulu22

  Quote:My child would laugh at this 2DS. Before going back to their DSi. Ok? We are talking mass market here.
  
  Quote:I think they've been grasping for several years now. Within 5 years after the original DS game out, they had 3 other handhelds that played the same damn carts! Now they're doing the same thing with the 3DS, which I believe they rolling out a 3DS XL as well. I sincerely hope no one was silly enough to purchase every one of these...you're falling into their trap if you do. If they don't come up with something original and truly innovative real soon, they're going to go the way of Atari & Sega...just another 3rd party developer with NO hardware...none that people want anyway... Not even close. Atari and Sega should never be mention when it comes to Nintendo as a company being as they are debt free and profitable.

  1.9.2013 16:07 #20

• sternrulez

  Yes, for NOW they are profitable...however, they've stopped making new DS games and not 100% sure about the Wii, but the Wii-U is a huge failure for them and this tablet thing is surely going to be another. If they continue along this path, how much longer are they going to remain profitable?

  2.9.2013 12:01 #21

• deucezulu22

  The DS was supported for a good while but is time to move on like any other company. Besides the console hasn't even been out for a year, Same old doom and gloom.

  2.9.2013 13:01 #22