Opinion: The price cut's a start, Nintendo, but we need more

Well, did you see this one coming? We sure as hell didn't.

Just four months after launch, the Nintendo 3DS has seen its price heftily reduced worldwide - and by a third in Europe.

It's a bold move by the Japanese firm, and one that is completely out of the company's comfort zone. Then again, after the period the 3DS has had to accumulate sales, it's difficult to argue with the decision.

We've seen game cancellations, delays, and save data issues. There's been ridiculous pricing in the eShop, and a distinct lack of downloadable titles. And what about the abomination that was Nintendo Video?

Truly, it hasn't been the greatest console launch in history. Now Nintendo is looking to put things right, and it's definitely taking steps in the right direction.

Whereas other gaming companies may come up with lame excuses in times of stress (we're looking at you, Sony), Nintendo has shown its experience by apologising outright to consumers.

In a statement yesterday, the company noted that the price drop "may cause you, the loyal fans who supported Nintendo 3DS from the beginning, to lose trust in us."

By acknowledging this and coming across as actually giving a damn, Nintendo will have definitely won over some of its troubled loyalists.

Not only that, but Nintendo president Satoru Iwata today revealed that he will be taking a whopping 50 per cent pay cut, while other Nintendo bosses will be seeing their salaries reduced, too.

These aren't stuffy executives who couldn't care less. They seem genuinely concerned about the state of Nintendo and its fans, and they're now looking to rectify their mistakes.

Of course, given that the company has slashed the price of the 3DS so early into its life cycle, you would expect that existing 3DS owners will be up in arms at the decision.

Nintendo is aware of this, and has attempted to mollify the early adopters by doling out a total of 20 free games before the year is up.

This package of titles will comprise ten NES and ten GBA games. And though it's easy to dismiss this gesture as a cheap way out - who cares about old games like these, anyway? - the quality of titles Nintendo is handing out for free means we're actually getting a pretty sweet deal.

Among the NES games are the likes of Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong Jr, Balloon Fight, Ice Climber, and The Legend of Zelda - all essential NES fare that demand your attention now as much as they did way back when.

But it's the GBA titles that we're most excited about. Pretty much the entire list has us rubbing our hands together.

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong make up a veritable who's who of the GBA scene.

If the other five on offer are as good as these, we'll happily spend weeks and months playing through these awesome titles again.

Nintendo isn't trying to fob us off: it has put together the best collection of back catalogue titles it can muster up, and there has clearly been thought put into this initiative.

The point to note is that Nintendo didn't really have to do any of this. It could easily have reduced the price of the console and left it at that.

This is a company that is going the extra mile, and here at Pocket Gamer, we're definitely feeling grateful.

That being said, there's still a fair distance to go before the Nintendo 3DS is back on track. No amount of price cuts and free games can fully solve the underlying, and indeed overlying, issue.

This is a console in desperate need of quality titles - both retail and downloadable - and just content in general.

After four months, we still feel like the capabilities of the console are not being tested to the limit: instead, developers are simply putting games together and then hitting the '3D' button.

With a Nintendo-heavy Christmas approaching, this is hopefully the start of a well-needed relaunch.