Shack PSA: 3DS Ambassador program registration ends Thursday night

If you want to be in on the 3DS Ambassador program, which includes 10 free NES titles and 10 exclusive GBA titles, you should pick one up soon. You'll need to log on to the 3DS eShop by midnight on Thursday.

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Let this serve as a reminder: if you want to get in on the free games that come with a higher price tag on the Nintendo 3DS, you should get thee to a store toot sweet. Starting this Friday, the price drop goes into effect and you can grab the system for $169.99. If you buy one and log on to the eShop by 11:59 pm EST on Thursday, though, you'll be recognized as a 3DS Ambassador, which nets you 20 free downloadable games.

Some retailers have already started offering sales, in apparent attempts to beat others to the punch. Online retailer Amazon is offering the models for $209.99 (Blue) and $217 (Black); if you use that route, though, make sure it will ship in time to login to the eShop. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart has reportedly jumped the gun entirely, offering the $170 price tag today at some locations. Call ahead to your local store to be on the safe side.

For Ambassadors, ten free NES games (with multiplayer) will arrive September 1. Those include Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr., Balloon Fight, Ice Climber, and The Legend of Zelda. The other five are still a mystery.

Ambassador-exclusive GBA offerings will follow sometime this year, including Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare Inc: Mega Microgame$, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong. An apparent leak from Nintendo of America claims Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3 and Kirby & the Amazing Mirror will be included as well, but Nintendo has not confirmed those or the other GBA titles.

Nintendo made no bones about the Ambassador program being a goodwill gesture toward fans who may have bought the system for $250 and felt burned with a price drop after only 4 months on the market. But then, a price drop was wholly necessary; the 3DS hasn't performed to expectations, leading to a financial loss, along with a stock drop and executive pay cut.

For its part, Nintendo is being fairly open about the system's weaknesses. Iwata recently commented that the system's sluggish sales are due to a lack of "big hit software titles." While it came in the same breath of downplaying the threat of smartphones, at least that means Nintendo brass knows they need some games to boost the system's popularity.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    August 9, 2011 12:15 PM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Shack PSA: 3DS Ambassador program registration ends Thursday night.

    If you want to be in on the 3DS Ambassador program, which includes 10 free NES titles and 10 exclusive GBA titles, you should pick one up soon. You'll need to log on to the 3DS eShop by midnight on Thursday.

    • reply
      August 9, 2011 12:41 PM

      As an early adopter (i bought it less than a month ago), I don't mind this price drop at all because of the free games.

      But, I am damn surprised at it. I image without the drop, sale would have gone way up at Christmas time. Not only because it would be the first holiday the device is on sale, but the barrage of Nintendo games that are coming out then.

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        August 9, 2011 12:58 PM

        Yeah, it might have been better for them to do some big promo's with the box stores for a while instead of the price drop but that's not how they decided to handle it.

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      August 9, 2011 2:00 PM

      Rumor has it that walmart has already dropped the price of the 3ds. Seems like you can have your cake and eat it too if you buy it by thursday and log online - you can both get it at the lower price and get free games! Source: http://m.ign.com/articles/1186959

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        August 9, 2011 2:01 PM

        I am an idiot and didn't see that it was already mentioned in the article.

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        August 9, 2011 2:12 PM

        Yeah, just called my local walmart and they have indeed dropped the price. Shit just got mighty tempting.

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          August 9, 2011 4:26 PM

          Whelp, I bit. Gonna have a hard time talking the wife into letting me get a Sony Vita now :)

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            August 10, 2011 7:06 AM

            I am also strangely tempted, but... I don't think I would really use it enough. Must....fight....urge!

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              August 10, 2011 9:54 AM

              The fact that some of those free games will never be offered to the general public is what tipped my decision.

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        August 9, 2011 2:57 PM

        [deleted]

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      August 9, 2011 2:01 PM

      Yeah, there was a note in the Shop when I checked over the weekend "You're an ambassador"

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      August 9, 2011 4:17 PM

      Score. My walmart was one of the ones that has it at $169.

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      August 9, 2011 4:48 PM

      I am so stoked for some of these GBA games that I never got to play. Yoshi's Island, Mario Kart Super Circuit and Metroid Fusion to name a few.

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        August 9, 2011 4:57 PM

        Yeah, it's a good bunch of games.

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      August 10, 2011 4:24 AM

      The 3DS price drop will help a little but while the software price is still too high for the games. The graphics and dawn of the iPad means £35 RRP in the UK is ridiculous, no way im buying games that price that look like a N64.

      Software price down = more 3DS sales

      Other than that there is one other unspoken truth that would make the 3DS fly off the shelves even at the old price... when its cracked to play 3DS roms...

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        August 10, 2011 6:24 AM

        Haha, looks quite a bit better than N64, trust me. I bought an N64 last weekend and the 3DS games look much closer to GCN.

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