DS Lite dropping to $99 on June 5

Nintendo announced an impending price drop for the DS Lite. Starting June 5, it will be sold at $99.99 MSRP, and Nintendo is introducing a new red-box line of best-selling Mario DS titles. However, they won't be discounted.

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Nintendo announced today that the DS Lite system will drop to $99.99 MSRP, starting on June 5. In addition, Nintendo is introducing new red packaging for six popular Mario titles on the DS. The six games with shiny new boxes are: New Super Mario Bros, Mario Kart DS, Super Mario 64 DS, Mario Party DS, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem.

The repackaging might seem like discount line, but the announcement doesn't make any mention of lowered prices for the highlighted titles. Instead, the red packaging is strictly cosmetic and will make the games easier to find, according to Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime.

"From the moment it launched, Nintendo DS Lite hit a sweet spot for consumers in terms of value, experience, and fun," said Fils-Aime. "This new price point will introduce Nintendo DS Lite to even more consumers, and the new red packaging will make it easy for them to find their favorite Mario titles."

Nintendo also took the opportunity to brag about a few sales numbers. The DS "family" has sold 48.9 million units in total. More than 262 million games in the core Super Mario series have been sold, and each of the listed games sold at least 1 million units to date. The highest is New Super Mario Bros with 9.25 million units, followed by Mario Kart DS with 7.4 million, Super Mario 64 DS with 4.34 million, Mario Party DS at 3.27 million, and Bowser's Inside Story at 1.98 million. The most recent release, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, barely made the cut at 1.01 million units sold.

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  • reply
    May 31, 2011 11:00 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, DS Lite dropping to $99 on June 5.

    Nintendo announced an impending price drop for the DS Lite. Starting June 5, it will be sold at $99.99 MSRP, and Nintendo is introducing a new red-box line of best-selling Mario DS titles. However, they won't be discounted.

    • reply
      May 31, 2011 11:32 AM

      wait. i'm confused. wasn't there news a while back about the DS lite being discontinued? I haven't been following the news very well though, so maybe i'm mistaken.

    • reply
      May 31, 2011 11:43 AM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      May 31, 2011 12:05 PM

      refresh my memory... what's the difference between the original ds and the lite? is it only gba compatibility?

      • reply
        May 31, 2011 12:16 PM

        No, the original DS had that as well. The difference was a redesigned case (slimmer, less bulky) and a much brighter screen.

        The DSi and DSi XL were the ones that dropped GBA compatibility.

      • reply
        May 31, 2011 12:16 PM

        The DS and DS Lite are both GBA compatible, DSi, DSi XL and 3DS are not. DS Lite has brighter screens than its older brother and is obviously slimmer but otherwise the same.

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          May 31, 2011 3:14 PM

          I may be mistaken, but didn't the original DS have slightly larger screens then the Lite?

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          May 31, 2011 4:10 PM

          and a GBA cartridge will stick out of the lite slightly.

    • reply
      May 31, 2011 4:05 PM

      Thanks, I just sold my DS Lite based on this info.

    • reply
      May 31, 2011 4:08 PM

      Your last chance to ROCK OUT!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZvksGoUB1Y

      (unfortunately, the Shack's video is broken on this page: http://www.shacknews.com/article/53245/guitar-hero-on-tour-trailer ).

    • reply
      June 1, 2011 2:17 AM

      The price for games is insane, Reggie claiming that 'it hits a sweet spot in terms of value' just proves how out of touch they are concerning pricing.
      Even though don't want to compete with ipads/androids/Iphones thats the reality, its not going to cut it with $50 games anymore.
      There is just no way in hell I'm sanctioning my sons to buy games at the current price level.
      Unless they make a massive (as in minimum 50-70%) price drop, my family portal gaming is going to be on ipads/iphones.
      Sure I'm just a average consumer, but that how I feel. It always irrked me that games/movies/music has have their prices set by a monopoly like system, a true market economy should go both ways.


      • reply
        June 1, 2011 3:57 AM

        If you don't think they are worth the price don't buy them. I totally agree with you. The quality and length of the games on DS are comparable to mobile games.

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