David Carey, vice president of technical intelligence for UBM TechInsights, gave a preliminary estimate saying the system's components cost about $101 per unit. Put in perspective, Eurogamer says that is about $15 more than the DSi.
asked Nintendo to comment on the figure, but got a less than satisfying answer: "Total rumor and speculation. No comment."
Forking over two and a half Benjamins for a portable console is a tough pill to swallow, but not unheard of.
The PSP cost $249 when it , although the bundle included a memory stick, headphones, a case, and a UMD version of the Spider-Man 2 movie.
By comparison, the original priced at $149.99, and the and cost around $130.
Nintendo traditionally goes for a more wallet-friendly price point that probably reflects its traditional primary audience: children.
Perhaps with the breakout success of the Wii with adults and has forced the company to reevaluate its target audience. That demographic change potentially applies with the 3DS too -- the device's says shouldn't use the 3D functionality at all.
Perhaps Nintendo is hoping to target a more mature crowd with the 3DS. You know, the one that doesn't rely on allowance money or birthdays for its major purchases.
To be fair, the $250 retail price doesn't include costs for research and development, packaging, advertising, and shipping. Besides that, Nintendo unlike other hardware manufacturers (here's looking at you, ) doesn't like to sell its hardware at a loss.
If you're into numbers, compiled a list of launch prices for portable prices and adjusted it for inflation.