Nintendo's handheld 3DS is in a UK price war

JAPANESE GAMING VENDOR Nintendo has seen UK retail giants undercutting each other to sell the cheapest 3DS handheld console on the shores of Blighty for Easter.

Despite only being on the shelves for a few months, Nintendo's glasses-free 3DS gaming handheld has had a few price chops on its £200 selling tag. It looks like the retail outlets are hoping to be awash with demanding parents, kiddies and punters as the Easter weekend approaches and want to offer the cheapest deal in the UK.

According to 3DS Nintendo Life, Game and HMV dropped the price of the 3DS to £179.99 for the Easter weekend. Gamestation announced it would follow suit at the same price.

Online though, only Amazon has joined the high street outlets with the £179.99 price cut. The UK's Play.com hasn't budged on its £196.99 price.

Only a few days after the 3DS release in the UK Amazon came out with the first price cut to £187. Then, not to be outdone, Tesco joined the fray and started selling the 3DS for a mere £175.

Nintendo can set the suggested or recommended retail prices but retail outlets can sell kit at any price they want, as they incur the financial hits on the discounts. The knock on effect for Nintendo is more sales but that doesn't mean vendors are necessarily happy about price cuts because they can mean a product isn't selling very well. Not that the 3DS is showing any signs of that so far. µ