Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, has taken personal responsibility for the failures of the 3DS and announced to the company's shareholders that he would be taking a 50 percent pay cut.
Iwata says that Nintendo cut the price of the 3DS to help retailers plan for holiday sales and to keep developers onboard, after a surprising number of games for the device were axed earlier this year.
The high price of the 3DS handheld made it unattractive to buyers, and developers who saw a distinct lack of market penetration, prompted them to cancel their titles for the device.
"For cuts in fixed salaries, I'm taking a 50 percent cut, other representative directors re taking a 30 percent cut, and other execs are taking a 20 percent cut," announced Iwata.
The quick price drop of the 3DS was undoubtedly prompted by past experience with the GameCube, which Nintendo had failed to move fast enough on at the time to save it from failure. Hopefully it's enough to save the 3DS from falling down the same hole.
Given the popularity of Android phones and iOS devices, it's not surprising that the 3DS struggles to gain ground in the marketplace. With only the gimmick of 3D graphics to offer, there's no burning need for anyone who already owns an iPhone to pick one up, and the limited selection of games currently on the 3DS fail to justify the purchase. There has yet to be a single "killer app" for the device.
Nintendo doesn't need to develop its own smartphone to remain competitive, but it has to embrace the digital revolution with more multiplayer-oriented games and digital downloads if it intends to stay competitive.
