Nintendo’s 3DS Rainbow (Warning: Excludes One Territory)

Nintendo LTD and Nintendo of Europe are in the preparations of their next initiative to sell the 3DS to consumers, following the steep price drop. You may already know by now that Nintendo LTD announced two colors, Misty Pink and Ice White — especially the former since I posted it as part of the summation of Nintendo 3DS Conference 2011. The second one was announced at a later date, but it’s also due soon — November 3rd, to be precise. The 3DS has been constantly selling out in Japan due to its citizens gearing up for the onslaught of software releases in November and December, lest a shortage of them occurs during the holiday season. Nice to see Nintendo is giving them more options.

The software lineup isn’t quite as strong in the west this fall, but NoE plans to lure buyers in with bundles. The Pink 3DS will be bundled with Nintendogs + Cats, while the White model comes with Super Mario 3D Land. The former releases on November 18th, while the latter hits on December 2nd — which is coming nearly a month after SM3DL hits shelves, conspicuously.

You may have noticed by now that one specific entity is missing here: the much-loved Nintendo of America. Yeah, they didn’t announce the new colors, but they are preparing some bundles…for the DSi XL. With there being a successor out, you’d think they would let their older system sell solely on the momentum of its fantastic software lineup while they put their marketing focus on the 3DS; the one that actually needs selling. Well, you thought wrong! Then again, NoA excels at this kind of stuff, and you surely don’t need me to explain why.

Japan is the place where Nintendo needs to focus on the most now since the system’s main competition releases there first. But the holiday season is where the system’s sales will be at their strongest. In territories where handheld hardware and especially software sales aren’t quite as certain thanks to the influx of iOS and the “$40!?!? Why can’t they all be $0.99 like my iPhone games!?” mindset, America and Europe are the territories that need the most help. Bundles help, but not by bundling the blockbuster system they should be phasing out, along with reducing the unfortunate assumption among consumers that the 3DS is just the same system albeit with 3D capabilities.

Of course, both of these options leave out the subset of individuals that saw the Frankenstick Circle Pad and decided they would wait for a revision. Good luck to them.

P.S. Word on the street is that a playable demo for Super Mario 3D Land is now at Best Buy’s nationwide. You should give it a go or something.