Nintendo 3DS UK Pre-Order Guide
On January 19th Nintendo finally announced that 3DS would be launching in Japan on February 26th, in Europe on March 25th and in North America on March 27th. Whilst the Japanese giants revealed prices for the handheld in Japan (¥25,000) and North America ($249.99), they stated that retailers would decide how much the 3DS would cost in Europe. A strange move on the part of Nintendo, one that has left many gamers in Europe who are eager to pre-order the handheld rather confused.
Which retailer should you pre-order from? Are there any good bundle deals? Which retailer has the cheapest pre-order price? Well, if you reside in the UK, fear not as the good folk here at GodisaGeek.com are here to answer all those questions and more via our Nintendo 3DS UK pre-order guide.
GAME – The handheld itself is available to pre-order at £229.99. There are no bundle deals, but they are offering some decent trade in deals. For example, if you trade in a DSi XL you can get the 3DS for £124.99. Games are currently priced at £32.99 or £33.99.
UPDATE: GAME have reduced the price of the handheld on its own to £219.99 and most of the launch titles are now £34.99.
HMV – You can pre-order the 3DS on its own for £219.99, whereas games are currently priced at £39.99. There are no bundle deals or trade in offers available as of yet.
UPDATE: You can now pre-order the 3DS (in both colours) plus Splinter Cell 3D or Ghost Recon Shadow Wars for £219.99. Not a bad deal at all.
ShopTo – For a limited time only (no end date for the offer is given), you can pre-order the 3DS on its own for £199.85. That would make the pre-order price for the handheld on ShopTo cheaper than both GAME and HMV, not bad. The majority of games are priced at £34.85, but a few titles such as Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars are available to pre-order at the much cheaper price of £27.85. Like both GAME and HMV, no bundle deals are currently available.
UPDATE: Super Street Fighter IV 3DS and Nintendogs 3DS are now priced at £29.86, whereas Super Monkey Ball 3DS is now £28.85.
Amazon – On its own, the 3DS can be pre-ordered for £219.00. They have many games listed, but only a few are actually priced up at £34.99. Just like the three retailers listed above, no bundle deals are currently available.
UPDATE: Amazon have now reduced the pre-order price for the 3DS on its own to £197.00. To add to that, games are now priced at £29.91, £34.16 or £39.99.
Zavvi – You can pre-order the 3DS plus an “executive case” for £217.85. That’s the closest to a bundle deal so far and, let’s face it, you will need a case of some sort to protect you precious handheld. All the games they have on offer are currently priced at £29.85.
GameGears – This fledgling online retailer has the 3DS on its own priced at £194.99, which would make it the cheapest of the lot. However, it seems like all you can do at the moment is “register you interest”. They don’t have any games listed on their own, but bundles are available. The majority of the bundles are priced at £264.99, but a few are also listed at £259.99.
Asda – Initially, they had a bundle with Super Monkey Ball 3DS available for pre-order at £217.91, but that has now been take down. The few bundles they have now are listed at £244.91, whereas the 3DS on its own can be pre-ordered for £217.00. To add to that, if you do decide to pre-order the handheld (bundle or on its own) with Asda you can apply a voucher code (15OFF3DS) at the basket section to save £15. As for games, they are all currently priced at £29.91.
UPDATE: The pre-order price for the handheld on its own has dropped from £217.00 to £214.00.
We hope our UK pre-order guide has been helpful to those of you who are thinking about purchasing a 3DS when it launches in the UK. If you’re still undecided, maybe this video will help you make up your mind.
