80% of Japanese gamers perceive 3DS as pricey
But only 19% that it's 'too' expensive, with 16.4% thinking it reasonable
Japanese gamers broadly consider Nintendo's 3DS to be on the expensive side, according to a new survey by GetNews.jp.
19.2 per cent of the one thousand gamers surveyed deemed the ¥25,000 / $305 / £192 handheld too expensive, 28.3 expensive and 32.2 'slightly' expensive.
By contrast, 16.4 elected for reasonably-priced, 2 per cent for slightly inexpensive and 0.9 inexpensive.
The RRP was last week defended by Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata, who argued that it was unreasonable to expect handhelds to be cheaper than home consoles, as they do not require peripherals such as screens.
"You do not need any other hardware devices to be connected in order for you to play with it," he told investors recently.
"We do not think, 'the price relationship between portable devices and home consoles must stay intact simply because it used to be that way.'"
Iwata also claimed the device's rapturous reception at EA vindicated a higher retail price than that of the Wii.
The Nintendo 3DS will be launched February 26 in Japan, and March in Europe and the US.