DS Lite drops to $99 at US retail

The DS Lite will have a suggested retail price of $99 at US retailers from 5 June, Nintendo of America has revealed, whilst several million-plus selling Mario titles for the system are being given distinctive new packaging to help them stand out to customers.

Six Mario titles for the system, all of which have sold over 1 million copies each according to NPD data for the region, will be repackaged in bright red cases.

Those titles are: New Super Mario Bros, more than 9.25 million units; Mario Kart DS, more than 7.40 million units; Super Mario 64 DS, more than 4.34 million units; Mario Party DS, more than 3.27 million units; Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, more than 1.98 million units; Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!, more than 1.01 million units.

"From the moment it launched, Nintendo DS Lite hit a sweet spot for consumers in terms of value, experience and fun," said NoA president Reggie Fils-Aime.

"This new price point will introduce Nintendo DS Lite to even more consumers, and the new red packaging will make it easy for them to find their favourite Mario titles."

Currently the RRP of the DS Lite is $129.99, but Nintendo hope that the new price point will give the system a further boost before it is phased out in favour of the new 3DS. However, sales of that system have so far failed to match the popularity of the DS and DS Lite, contributing relatively few to the 48.9 million units which the family of consoles has sold overall in the United States.

No specific hardware figures have been revealed for the US but the 3DS has been outsold fairly consistently by the PSP and other platforms in Japan since launch.