With the 3DS on the market and the recent price drop on the Wii, it was only a matter of time before seeing DS Lite follow suit. All the same, the news is sweet. The DS Lite’s suggested retail price is now officially $99. Additionally, the DS’ top Mario hits, New Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart DS, Super Mario 64 DS, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! and Mario Party DS,  will now be packaged in a bright, easy to see crimson color, so DS fans new and old can readily identify these titles on the shelf. Sadly, this distinction does not come with a discount like the Wii’s Nintendo Selects, but let’s hope that it too is just a matter of time.

Nintendo DS Lite Suggested Retail Price Drops to $99.99 and Mario Games Go Red

Mario-Red Boxes Will Help Shoppers Identify Select Fan-Favorite Mario Games

REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– The portable Nintendo DS^™ Lite system is getting a new suggested retail price. Effective June 5, the system will be available at a suggested retail price of just $99.99 in the United States. The Nintendo DS family has become the best-selling video game system in history. More than 48.9 million systems in the Nintendo DS family have sold in the United States alone. Also in June, six Mario^™ games for Nintendo DS will receive new red packaging, making it easier than ever for consumers to identify these hit titles in stores.

“From the moment it launched, Nintendo DS Lite hit a sweet spot for consumers in terms of value, experience and fun,” said Nintendo of America 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 favorite Mario titles.”

The six Mario games that will begin sporting the new Mario-red packaging in June are New Super Mario Bros.^™, Mario Kart^™ DS, Super Mario 64^™ DS, Mario & Luigi^™: Bowser’s Inside Story, Mario vs. Donkey Kong^™: Mini-Land Mayhem! and Mario Party^™ DS. These games represent some of the best-selling fan-favorite Nintendo DS games of all time, and demonstrate the well-known “evergreen” sales trend of Nintendo games. Their total U.S. sales through the end of April 2011 according to the NPD Group are as follows:

• 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

Mario is one of the most beloved video game characters and the top video game franchise of all time. Thirty-one Mario games have topped sales of more than 1 million units since 1995, more than any other franchise. Through the end of March 2011, more than 262 million games in the core Super Mario^™ series have sold worldwide.

For more information about Nintendo DS Lite, visit http://www.nintendo.com/ds.

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii^™ home console, Nintendo 3DS^™ and Nintendo DS^™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System^™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.7 billion video games and more than 600 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi^™ and Nintendo DSi XL^™, as well as the Game Boy^™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES^™, Nintendo 64^™ and Nintendo GameCube^™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario^™, Donkey Kong^™, Metroid^™, Zelda^™ and Pokémon^™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at http://www.nintendo.com.

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Sorry about the late update today. Usually, Nintendo sends out a press release so I can write this up before the update actually goes live. DSiWare gets a nice treat today. Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!, which was announced just days ago at E3. It’s basically a smaller version of Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis with added functionality: a level creator and level sharing, for unlimited mini marching fun.

Meanwhile, Swords & Soldiers hacks-and-slashes-and-also-strategizes-a-bit on the Wii alongside… a fishing game. Oh, and there’s Ghengis Khan II: Clan of the Gray Wolf on the Virtual Console just in case you like your strategy games a bit more dated.

DSiWare

• Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! (Nintendo, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)

WiiWare

• Swords & Soldiers (Ronimo Games, 1 – 2 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
• Fish ‘Em All (Abylight, 1 – 2 players, 800 Wii Points)

Virtual Console

• Ghengis Khan II: Clan of the Gray Wolf (SNES, 1 – 2 players, 800 Wii Points)

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Mario and Donkey Kong are going digital on the DS in Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! for DSiWare. You can view over a dozen screens of the game after the break, but it’s really a moot point if you’re set on downloading this when it comes out… and that’s because the game will be available in five days on June 8th!

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So I mentioned about Nintendo unveiling four new games at their press briefing. Then all of you were like, “Mario vs. Donkey Kong?? Since when???” as if it was out of the blue or something. And then I realized I hadn’t yet gotten to virtual titles on WiiWare and DSiWare other than in the live blog. Whoops, heh.

Here’s the video reel of upcoming DSiWare games. Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! is in there, along with some other nice inclusions. Comment away!

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