The 3DS: Nintendo's snowball effect.

Released just four months ago, the 3DS had – and still has – a mountain to climb if it’s to reach the tremendous popularity of the DS series. Injected with marketing millions aplenty, the 3DS has struggled to find a momentum in sales since launch, instead finding itself repeatedly slashed in price from an inflated retail price of around £229.99 at launch to its current lowest of £149.99. A sub-£100 price point is likely in time for Christmas.

Detrimentally, the sheer absence of high-profile, triple-A releases is strikingly atypical for Nintendo, who often flesh out its own launch periods with exceptional in-house titles to show off a new product. With Satoru Iwata recently slashing his pay cheque – alongside that of Nintendo’s key directors by 20-30% – and the Japanese company cutting expected yearly profits from a massive £1.4 billion to a paltry £258 million, the 3DS has a long way to go to uphold Nintendo’s prestigious track record.