Nintendo Cuts the Price of the DS by $20

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nintendo Co. Ltd. on Tuesday said it cut the U.S. price of its Nintendo DS portable video game device by 13 percent to about $130 from about $150.

The price cut, effective August 21, comes nine months after the launch of the pocket-sized device, which opens like a clamshell and has two screens, including one that responds to touch.

Nintendo said the price cut comes ahead of the August 22 U.S. release of “Nintendogs,” a video game that allows the player to mimic ownership of a puppy and is already selling well in Japan.

The DS competes in the rapidly growing gaming market, with Sony Corp.’s PlayStation Portable (PSP), which sells for about $250, and Nintendo’s own Game Boy Advance, which retails for under $100.

Late in July, Nintendo, which dominates the portable video game industry with roughly 94 percent market share, said it sold 1.38 million DS game players in the first quarter.

On the same day, Sony raised its full-year shipment target for the PSP to 13 million units from 12 million. Nintendo expects to sell 12.4 million DS game machines in the current year.