The Nintendo 3DS price cut comes into effect in all territories worldwide except for the US on the 11th of August. However, retailers have already started jumping the gun- Walmart and Best Buy in the US are already offering 3DS’s at $170, and now it seems retailers in the UK have started offering the system at competitive prices too- Gamestop UK, the newly opened online store, is now offering the 3DS at just £135, which is a bloody steal.

Amazon is offering it for £169.

Go get it, before it (finally) sells out.

Just like Walmart, Amazon and GameStop (in UK), retailer Target has dropped the price of the 3DS today, as opposed to tomorrow, which is the official date of its price cut, says a report on Joystiq.

“There is a message board out to every store that the price changes are active today,” said an employee. “Price changes must be activated by corporate.”

Nintendo recently announced that they will be releasing a “Flame Red” 3DS in September.

Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo, says the firm is expecting the massive $80 price cut for their new handheld to result in a huge sales spike and they expect it will show in the end-of-year sales. “We feel that those who have experienced the system appreciate its attraction, but this appreciation has not necessarily been expanding at the speed which we had expected,” he said.

He said with this early price drop, Nintendo is looking to set up stage for the upcoming key games, like the Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land, which were just recently given concrete release dates.

“Without creating such a circumstance, we would not be able to realize explosive sales in the year-end sales season,” he continued, also hoping that the price cut will attract more third party support. “Software publishers are currently reviewing which development teams will work on which projects, and the results of which shall be launched next year and beyond. Removing their concerns on the sales of Nintendo 3DS hardware will be very critical for us to be able to enrich the applicable software in the years to come.

“Even though we understand this, for us to elevate Nintendo 3DS to be the platform that can sustain our business, we have concluded that we need to take the best possible measure we can take now, even at the cost of short-term profitability.”

However, this price slash is affecting Nintendo adversely. Recently, it was announced that Nintendo would be selling the 3DS at a loss, and that all Nintendo execs will be seeing massive cuts in their salaries, with Iwata chopping his own salary down to half. Nintendo also fears this price cut will result in loss in fan trust with those who bought the 3DS early on.

You can see all the latest 3DS news here. Trust us, you’ll want to, there’s been lots of it lately.