Nintendo pioneered the concept of reprinting and selling older, hit titles in a console’s library at a cheaper price with their Player’s Choice line, but over time, they stopped selling their games at reduced prices, mostly because of how much their games sold- simple demand and supply dictated they didn’t need to drop any prices. And while the Wii got its own line of lower priced reprints at the end of its life, no Nintendo handheld has had a price drop for its game since the GBA days.

Until now- Nintendo of America announced that it would be cutting the prices on five of the best selling 3DS games, down to $30 (from the regular price of $40)- it’s still not the sweet $20 price from the days of old, but it’s a start. Also notable, none of these games are branded ‘Player’s Choice’ either.

The five games that are receiving this price cut are:

• Animal Crossing: New Leaf
• New Super Mario Bros. 2
• Super Mario 3D Land
• Mario Kart 7
• Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D

The selection of games appears to be entirely arbitrary- it’s definitely not based on sales (the omission of Pokemon, for instance, or the fact that the sluggish selling Donkey Kong is clubbed with games like Mario Kart and Animal Crossing which were veritable sensations at retail, proves that); it’s not release dates either, as games like Ocarina of Time 3D, Kid Icarus Uprising, the 3DS launch games, and so on, are all missing. it just appears to be a list of games that Nintendo felt were selling up to expectations until now, but started slowing down, so they decided to give them another push.

Whatever the classification criteria may be, this is a great time for you to jump on some of those games- three of them are among the best the handheld has to offer.

Media Create has revealed the Japanese software sales for this week, with previous top seller Gran Turismo 6 having tumbled all the way down to seventh. GungHo Online Entertainment’s Puzzles & Dragons Z debuted at the top spot, selling 543,630 on the 3DS. So now you know why the numbers for Nintendo’s handheld are currently in the six digits.

On the other hand, Pokemon X and Y is still going strong at second place with 159,244 units sold this week and 3,360,163 lifetime sales. Super Mario 3D World continues to aid the Wii U, selling 57,862 units and propelling the console to second place in the hardware charts.

This week also saw the debut of Call of Duty: Ghosts Dubbed Version for the PS3, which sold 37,519 units. Gran Turismo 6 only managed to sell 37,306 units this week, making for lifetime sales of 242,090 units. Monster Hunter 4 continues to rise past 3 million units despite being at ninth place and Animal Crossing: New Leaf has crossed 3.5 million lifetime sales with 26,409 units sold this week.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf meanwhile has made for a great title on the 3DS, selling 6.35 million copies worldwide as of October 2013. It’s also received a great amount of critical success and is one of the more acclaimed titles of the year. Unlike previous games, you’ll be playing the Mayor this time around and running the town as you see fit.

Developed by Nintendo EAD Group No. 2 and Monolith Soft, you can check out our official review of the game here. As for the commercial, what are your thoughts on the same? Let us know in the comments below.

“As you saw at our presentation at E3, Mr Aonuma chased me off stage…he doesn’t need me any more! The final responsibility for the title still comes down to me and I’m still involved in the games, but I’m definitely able to leave the series up to him in a way. I don’t have to look at every minute detail of every game any more. I know there’s going to be the level of quality that we expect under his supervision.

“Similarly we have Koizumi-san, who’s the producer or the Mario series and it’s the same type of situation. And certainly Konno-san with Mario Kart, too. And Mr Eguchi, producer of the Animal Crossing series. These are the main producers that we’ve trained who are talented enough and we can allow them to oversee the project and manage all the details and still maintain the Nintendo level of quality.”

While it does mean that he has a somewhat decreased role, it appears more like Miyamoto taking less strain since other producers are able to deliver the same level of success. If the success of Animal Crossing: New Leaf is any indication, this formula appears to be working. Still, what are your thoughts on Miyamoto’s current responsibilities? Let us know below.

Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing Scott Moffitt stated that, “The second-half of 2013 is packed with great games and great experiences for Nintendo fans, from new entries in longstanding franchises to software that highlights the many benefits of connecting our hardware to the Internet.

“We’re always on the lookout for new ways that our fans can interact with their favorite game series, and Animal Crossing Plaza extends the fun of the infectious series to Wii U.”

While worldwide sales are 5.4 million units, territories outside of Japan account for 1.19 million copies. Even now, the game can be found hanging out in the top 10 of Media Create’s software sales charts.

Worldwide sales for Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon have also been revealed and are currently at 2.65 million units, which again includes both retail and digital downloads. Unlike Animal Crossing, the game has been on sales since March this year for all territories.

Seeing as how Nintendo’s Wii U is facing severe sales problems worldwide, at least the 3DS is going great guns. The year will be far more encouraging as Pokemon X & Y releases this October with other titles like The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and Super Smash Bros. on the way.

This marks the sixth week in a row, starting from the game’s release on June 10th, that The Last of Us has topped the sales charts. It is followed this week by Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition, which jumped from fifth place the week prior to second place, and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Bros. which holds steady at third place.

Meanwhile, Animal Crossing: New Leaf has fallen to fourth place in the charts even as a new challenger appears in the form of Dynasty Warriors 8, debuting at the fifth position this week. Surprisingly, Rockstar Games has made a comeback this month with Max Payne 3 (number 7), Grand Theft Auto Episodes: Liberty City (number 17) and Red Dead Redemption: Game of the Year Edition (number 18).

Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the 3DS is still holding at second, with Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Bros debuting at third place. FIFA 13 is still very dominant in the top 5 at fourth position, with Mojang’s Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition at number 5.

There’s isn’t much change from previous months in the remainder of the top 10 – Far Cry 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops II – Activision, Assassin’s Creed III and Tomb Raider still occupy spots. Oddly enough, Aliens: Colonial Marines has reappeared at the top 10 position. Don’t expect that trend to last but it is somewhat odd given the game’s dubious quality.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the Nintendo 3DS also maintained its position at second, debuting in the same week as The Last of Us. FIFA 13 holds on at number 3 while Tomb Raider comes in at number 4. A surprising entry is Max Payne 3 at number 5, especially considering that it released in the UK more than a year ago.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Far Cry 3, Injustice, Assassin’s Creed III and GRID 2 make up the rest of the top 10 for this week.

Check out our review of The Last of Us here to see what makes it so uncanny (and awesome).

But that’s not all: The top 5 consists solely of 3DS titles, with Tomodachi Collection: New Life raking in 43,372 with 1,133,246 units sold over a lifetime; Chousoku Henkei Gyrozetter: Albatross no Tsubasa, the other new entry on the charts, selling 17,925 units; Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon selling 14,949 units, with lifetime sales of 781,660 units; and finally, Animal Crossing: New Leaf sold 14,393 units, notching up an impressive 3,278,356 units sold over its lifetime.

The 3DS’s dominance is set to continue into the next year as Nintendo has revealed several AAA franchises that will be coming to the platform, including Zelda, Super Smash Bros. and more.