Normally, a game company waits until the first year or so has passed before dropping the price of their consoles. Nintendo, however, seems to be pulling their trump card early in the wake of lower than expected 3DS sales. That or they just love messing with their customers.

Nevertheless, the big N announced that their 3D handheld system will, in fact, get a beefy price cut. Starting August 12, the item will go from the original retail price of $249.99, down to $169.99, almost a whole hundred dollar difference. Now, while it does seem like they’re getting desperate to get caught up in the handheld console race, Nintendo is also promoting their upcoming line of blockbuster titles set to release later this year, including Star Fox 64 3D and Kid Icarus: Uprising, as well as the new features for the 3DS itself, such as Netflix streaming and the Nintendo Video app.

As for those who decided to get one early, you’re not going to be left out in the cold. Nintendo is also busting out some deals to help give you more for your money (or at least, whatever money you had before). Calling this the Nintendo Ambassadors program, those who got their 3DS early will have access to 20 free games of their choosing from their Nintendo eShop. This includes ten classic NES Virtual Console titles (Donkey Kong, Legend of Zelda, etc) starting on September 1, and ten Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games (Warioware, Metroid: Fusion, and more) by the end of 2011.

The NES titles will be available at a later date, but Ambassadors will be able to snag them early for free! The Game Boy Advance titles, however, are an exclusive deal to those in the program as the company has no plans to release these games at this time. All you need to do is to have an original 3DS and have connected to the Nintendo eShop at least once by August 12, and you’ll be in line to get your free games. It’s that simple!

Now here’s the big question: should I bite the bullet and get a $250 3DS so that I can get the free games, or hold out for the price drop? Because damnit, both deals are incredibly tempting.