Nintendo issues a 3DS release date date
By Thomas Ricker 
posted July 29th 2010 5:59AM
posted July 29th 2010 5:59AM
Find the headline confusing? Well, the explanation won't help to assuage the muddle much. A Nintendo spokesman told Bloomberg Japan that Ninty plans to announce the Nintendo 3DS price and release date on September 29th. Thus far, we've only seen speculation about pricing (between $249 and $299) and release dates (between October and March, 2011). So yeah, we still don't know when or for how much but at least we know when we'll find out when and for how much. Make sense?
I just hope Nintendo have seen sense and sorted out the counter-intuitive and clunky UI on the DS/DSi/DSiXL.
This reminds me of Lady Gaga revealing her next album name by tattooing it on herself and revealing it on New Years. Well, sort of.
-Andrew from FabulousSavings
"$249 to $299 for a handheld would be crazy for Nintendo to do. "
I'm sorry... but HELLO 1st and 2nd gen gen PSP? Come on... don't be silly and whiny... and go get an f'n job already.
@HateEveryBody
I have a job, I work as a software engineer, which pays a very nice salary.
The price is still way too high for a handheld. The PSP didn't sell nearly as well as the DS did out of the gate. Considering the PSP to date has only sold just shy of 60 million units, where as the DS has sold north of 130 million, I'd say price has a pretty big factor. The DS is cheap, fun, and eventually had tons of great games. The PSP has some slick software, but the price points were just too high for too long.
@HateEveryBody
If there had been price parity between the DS and PSP, I'm sure the landscape would be waaaaay more competitive. As it stands, Nintendo is leagues and bounds ahead of Sony in the handheld market. I mean PSP only sees about 10-15 major releases in a given year if lucky.
That price is easily high enough to push people towards alternative do-it-all systems like an iPhone or iPod Touch. I mean crap, that's the price of a new PS3 or 360.
@HateEveryBody Hey man, I have a job, a very well-paying job, and a price point north of $199 for a handheld is tough to swallow for anyone.
Using your example, of the original PSP, its sales were awful when it first debuted, partially because of the lack of games, and partially because it's price was ridiculous. As it got more games and the price dropped, its sales increased.
Enter PSP Go at $249. How are its sales doing? Yeah - exactly.
$199 is the magic number. Nintendo has shown it can move bajillions of consoles at this price and although the DS debuted at a cheaper price, its XL version has done fine at $189 (well, before the 3DS announcement).
Price aside, a 3DS is gonna be mine!
Between $249.99 and $299.99? I sure hope not. The 3DS looks amazing, but there's no way I'd ever pay more than $160 for a handheld.
@Ngamer dang it bobby!
I still own nintendos last attempt at 3d The virtual boy so I hope the 3
Ds is better
i highly doubt nintendo will release it at $249-299, they know better than that..it's why the original gameboy succeeded, why the gbc succeeded, why the gba succeeded, and why the ds dominates, affordable hardware and software
About the price: Nintendo left a lot of money on the table during the Wii shortages. With the 3Ds, they probably intend to launch at a high price and then lower the price when they stop selling out.
Nintendo will not want to miss the Xmas season with this. It will probably be sold out everywhere again, just like the Wii. It's likely to be the "it" toy for the 2010 holiday season.
I really don't think they will want to price it above the Wii.
I'm excited for the 3DS too, but I really hope those price predictions are way off. $250 is too much for a handheld game system. $300 is ludicrous. I'd have to wait for a deal, a substantial deal, before I could pull the trigger if those are accurate.
Fuck yeah. Medtroid and Zelda...3d. Paper Mario. Wow imma jizz on my keyboard :)
I want one badly but $250-300? Ouch. I was hoping for $200-225.
So today is the date we found out about the date that we're going to find out about the release date.... Great!
Sep 29 is my bday
If they try and sell this shit for $250-$300 it's gonna be DOA. I don't care if it's a Nintendo device, there's no way you can price your device at double what the DS Lite has been selling at (with a profit) for years. It will not sell past the launch window with the original DS still selling so well for $130-$190.
Nintendo. Stop being a bitch and do what every other company out there does and take a hit on hardware while you profit off software. You fuck over your consumers enough as it is. God forbid you bite the bullet this time and not profit on your hardware (which usually isn't even that technologically impressive to begin with).
Might cost as much as my PS3 or an Xbox? Go jump in a lake Nintendo. Seriously, go!
any who bought the dsxl is a ratard (hangover). i saw that thing at a store and damn its way too big for a handheld gaming device
you may now downrank me
i would buy it for $220. it will probably release at a price between $220-$250. (remember nintendo, sony learnt the hard way (with the psp and the ps3))