At E3 this year, Nintendo first unveiled its new and often rumored 3DS. The newest upgrade to the DS, as its name points out, brings the third dimension to handheld gaming, in a rather genius way that doesn’t require you to wear the goofy glasses. Ever since this announcement dropped, I’ve been excited to see some final pricing info, particularly with the revelation that so many old favorites such as MGS3 and Ocarina of Time were going to be coming along with it.
Well, that day has finally arrived, as the big N dished out all of the good stuff at its 2010 Nintendo Conference last night. Not only do we have some pricing and release info, but cool stuff about the 3DS’s features, as well as a trailer for its games. Hit the jump to check it out!
Here’s the rundown, bullet-point style:
- The 3DS will release on February 26 in Japan, and sometime in March for US and Europe. The price is roughly $300 US dollars, but all we know for now is the yen pricing.
- 3DS users can share info from games without the games being plugged in due to its enhanced Tag Mode.
- There will be a Virtual Console interface for Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advanced games. To me, this is maybe some of the coolest news about the whole thing. Instantly you’ll have the whole library of great Nintendo handhelds to choose from.
- In Japan, the 3DS is getting a TV streaming service.
Nintendo also showed off a trailer with all kinds of games in it. Personally, I can’t wait to get my hands on Metal Gear Solid 3, Resident Evil and Star Fox. I’m seriously really impressed with some of the visuals here.
Personally, while this is all terribly exciting, I can’t help but be a little shocked at the fetching price for this. I mean, I get that it’s some fancy hardware, but to have it cost more than the Wii, or even an XBox 360 seems like a bit of a stretch.
So what do you guys think of all this? Anybody interested? Is $300 too much to pay?
Source – 1UP
I’d say the pricing will be adjusted by the time it’s released in other territories. But, for me it’s that or a 360. No amount of Resi Mercenaries or MGS3D can sway me from Halo: Reach. I highly doubt I shall recoup the loss soon. Sadly, pass. 🙁
Some people are overreacting to the pricing, the 3DS is ¥25,000 in Japan which is the same as the Wii was at launch. The Wii was $250 on US launch and £130(~$200) at UK launch. Most people speculate that they may drop the price even lower then that and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was $200.
But let’s be honest, some of the graphics we’ve seen are actually looking better then the Wii. It has 2gb internal memory with a further 2gb sd card included, the wii has 512mb internal. On top of that it’s frickin’ glasses-less 3d! Nintendo can’t really show this off which is why many people are dubious of it, but the tech is so new that getting it at this price seems pretty decent to me. (I personally am still amazed that you can take a picture of something then view it in 3d with no glasses, that would be crazy talk a few years back).
The thing that bothers me is people seem to have no problem shelling out $300 every few months for the latest apple product but as soon as Nintendo release something with major advancements it’s all no no no.
Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not trying to defend Nintendo. I know they will release a “lite” or “sp” version a year or two down the line which is annoying. Also annoying that they showed off 3 colours at e3, with another 2 spotted backstage and after much begging for all 5 to be released they instead cut it down to 2 colours.
I will personally be picking one up fairly early on depending on final pricing and colours (yes I can be that picky). There’s quite a few ds series that I don’t want to miss any possible sequels of (one of the top being the Ace Attorney Series) and some of the launch remakes look pretty neat. One of my hopes is that they will bundle remakes like zelda and paper mario together on one cart.
Sorry if this was rambly, I just haven’t really posted my thoughts about it anywhere.
Source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_launch#Release_dates_and_pricing
@ James Freeman the Wii was £180 at UK launch and is presently at £150. Just so you know. 🙂
[quote comment=”13686″]@ James Freeman the Wii was £180 at UK launch and is presently at £150. Just so you know. :)[/quote]
Ah dang it I had to mess up somewhere didn’t I. Ignore that part then, the US prices still stand.
I saw another post where someone pointed out that no console or handheld by any company has ever had a direct ¥ to $ conversion, I’ve looked up a couple of consoles and it seems to be true.
Love.
I really want one but $300 is a bit much.
hold up a sec.. is that… A STICK ON THE LEFT WITH A D-PAD???? Its not as bad as the case with the PSP because of the touch screen, but we only have so many buttons with that layout….
Cmon, this is probably the coolest advancement handheld games since handheld games. Consoles are just starting to carry 3d and Nintendo creates a handheld system that doesn’t even need glasses? Definatly worth the price by the look of it.
@James Freeman you definitely raise a good point about Apple products. To me though, that’s where the price really jumped off the page. You can get an iPhone for $300, and it plays games, takes pictures, conducts phone calls and in the words of Kevin Butler “only does everything”. That being said, the 3D tech sounds cool and I’m guessing you’re right in that you have to see this thing in person. Personally, I can’t wait. I think at $200-$250 I would bite, but I’m not sure about $300. Although I could maybe snag one for my birthday next year…
[quote comment=”13699″]@James Freeman you definitely raise a good point about Apple products. To me though, that’s where the price really jumped off the page. You can get an iPhone for $300, and it plays games, takes pictures, conducts phone calls and in the words of Kevin Butler “only does everything”. That being said, the 3D tech sounds cool and I’m guessing you’re right in that you have to see this thing in person. Personally, I can’t wait. I think at $200-$250 I would bite, but I’m not sure about $300. Although I could maybe snag one for my birthday next year…[/quote]
But Eddy, Ocarina of Time. Updated graphics. 3D! You know you want it.
real pricey i may just wait for a price drop or even get one used also US release is going to miss Christmas so 3D is going to have to wait =(
*sigh* I love video games. This just makes me happy, and feel like a 7 year old shocked at how sweet Super Nintendo looked compared to NES. Eeek, I’m not a hand held guy at all, but this got me a little excited!
I feel like a kid again. That’s all I can say, I’m still too psyched about a new Paper Mario…