Nintendo may have announced the 3DS earlier than they originally planned to, and now it looks like they could ship their next handheld system sooner than everyone expected as well. No official launch date has been stated on the record yet, but some industry people in the know claim to have received a hat-tip that the DS's successor will be in stores by Halloween.
Nintendo will announce the 3DS's October launch at E3 this summer, according an anonymous source in a report by CVG. Given the nature of anonymous source-citing, there is of course plenty of reason to treat this news as a rumor, since plans behind the scenes can always change, especially before shipping dates become official.
Still, if the 3DS makes it out a full two months before the end of the year, it's going to be on shelves in time to be a holiday alternative to Project Natal or the PlayStation Move. And that's a big deal for a hardware competition situation that already has a great deal of hype stirred up. Nintendo has long been a company that follows a slightly different path in its market strategies though. The Wii and DS were prime examples, and the 3DS will be one more big gamble to watch.
Would you like to see the 3DS come out before the end of October? Do you think it's going to compete directly with Natal and the Move? Share your opinions in the comment section below.