Ever since Nintendo announced the 3DS at E3 this year, the best we were able to get was date for when they would announce the release date. Luckily, that day came today, and the House of Mario held a press conference in Tokyo where they revealed that the portable system will hit Japanese stores on February 26, 2011, with follow-up launches in the U.S. and Europe in March.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stated that he hopes to improve upon the DS's third-party game sales numbers when the device launches, according to GameSpot. That should come as no surprise to anyone who saw Nintendo's massive list of supporting developers at E3, which included Activision, EA, Harmonix, Konami and Capcom.
The 3DS will run ¥25,000 (about $300) in Japan, though Nintendo didn't articulate pricing info for other regions. It will also come packaged with an AC adapter, 10cm Nintendo 3DS touch pen and 2GB SD card to store DLC. As far as measurements go, the final design comes out to 134mm by 74mm, 21mm of thickness and a weight of 230 grams.
Some of the best news, however, may come from a Nintendo spec sheet (via Joystiq) that says the 3DS will allow users to transfer DSiWare titles from a DSi or DSi XL. That means no more having to re-purchase games when you upgrade your hardware or have to find a replacement because your screen when kaput.
And there was much rejoicing.
What are your thoughts on the 3DS? Would $300 be too high of a price for you if it were to cost that much in the U.S.? Share your responses with us in the comment section below.