Nintendo held their annual Japanese investor and press conference and revealed the Japanese launch date – and pricing – of the much lauded handheld wonderdevice.
They’ve also shown the finalised design of the device, and it’s not too different from the prototype hardware showcased at this year’s E3. Hardly surprising, since everyone who got their hands on one instantly fell in love. So how much will it cost, and when will it be available?
Start saving up folks, cos this is a pricy handheld. Thankfully, you’ve got quite some time to stuff magic beans under your mattress. After you see the video after the jump, I’m pretty sure you’re going to need a 3DS.
Unfortunately, previous rumours of the handheld releasing in time for the holidays were incorrect; but it does give you more time to stash cash away – because you know you want this. The 3DS will release in Japan on February 26, 2011, at a retail price of Â¥25,000. That’s roughly USD$300 or ZAR 2 072 converted directly, so expect the local price once it releases to be a tad more. Unfortunately there’s no concrete indication of when the 3DS will see a western release. with the most solid information singling out “March.â€
No hints or anything…but my birthday’s in March.
If the quality of the video isn’t doing it for you, you can view a higher quality video directly on Nintendo’s site, here.
[Minor Update: I have spoken to Core and we are expecting it to launch locally in Q1 2010… so end of March. No pricing details have been sent through]Last Updated: September 29, 2010
spl0it
September 29, 2010 at 10:52
Holy Smokes
GooseZA
September 29, 2010 at 11:04
OMG! I want one!
Maybe Lazygamer should have a competition to win one? Coz i sure as heck can’t afford one =(
Gavin Mannion
September 29, 2010 at 11:17
Is that a good enough prize to justify an annoying twitter fest?
Miklós Szecsei
September 29, 2010 at 11:20
I remember paying over R2k for my PSP when it came out in SA, and that was five years ago. Around R2500 for a 3DS? Why am I ok with that?
It’ll probably be nearer the R3k mark knowing our local distributors. :ermm:
GooseZA
September 29, 2010 at 11:26
If i win it, then yes :biggrin:
easy
September 29, 2010 at 11:50
trying to justify that amount for handheld just isn’t going to work for me. but the irony is i’ll get sparkly eyes when i see it in the shops and have the wife bollocks me for a couple weeks for ‘stupid’ purchases.
Geoffrey Tim
September 29, 2010 at 12:28
I imported a Japanese PSP at launch in 2005, and it ended up costing me about 4K. a $K turkey, mostly. If it wasn’t for Lumines, I’d have been piiiiiiiiised.
Aren’t I a sucker, eh?
ooquis
September 29, 2010 at 12:46
Geoffrey Tim: you got ripped OFF big time! i got mine from usa back in 2005! psp bundle,need for speed,tiger woods and a xtra battery + import cost for R2800!$300 for the 3ds… could be looking at R3800 at launch, im willing to pay that but i think most gamers gonna be moaning constntly!
Geoffrey Tim
September 29, 2010 at 12:52
I did import it along with all of the notable launch games – wipeout, ridge racer, Lumines, etc. But yeah, I got shafted.
James the Rotting Corpse
September 29, 2010 at 12:55
Definitely not for that price, there’s no way to justify paying R2500 – R3000 for a handheld, I got my PSP lite and DS for 1800SEK and 1500SEK respectively (The Rand and Swedish krona are pegged 1:1 on most days).
Bonk
September 29, 2010 at 13:05
yet the beer and wine are so expensive in sweden
James the Rotting Corpse
September 29, 2010 at 13:22
Yeah, and anything that can be considered a luxury… Games and consoles are generally really expensive, but when there’s a sale (usually the week after Christmas) there’s madness.
James the Rotting Corpse
September 29, 2010 at 13:23
But yeah… systembolaget sucks ass!
Kat
September 29, 2010 at 22:46
Oddly enough, I am not that impressed. :ermm:
I won’t deny that this is a beautiful piece of machinery. I will probably end up saving up and buying one anyway since my DS lite has almost seen its last days. 🙁