3DS in North America: March 27 for $249.99

@skyblaze

Caption for the article picture:

"Look, see, this is what you're gonna pay see, mehhh! Mehhh see! You coppers wont take me alive!!"

No? Too much?

@bigE

Yup that's my birthday. I guess I know what I'm buying myself...

@therandomizer

Wait, so being twice as expensive as DS is okay, because it's not nearly three times as expensive as a DS?
$250 is outrageous for a handheld! But when people buy this anyway for their Pokemanz, Sega Nomad is just going to sob silently in the corner.

@Erluti The PSP launched at $250..

@AndrewNeo
That's why I see so many people watching UMDs and not playing with DS's.

@Ahmedz

It was 300 euro, not 300 dollars. The prediction was of a 250 usd device, and they were right.

@Shockwave It's both. They got the whole $300 thing from converting the Japanese 25000 Yen price and some ignorant derps immediately thought it was confirmed!

@BenX02

I did. Aqua Blue or heads will roll.

@skyblaze They asked you which color you wanted? I'll have to go their and take care of that. I want a blue one as well.

@BenX02

Oh, no they didn't ask me... That's just the color they better have ready for me, lol. Seriously, though I'm guessing they'll handle the color situation on a first come first serve basis

@BenX02 I already preordered mine at G-Stop too. My assumption is they will call people who already preordered theirs an ask them which one they want. Either with an automated call telling us to stop by their local GS or by having employees call out to everyone who has one reserved already.

Cosmic black all the way, but I was hoping for the red color they were showing off at E3, I like that one the most.

@BenX02
Gamestop employee here (please don't everyone murder me)
When we first were allowed to start pre-ordering the 3DS, everything in our system was just a placeholder. The date was like 12/31/11, the price was $1000, and we had no idea what colors they would bring over to the US.
My guess would be that we will handle the color situation by just calling you, letting you know that Nintendo has confirmed price, release date, colors, yada yada, and for you to come in and roll your existing pre-order onto one of the confirmed colors.
If you are buddies with your GS guys they'll probably let you pick a color over the phone. Otherwise they'll probably make you come in so we can do our contractual obligation of asking if you want to reserve ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING for the 3DS. And re-up your PowerUp Rewards card. And buy a warranty.

@Calatia

Yea really, and people's comments of a price tag of 250 back then were "it's too high".. and you know what, for a portable, it IS too high. $250 on a new console isn't much, but I'll wait to spend that much on a portable I'll hardly play compared to it's big brother.

@Calatia
a lot of people that didn't want the 3ds to sell. And a lot of people hoping to do the same so they have a better chance at preordering.

@Muu

So you're saying people purposely said it was too high, so people wouldn't want the system so that they'd be able to get an early spot in line for a pre-order? Let me guess. You also think the landing on the moon was done in Hollywood.

@Shockwave Yeah… people are inconsistent to say the least. When it was rumored to be $250 people were up in arms saying it was too high for a portable console. Now that Nintendo has announced it will be $250 people are ready to drop the cash without a second thought.

@Calatia

Personally, I never really thought it was TOO high. Sure, it's expensive but it's a next generation handheld... don't they ALWAYS initially come out expensive?

@Shockwave I play my DS about 10 times more than my wii ):

@Nova17899 But this isn't a handheld... ITS THE FUTURE.

@beanninja No it's not. Everyone knows the future consists of hoverboards and Mr. Fusion.

@MGTrey no there won't. spring 2013, maybe.

and if you're never going to buy anything until the best version of it is out, you won't ever be buying electronics again.

@fasterthantheworld: Nintendo has a reputation of coming out with a "like you have, but better!" device not long after launches to their handhelds, usually at a much cheaper price. Couple that with the fact that the only game is want to buy for the DS family is Black/White, AND it's perfectly playable on my DS Lite; it means waiting is the best option for me.

I'm usually never an early adopter, mostly buying an elctronics line two generations down the road and sticking with it until the "new hotness" is at a more affordable price. That's how I approach my electronic purchases, especially from Ninty (got the DS Lite, never felt the need to upgrade).

@Shockwave Looks like he's practicing Ninja Turtle expressions.

@Shockwave No way! He is an incredible marketing ploy. You could put a hunk of scrap metal next to him and he would make it look gorgeous!
...in comparison.

Same here. I think I am going to wait a bit on this awhile, see if the price drops.

And of course, the inevitable hardware revision. I have bought almost all Nintendo systems at launch before (including the original GBA, to have the SP announced a month later, ouch) except the DS, so maybe this time I won't be nailed by a hardware change.

@Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi - There is a part of me the agrees with you 100%.

But there is another part of me that looks at the games releasing in the launch window and says, I'm a gamer and I buy game systems for games, and can justify the price. After all, I have paid far more money for consoles at launch that offered far fewer worthy launch titles - PS3 comes instantly to mind; $600 and only one good exclusive in the launch window. So does Saturn ($400 and four good games at launch), and the 3DO ($700 and one good game at launch). And even the venerable PS2 had only one good game for it's entire first six months after launch, and I paid $300 for that. So coming from the perspective of a gamer, it is not like the 3DS is not delivering in spades during it's launch window.

It's a bizarre price point, and Nintendo is clearly pushing the envelop in terms of what they can get away on pricing a portable. That fact that I can find equal footing for both sides of this argument (see below comments), is proof of that.

Were it not for the games, it certainly would not be worth the price. Superior versions of most (if not all) of the non-game features are likely to show on Android phones within a year . . . including the 3D. Phones that once subsidized by carrier, will cost $200, $50 less than the price of the 3DS (or maybe the cost of the 3DS in a year). So 3D megapixel camera, high resolution (potentially HD) 4" 3D touch screen, ability play 3D videos and games, ability to record 3D video in HD, real wireless in the form of 4G service, real online gaming (sans friend codes), all of these things will be available on at least Android phones by this time next year - there is even the possibility of iPhone 6 and even Windows Phones will support all the same features in a year . . . for $200 subsidized. Makes purchasing 3DS this year, with low tech versions of all the same stuff, feel a bit redundant.

But like I said, for gamers, it's all about the games. And if I decide to actually pick up my pre-order (and yes, I am pre-ordering it just in case I still want one by the end of March), it will be for the games, not for any of the low tech rubbish Nintendo keeps action like is so awesome on the system. When I see games like Street Fighter 4, Kid Icarus, Steel Diver, Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, a real Rayman platformer, Dead or Alive, Driver, Metal Gear Solid, two Resident Evil games, Pilot Wings, Paper Mario, Ridge Racer and a remake of Ocarina of Time all in the launch window, the gamer in me knows this is the kind of launch lineup you do not say no to.

@Tachyonic Cargo

The 3D is done with a special screen. And it's currently impossible to do touch with the 3D screen. That's why there is still only one touch screen on this.

And it's impossible to back port this to any other phone since it requires the special screen. There is no way there will be Android phones with the same kind of 3D this uses within a year.

If they ever were to use this kind of screen, those phones would suddenly find themselves $200 more expensive.

I don't see phone manufacturers doing anything with this screen for several years. If even then.

@Drakkenfyre - NEVER, EVER SAY IMPOSSIBLE. So long as someone, somewhere stands to make a dime off something, impossibility goes right out the window.

To wit, guess what just showed up in the news this morning? If you guessed a 4G Honeycomb tablet with a 3D touchscreen launching this year, you'd have guessed right.

http://www.tmonews.com/2011/01/lg-g-slate-specs-outed-by/

This is the second tablet that I have heard about over the last couple of months that is expected to ship this year with a glasses-free 3D touch screen.

Never say impossible.

@ijustw1n

Or, as much as a launch PSP, but I already made that mistake once...