Nintendo executive Reggie Fil-Amie today revealed US availability and pricing for the Nintendo 3DS at an event in the Nintendo World store in New York City. The 3DS will launch on March 27, 2011 with a retail price of $250 and will be available in two flavors: Aqua Blue and Cosmo Black.
There will be roughly 30 games released between the launch day and E3 2011 (June 7 to June 9). These include Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, Madden NFL Football, The Sims 3, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D, and LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. The device will have the same form-factor as the DSi and will be backwards compatible with both DS and DSi games. Users will also be able to download games via an online store, called the eShop.
In Europe, the 3DS will launch on March 25, 2011. While Europeans will get the device two days early, pricing is not good news. Nintendo held a second event in Amsterdam today and said that pricing would be left up to retailers. Retailers in the UK are reportedly planning a £229.99 ($367.64) price tag, while other European retailers are going with €249 ($336.00).
The 3DS offers 3D gaming sans 3D glasses and also includes the ability to take 3D photographs thanks to dual cameras on the back of the device. You can adjust the 3D intensity or turn it off completely using the slider. Nintendo recently issued a warning that it is not healthy for kids under the age of 6 to view 3D images.
The device also has an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a little analog circle pad, a home button, and a charging cradle. There's even an activity logger that acts like a pedometer, counting your steps and awarding coins that can be exchanged for bonus content, and a Street Pass function that lets you share certain information (think Miis) with passers-by who also have the feature activated. Users can also listen to music and surf the Web via a browser, which will come soon in a system upgrade.
Announced at E3 2010, the 3DS has been in the news for months thanks to various leaks. Four months ago, the Japanese launch date and price were revealed: February 26, 2011 for 25,000 yen ($304.63). We also learned that the device would launch in other markets the following month, and that the design was not final. This was followed by more leaks.
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