3DS Announcement Next Week: What We Expect

Next week, on September 29th, Nintendo will take to the stage in a planned press conference and event in the Tokyo area – more specifically, Makuhari, the same venue as Tokyo Game Show – and reveal to the world its plans for the Nintendo 3DS. And we'll be there covering the system from head to toe, from the official technical specs to the games that will launch, and everything in between.

But what exactly will Nintendo reveal? This will be the first time the system's made a public debut in Japan – we North Americans were lucky enough to host the 3DS system's premiere at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, and Nintendo of Europe continued that momentum by offering a private showing for those game writers who couldn't/didn't make the overseas trip to Los Angeles. In those two instances, we just got the "Here it is, here's what it looks like" announcement, and granted the ability to play it was more than plenty to hook us.

Now we're ready for the full reveal. We can't go through another round of not knowing everything about the 3D system, so here's all the things we're expecting to come out of Japan while the western world sleeps.

The Release Date…in Japan. This is the first heavyhitter piece of news: when can we slap down the money to buy this sucker? When will retailers start taking pre-orders on the device, and when should we expect to see the Tokyo roads jam packed full of people clambering for the handheld system? It's a brand new Nintendo system after all, and you know the critical mass is going to be huge on day one.

The predictions are all over the place. Nintendo left a wide window of opportunity open when it said that it would land on shelves "by March 2011" even back when the 3DS was a question mark early in the year. This date never meant that March 2011 would be the system's debut, just to expect it out by then.

Now that Pokemon Black and Pokemon White – what could be (and probably is) Nintendo's last big first party Nintendo DS game – are out the door and in the hands of the early adopters, the company's ready to move forward with the next generation of system. Apart from a couple largish titles like Golden Sun on the handheld and Kirby's Epic Yarn and Donkey Kong Country Returns still waiting for their time in the 2010 sun, Nintendo's got very few major titles for the rest of the year that'll get them the pile of money that makes investors happy. That recent DS Lite/DSi/DSiXL price drop, and the new system colors have already played out.

Our prediction: Definitely a 2010 release in Japan. We'll take the first week of November.

The Price…in Japan. Of course, it's not just about when you can buy it, but also how much you can buy it for. And that's obviously key detail number two that Nintendo will reveal.

As mentioned above, the current line of Nintendo DS systems went through a price drop in Japan back in June in preparation for the next generation of handheld. The company is not new to the pricing strategy for handhelds – the company has been king of this domain for more than two decades and completely understands where the "sweet spot" lies for its hardware, knowing full well what price its consumers are willing to pay for its systems.



The 3D technology in the 3DS is absolutely spectacular and surprisingly cutting edge technology for Nintendo, a company that's always played it safe with tech, especially when you compare it to other tech companies creating portable systems. How much this will add to the cost of the system is something only privy

The rest of the system's got a lot going on, but when it comes to comparing and contrasting against the rest of the handheld market – cellphone manufacturers, mostly – it's, based on what we've learned about the device, a couple of years behind the curve. It's the way Nintendo has always operated, creating hardware that's cheap to produce yet technological enough to stay relevant in the current generation. The black and white Game Boy was trounced by far more capable (but ultimately more pricy) systems like Game Gear and the Atari Lynx. The original Nintendo DS? Sony had far more cutting-edge tech in its PSP. But power can't compete with price or the understanding of a market, and Nintendo is clearly not going to throw it all away by overpricing the 3DS just because it's got pretty stereoscopic displays.

Our predictions: The system will probably crack the 20,000 yen (about $236.00 US) mark, but not go far above it. The Nintendo DSi LL (our XL) originally landed on shelves with that price tag, but with the price drop to 18,000 yen ($213.00 US) in June it's left a window open to snag that nice, even sweet spot. System prices between Japan and US are not apples to apples – the DSiXL shipped in the US for $189.99 originally while it was 20,000 yen in Japan, and that was before its 20 dollar price drop earlier this month. In other words, if Nintendo announces a 22,500 yen debut price, don't kneejerk and assume it'll be $225 price stateside.

The system colors...for Japan. At E3 we saw a glimpse of the different hues Nintendo's kicking around for the 3DS, and at the press event expect a final decision on what the official 3DS colors will be.

Our prediction: There will be at least two different system colors revealed. As many as three. We'll stick with two. What they'll be is pretty much anyone's guess, but since it looks like Nintendo will be targeting a more hardcore audience with the 3DS, expect something more industrial. Grays and blacks, just like the system color that was in the hands of gamers at E3, seem like the perfect style for the system.

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