3DS price and date: Sean's thoughts
Nintendo had their big 3DS presser today and they've finally revealed when we can get our hands on the portable and for how much. March 27th is the date, and the price is $250. So what does the local Nintendo nerd think?
Well, I'm a little disappointed that the 3DS will cost as much as the Wii did at launch, but in all honesty I think we're getting a lot more bang for our buck than we did for the Wii. 3DS comes with a 2GB flash card, AR games installed out of the box, 3D camera and media driver software. It even has a pre-installed pedometer for the Poke-walker addicts and a program that tracks your activity levels, with a rewards system to go with it that gives you coins to spend on apps. It's also important to remember the PSP launched at the same price, so $250 isn't exactly unheard of.
It's still a little high for a Nintendo product but Nintendo seems to finally get that we're tired of paying for overpriced antiquated tech--the glasses-free 3D is relatively recent hardware so I'm sure that's a big chunk of the price.
There haven't been any concrete game release dates announced yet--annoying, I know--but supposedly there are 30 games launching between the March 27th date and E3 in June, so we'll have a healthy library to choose from. In that launch window Nintendo will also be running a huge promotional campaign, with 5000 demo units getting sent to malls and the obligatory Nintendo street teams showing off the device in their airstream trailers. I'm not sure I'll be getting one on launch day like I did with the Wii--fool me once, yadda yadda--but at least this is real deal this time, unlike the DSi which I always felt was the shaky last-grab that Nintendo does with all its portables. They'll need to announce a stellar launch lineup if I'm going to fork over $250 on day one, but for now I'm still pretty excited for the 3DS.
Interesting developments to be sure.
