If I remember right, I predicted on a previous Podcast that the 3DS would launch at 249.99, because America would never pay 299.99 for a handheld system.
Our friends at Engadget released their information from the dual press conference Nintendo held this morning in Amsterdam and New York. The system will launch on March 27th, 2011 at the price of 249.99 in the United States. According to the press release the game selection during the launch window (March 27th, til about the first week of June.) will include 30+ titles including:
During the launch window (between the March 27 launch date and the E3 Expo in early June) more than 30 games will be available to Nintendo 3DS owners. These include Nintendo-created games like Pilotwings Resort™, which has players soaring acrobatically over iconic Wuhu Island; nintendogs™ + cats, a new version of the Nintendo DS classic with a feline enhancement; and Steel Diver™, a side-scrolling submarine adventure that gives the illusion that the player is peering into an aquarium. Other Nintendo 3DS games in the works include The Legend of Zelda™: Ocarina of Time™ 3D, Star Fox 64™ 3D, Kid Icarus™: Uprising and new installments in the Mario Kart™, Animal Crossing™ and Paper Mario™ series.
Nintendo 3DS also enjoys some of the strongest third-party support of any system launch. A partial list of titles coming soon to Nintendo 3DS includes Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked from Atlus; Super Street Fighter® IV 3D Edition and Resident Evil®: The Mercenaries 3D from Capcom; Madden NFL Football from EA SPORTS; The Sims™ 3 from Electronic Arts; Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D from Konami; LEGO® Star Wars® III: The Clone Wars™ from LucasArts™; Ridge Racer® 3D and Dual Pen Sports™ from Namco Bandai Games America Inc.; Super Monkey Ball™ 3D, Thor™: God of Thunder and CRUSH™ 3D from SEGA; BUST-A-MOVE™ UNIVERSE from Square Enix, Inc.; Samurai Warriors® Chronicles and Dead or Alive® Dimensions from Tecmo Koei America Corp.; and Asphalt™ 3D, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Shadow Wars, Combat of Giants™: Dinosaurs 3D, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell® 3D, Rayman® 3D and Rabbids® Travel in Time from Ubisoft.
I’m excited… is anybody else as pumped as I am? The thought of the eventual 3D Pokemon touches me deeply, and Street Fighter on a handheld that doesn’t drop frames?! (we hope) I’m sold times ten. Thoughts anyone?