A ton of news came out of Japan concerning the 3DS. First, it's going to cost 25,000 Yen, which comes out to about $300 US. That's not likely to be the final price when it comes out in North America, but it is significantly more expensive than the DS when it launched. Secondly, it's set to launch in Japan on February 26, so a worldwide launch soon afterwards should follow.
I, for one, can't wait to see this thing in action in 3D. For now, we have a few trailers for Metal Gear Solid 3D, Resident Evil 3D, Street Fighter IV 3D, the Ocarina of Time remake, and others (in 2D, of course).
I hate to be a bit of a Debbie Downer, but the 3DS is kind of starting to worry me. The reason why the DS is probably my favourite console of all time is that the barrier of entrance for developers was very low, so they could do crazy things with the system that worked despite being not at all mainstream. As well, it was the system of choice for reviving old genres in interesting ways; see, for example, Dragon Quest IX, or any other of the system's robust JRPG library. Not to mention games like Elite Beat Agents or Electroplankton. What I'm not seeing here is that delightful strangeness that permeated the best of the DS's games. If I'm not particularly a fan of a lot of the conventions of so-called "hardcore" games, seeing them being so celebrated on a Nintendo system is a weird thing, to say the least.
Still, there's no denying that those graphics are phenomenal, and at least there's still all of Nintendo's core franchises on the system. And who knows, maybe some of those developers who got their start making strange little games for the DS will now have the backing to make their games on this system. Once I start seeing some stuff from Atlus or some of Capcom's more out-there franchises, I'll maybe be a little less pessimistic.
Oh fuck, who am I kidding. Day one purchase. It can't be denied.