According to CVG, the Nintendo 3DS handheld will be released in October, a full six months earlier than previous reports.
The device will be unveiled at the E3 event, and CVG says “UK industry sources” have told them the handheld will hit store shelves in October, right before the holiday season.
All previous reports, including quotes from Nintendo themselves, had said only that the handheld would be launched before March of 2011.
Says one of the sources: “In my experience, you don’t launch a product that early to Christmas unless you’re confident in it - and going to spend a lot of money on it. We’re reassured that Nintendo is going to give it some decent backing in Q4.”
The 3DS, which has scant details so far, will give users a chance to enjoy “3D” software without need for glasses, and the system will be backward compatible for DS titles.
Nintendo also says the system will not just be a minor reiteration of the DS (like the DSi, and the XL) but instead a brand new console.
Result for: store shelves
When a game modder found a piece of locked away code within the 2004 blockbuster Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and produced patches to unlock it, who would have thought it would cost Take-Two and its insurers $20 million. Since the patch was released, Rockstar became the target of politicians such as Hillary Clinton, and the game was given an AO (Adult Only) rating instead of it’s previous M rating due to the “strong sexual content” it then included.
Store shelves were re-stocked with copies of the game that did not include the unlockable code, which then carried the M rating. Now, five years after the this happened, Take-Two and its insurers have agreed to pay $20 million ($4,915,000 from Take-Two and $15,200,000 from its insurers) to settle a class action lawsuit that stemmed from the controversy.
“We are pleased to have reached this settlement, which represents another important step forward for the company,” said Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take-Two, in a brief statement.
Result for: store shelves
Last week we reported that the Nintendo Wii, among other consoles, took a serious hit to its sales, seeing a 57 percent drop year-on-year for the month of May.
The drop marked the third consecutive month the Wii saw substantial declines in sales. Supply issues are no longer a problem either, as there are ample amounts on store shelves.
Analysts are now coming out in droves declaring the console has reached a saturation point at its current price and price cut is necessary to stop the continued decline in sales. A $50 price cut, bringing the Wii to the same price as that of the low-end Xbox 360 Arcade seems to be a good point.
Nintendo continues to deny any price cut is in the works however. We have “no plans to reduce its prices at this time.”
“We expect Nintendo to cut the price of the Wii before the holiday,” adds Wedbush Morgan video game analyst Michael Pachter. The Wii is the only console to not see its price tag slashed since launch.
BMO Capital analyst Edward Williams wrote that he believes the Wii “is selling in a more traditional seasonal pattern.”
Major US retailer GameStop CEO Daniel DeMatteo agrees with the sentiment and believes a minimum $50 USD price cut is coming to the Wii by the Q3 2009.
