3DS to launch by April 2011 - Reggie

By Ellie Gibson Published 22 June, 2010

That goes for "all major markets".

Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime has promised the 3DS will launch in all major territories by the end of the financial year.

He was speaking not during the company's recent press conference, but in an interview with Industry Gamers. Fils-Aime said, "The reason we haven’t announced a launch date or pricing is that, first, we wanted to get reaction here. Secondly, we’ll be making individual market decisions in terms of what’s happening in Japan, what’s happening in the Americas, what’s happening in Europe."

However, he added, "The one thing, for sure, is that we will launch in all of our major markets by March 31, 2011."

According to Fils-Aime, the final design of the handheld has not been decided - and it could be changed depending on the feedback received at E3.

"We have an army of Nintendo representatives out on our show floor talking to attendees, getting reactions to everything in the device: the depth slider, the buttons, the sliding pad that is, essentially, an analog-type stick," he said.

"These are things that we’re looking to get reaction to, including the overall button placement. When we get all that feedback, then we’ll finalise the design."

For more on 3DS, including our hands-on impressions, visit the Nintendo E3 page.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (20) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • 52pickup #1 2 years ago

    What's the odds Europe will be last?

  • madgerald Verified Studio Head of PR & Marketing, Colossal Games LTD #2 2 years ago

    Yours for only £179 - that's my guess anyhoo

  • davisorle #3 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012

  • DonnieDarko333 #4 2 years ago

    Japan will be October 2010, America will be November 2010.....Europe will be Feb/March 2011! If thats the case..i'm importing..can;t be dealing with waiting 'again'..it's very unfair for Europe.

    It will be £179.99 i reckon too!

    HOWEVER 'IF' the DS market in Europe/UK has stalled then..it maybe released Christmas...personally i think Nintendo would be stupid to release it in 2011..theres barely any DS games out now..i think Golden Sun, Professor Layton 3 & Hotel Dusk 2 are the only ones left to be released..so the market needs the 3DS

  • Toothball #5 2 years ago

    Next April suits me. I may have just about recovered from Christmas.

  • CallousB #6 2 years ago

    A 3DS launch would makes sense in Europe this year)..but I'm not sure if they would want to do that at the expense of the US (even though the US software market is far likely to remain healthy for them thanks to their US friendly wii game line-up).

    A limited launch in all regions would be a good way to counteract hype for Kinect/Move..but then you'll be left with the problem Wii had... with people buying the hardware just so they could sell it for double or triple the price on ebay (and Nintendo won't be keen on other people making extra money..when they could have got it themselves).

    Japan is the only region I'd guarantee for this year..if only because the vast majority of quality support for the 3DS will be coming from Japanese devs.

  • RobTheBuilder #7 2 years ago

    You'd think if Nintendo could launch in the UK by Xmas they would. I hate being last... I ended importing my DS because I couldn't stand the wait.

  • abigsmurf #8 2 years ago

    Autumn for US and Japan, Spring for EU

  • zedzee #9 2 years ago

    That means UK and Euroland will get it in September, because God forbid we should be counted as a "major territory", when the console vendors realise they haven't made enough kit to go round.

    Not that I'd be buying anything Nintendo, anyway!

  • chrisjm #10 2 years ago

    they made an effort for simultanious worldwide launches not long ago, nintendo is back to not loving us again. $$

  • Razz #11 2 years ago

    EU is a big territory, loads of different different countries with different languages and laws which will mean the packing, manuals and even the 3DS software will need to be localised for each place, not to mention licensing and distribution... It's a logistic nightmare. It makes sense that the eu gets the 3DS last.Nintendo its a japanese company so they'll want to release it at home first, the USA is logistically easier to release a console than the eu and historically a bigger market for nintendo, so they're next, then us.

    Obviously, it's frustrating, especially living in the UK but if you can't wait and you have the dosh, import one.

    This is still just speculation of course, nintendo could surprise us yet!

  • erp #12 2 years ago

    I'm really not keen on those 3 buttons placed below the screen, especially for old games that use them frequently (and some do).

    Move those and I'll be happy.

  • Embra #13 2 years ago

    If it comes in under £200 I will be very surprised, very impressed and very happy. Mind you, on top of the price of the hardware there's still the 'special deal bundles' you'll be more or less 'forced' to buy by the main retailers if you choose to go with them. You remember how it works - your chance to spend your money to help greedy retailers clear the backload of shovelware you lot were sensible enough to body swerve first time around.

  • JeroenZM #14 2 years ago

    I always have his voice in my head whenever I read one of his lines.

  • tossum #15 2 years ago

    Put another analogue stick on it Reg for fuck sake

  • jonsaan #16 2 years ago

    April release. Cool, that means we could have as many as 2 first party releases by Xmas 2011..

  • Kami #17 2 years ago

    If it comes in under £200, the 3DS will be an absolutely mammoth hit. Even at the price I feared, £250, I think many of us will still go for it. By April 2011? Sounds good to us Reggie, not likely to hear about any rivals until next E3 anyway so in your own time, they're the ones playing catch-up.

  • Jackface #18 2 years ago

    Wow that's a long time to wait.

  • My1stLoveJak #19 2 years ago

    Oh, thank God! I won't have to be broke for about a year, then

  • Lusterpurge #20 2 years ago

    The DS-lite was released here only a week or two after the NA release while the DSi and DSi-XL were released in Europe before the NA release. The releases may be fairly close together; we don't know anything for sure.