Nintendo DS draws ever closer
TGS announcements anticipated, Japanese tour announced, pricing and release date speculation intensifies, and there's a new shot of the handheld too.
Nintendo may not be attending the Tokyo Game Show later this month, but the platform holder is still expected to make some key announcements at the time of the annual Japanese trade event, perhaps concerning the long-awaited launch details of the Nintendo DS.
Meanwhile, the platform holder still plans to give Japanese gamers the chance to get their hands on the DS ahead of its release later this year, and will be taking the handheld on tour this November.
The "Nintendo World Touch! DS" tour will visit five Japanese cities (Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo, Sapporo, Fukuoka) in November with several games in tow, although full details have yet to be announced.
Elsewhere in DS related news, American retailer Wal-mart has published release and pricing information for the US version of the handheld on its website, although neither Wal-Mart or Nintendo of America reps have so far commented. You can imagine what they'll say though.
For the record, though, the quoted price of $199.82 and delivery estimate of November 30th are broadly in line with rumour springing from Japanese retailers and US industry bods, which has the DS on US store shelves towards the end of November.
Naturally though, in the absence of confirmation from Nintendo of America, it's impossible to gauge just how accurate any of that is. But hopefully by the time the Tokyo Game Show is out of the way we'll no longer have any need to speculate.
Finally, there is one thing about the DS we can say with some certainty this morning - it looks just as snazzy from different angles. Enjoy the new pic.