Update 26/11: Welcome to Cyber Monday, the end of the great Black Friday discount bonanza. Today is the final day of traditional Black Friday discounts before we get into the merely a la carte pre-Christmas stuff, and we are once again curating the best Nintendo deals throughout Cyber Monday until the curtain finally falls tonight. The Nintendo Switch deals have proved pleasingly long-lasting for Black Friday 2018, and most of the decent offers have endured. A deal with Nintendo Switch Neon with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Zelda Breath of the Wild for £299.00 has been one of the best thus far, but unfortunately sold out earlier today.
Update 26/11: Welcome to Cyber Monday, the end of the great Black Friday discount bonanza. Today is the final day of traditional Black Friday discounts before we get into the merely a la carte pre-Christmas stuff, and we are once again curating the best Nintendo deals throughout Cyber Monday until the curtain finally falls tonight. The Nintendo Switch deals have proved pleasingly long-lasting for Black Friday 2018, and most of the decent offers have endured. A deal with Nintendo Switch Neon with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Zelda Breath of the Wild for £299.00 has been one of the best thus far, but unfortunately sold out earlier today.
UPDATE 6/9/18: Last week's postponed Nintendo Direct will be broadcast tomorrow - exactly seven days on from when it was originally scheduled.
The star in the sky of Cyber Monday 2017 is gradually fading but never fear, the day may pass but the deals certainly aren't going anywhere. Not until later this week, at least. The long-running annual event with a slightly dubious name (given that it's no longer the late 90s) is the follow-up event to the even longer running Black Friday shopping bonanza. Previously, this was the online side of the late-November savings spree, though in recent years the lines between the two have blurred significantly. What you need to know, though, is that Cyber Monday brings a brand new set of discounts, bundles, special offers and deals on a whole array of products.
In a surprise announcement, Nintendo has this morning unveiled the New 2DS XL.
It's another handheld in the 3DS family, and the second 2DS variant - meaning it has no stereoscopic 3D option.
Two colour options will be available when it launches on 28th July - "Black + Turquoise" and "White + Orange".
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Out of nowhere, Nintendo has launched Swapdoodle, a new messaging app for 3DS.
The software lets you draw multi-page doodles or hand-written notes, then send them to friends.
It's free to download, although there are microtransactions for drawing tutorials and stationary sets should you wish to draw Nintendo characters or in sparkly ink.
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UPDATE 4.00pm Nintendo's 3DS Direct is now complete - and it generated quite a bit of news:
Out of nowhere, Nintendo has announced and released a striking new 3DS design, named Galaxy.
3DS has now notched up 60m sales, Nintendo announced last night.
While a significant milestone, this still places 3DS around 20m short of the Game Boy Advance and a whopping 94m short of the DS.
There's still some life in 3DS yet - Nintendo clearly plans on supporting the device into next year via the release of Pokémon Sun and Moon this Christmas.
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Nintendo's eShop first opened its digital doors five years ago this week and, to celebrate, the big N will hold a big sale.
The first Nintendo Direct broadcast in more than six months will take place this Thursday at 10pm UK time.
Here's something of a surprise: free-to-play 3DS software Nintendo Badge Arcade launches in Europe this Friday, 13th November.
Nintendo has announced its new customer reward program, named My Nintendo, which will allow users to earn points as they play games.
Nintendo has announced its fan-pleasing Nintendo Direct announcement shows will resume.
Nintendo fans across the world are paying their respects to the late Satoru Iwata and thanking him for his work.
Below, games developers and executives pay tribute to the late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who has passed away aged 55.
Nintendo's social network for Wii U and 3DS gamers will be refreshed this summer with a number of new features.
Nintendo will hold its annual E3 presentation on Tuesday, 16th June at 9am Pacific Time (5pm UK).
Nintendo has signalled it will abandon region-locking for its consoles, beginning with the upcoming NX.
Four years on and I'm still carrying around my 3DS. It sits in my bag each day as I walk to the office and it travels with me when I journey elsewhere. True, the amount of time I spend on Nintendo's dinky dual-screen has dropped over time, despite the introduction of its beefier XL and shinier New 3DS models. But it's still my go-to place for bite-sized gaming sessions.
Nintendo has detailed a somewhat cautious roll-out of its plans to release games for smartphones: five will launch before the end of March 2017.
Speaking in a results briefing after the company announced its first annual profit in four years, president Satoru Iwata acknowledged five smartphone games might have been a lower number than some investors had hoped for.
"You may think it is a small number, but when we aim to make each title a hit and because we want to thoroughly operate every one of them for a significant amount of time after their releases, this is not a small number at all and should demonstrate our serious commitment to the smart device business," Iwata said.
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Nintendo has returned to annual profit for the first time in four years.
There's a new exploit to make your Nintendo 3DS region-free but - once again - you'll need a copy of obscure puzzle game Cubic Ninja to make it work.
3DS modders are working on a homebrew app that turns Nintendo's handheld into a remote desktop for your PC.
Nintendo has released its two new 3DS StreetPass games with a special discount for those who bought the previous mini-game DLC.
Nintendo has released new details of its upcoming International StreetPass Week, set to take place from the 16th-27th April.
Gamer Network, the lovely company which also operates this website, has begun selling tickets for EGX 2015.
Nintendo has added more than 60 digital games and apps to the European Club Nintendo Stars Catalogue.
Nintendo today announced it will begin releasing games on mobile phones and tablets, after years of opposition to smart device development.
UPDATE 17/3/15 3.55pm: After today's announcement that Nintendo will begin smartphone and tablet game development, Eurogamer's Chris "Bratterz" Bratt has rounded up resident Nintendo fan Tom Phillips and resident Nintendo sceptic Wesley Yin-Poole to discuss what this might mean for the company's future.
Nintendo has issued a new 3DS firmware update that blocks a major web browser exploit.
The hack had allowed users to inject code within downloaded games, allowing for a number of illegal uses.
A method was discovered to run pirated Game Boy Color ROMs with relative ease, for example.
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Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata has said that the decision to stagger the New Nintendo 3DS' global roll-out had been a "difficult" decision.
Nintendo sold around 335,000 units of its New Nintendo 3DS during the handheld's recent launch week in Europe and the US.
Sales data published as part of the company's latest financial briefing shows Nintendo shifted around 175k units in the US and around 160k in Europe.
Both of the new system's major launch titles - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate - outperformed the previous version in each respective series.
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A new exploit has been discovered that lets you boot Game Boy Color ROMs on 3DS.
Nintendo will finally launch its New Nintendo 3DS and 3DS XL in Europe on 13th February, the company has announced.
Both versions feature a new C-button for dual-analogue control, improved 3D and built-in NFC compatibility to communicate with Amiibos.
There's a slight power upgrade to both as well, allowing for smoother gameplay, faster system load times and ability to play a number of games which will be New 3DS-exclusive, the first of which will be a port of Wii role-player Xenoblade Chronicles.
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UPDATE 7/1/15 10.45am: More than a dozen New 3DS Ambassador Editions have been sold via eBay in 24 hours, with prices for each ranging between £260 and £285.
UPDATE 6/1/15 11.25am: Nintendo has told Eurogamer that it is unable to disclose the method of how it picked Club Nintendo members for eligibility.
Nintendo has removed the ability to run homebrew software on 3DS via a new firmware update.
Nintendo's New 3DS model has a Mario-themed Easter egg hidden away in its web browser.
This week, 22-year-old Jordan Rabet sat down at his keyboard and told his many Twitter followers the good news: his year-long project to crack the 3DS' security was finally at an end.
A hacker has built the first ever 3DS homebrew loader, which makes use of an exploit found in an obscure Ubisoft puzzle game.
Nintendo will soon allow you to pre-download Wii U games purchased before their release, starting with Super Smash Bros. for Wii U in December.
Nintendo earned 171.4bn yen (£981m) in revenue during the past six months, although ended with a total operating loss of 215m yen (£1.2m).
That figure is a vast improvement on the same time last year however, when Nintendo posted a far more dire 23bn yen (£133m) operating loss.
Despite the operating loss, Nintendo managed to post a profit of 14.3bn yen (£82.1m). That's because of positive exchange gains due to the depreciation of the yen.
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Nintendo shifted 113,238 3DS handhelds in Japan last week, counting all variants of the device.
Nintendo sold more than 230,000 New 3DS and New 3DS XL during the handhelds' first two days on sale in Japan.
Nintendo's latest 3DS firmware update has added the ability to customise your handheld with themes.
Six basic coloured themes are available for free, or you can download more from the new Theme Shop. Simple designs cost 89p, or you can purchase themes featuring Nintendo characters for £1.79.
Currently there are only a small number available, including a few classic Mario designs and one inspired by Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.
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Nintendo's New 3DS and New 3DS XL redesigns launch in Australia this November, despite the handheld still being down for a vague 2015 launch in Europe and North America.
The maker of Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong is an astonishing 125 years old today, having been formed on 23rd September 1889.
Nintendo's reformed New 3DS XL has made a surprise appearance at Tokyo Games Show 2014 - exclusively at Capcom's booth demonstrating the upcoming Monster Hunter 4G.
UPDATE 11/09/2014 6.24pm: Nintendo has confirmed to Eurogamer that it has "no plans to launch these Persona Q or NES controller inspired Nintendo 3DS XL hardware in Europe."
Nintendo has confirmed its first line-up of Amiibo NFC toys which will launch in the UK this year.
UPDATE: Nintendo has told Eurogamer that the new 3DS and 3DS XL designs will not reach Europe until 2015.
"Different territories make their own business decisions regarding individual products and timing," a Nintendo spokesperson told us. "We plan to launch these products in Europe in 2015.
"We have a variety of compelling portable gaming options for consumers now and through the Christmas shopping season, including a variety of different Nintendo 2DS and Nintendo 3DS XL bundles at retail. We also have a strong library of hundreds of games for these systems that appeal to all kinds of players, with titles like Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire still on the way before the end of the year."
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Tempted by the offer of a McDonald's Happy Meal with a free Mario toy? Our friends at Nintendo Life have filmed an unboxing video to show you exactly what you'll get.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has revealed new development plans for smart devices designed to increase consumer awareness of its consoles and games.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has announced he will take a 50 per cent pay cut in response to the company's continued financial problems.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has defended the company's continued reluctance to release games on smartphones in the wake of last Friday's bleak financial results.
UPDATE: Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has apologised to shareholders for the company's business performance but pledged to stay in office, Nikkei reports (as translated by NeoGAF).
Iwata admitted responsibility for today's poor financial results but said that the first order of business was restoring momentum as soon as possible, and that he will stay as president to see this through.
ORIGINAL STORY: Nintendo has cut dramatically the number of Wii U and 3DS consoles it expects to sell by the end of the financial year.
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3DS flash card manufacturer Gateway has been accused of allowing users' 3DS consoles to become irretrievably bricked by a secret "kill switch" it introduced in a recent update.
Enterprising 3DS owners have discovered an exploit that will disable the handheld's region-locking.
Nintendo will finally implement a cross-platform account system with its upcoming update for 3DS.
Nintendo's recently-discontinued 3DS messaging service Letter Box was used by alleged child predators in Japan to target young girls, reports state.
Nintendo is rolling out a fresh 3DS firmware update to support StreetPass Relay, a method of StreetPassing the previous visitor at a Wi-Fi hotspot.
Nintendo has already earned more than $4 million (£2.6m) from its four new StreetPass games, company boss Satoru Iwata has revealed.
UPDATE: Nintendo has told Eurogamer it is aware of the widespread reports of StreetPass app crashes from European users after today's 3DS firmware update.
European PlayStation Vita sales have settled into a slump since Sony's machine launched earlier this year.
That's according to new figures released by Nintendo as part of its financial report. The data reveals that in Europe weekly 3DS sales are regularly more than double that of the Vita - sometimes far more.
And, just like in Japan, Vita is being outstripped sales-wise by ageing predecessor the PSP.
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3DS sales are roughly equal to DS figures after the same time period, despite Nintendo reporting "weaker than expected" numbers for their new handheld.
It is difficult to directly compare 3DS and DS sales over the same time frame due to the earlier machine's staggered launch. 3DS now stands at 22.19 million sold, 19 months after the console launched in February 2011.
19 months after the DS launched in Europe in March 2005 it had sold 26.82 million - although its European release was more than three months after it launched in the US and Japan in November/December 2004. Factor that in and the comparative figure is 21.27 million DS units, meaning a small advantage for the 3DS at present.
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Nintendo has lowered its annual profit forecast after reporting "weaker than expected" sales of the 3DS outside Japan.
That's despite the 3DS selling gangbusters amounts every week in the Japanese chart, where it regularly outmatches the rest of the hardware combined.
Nintendo's financial forecast for the year is now a much slimmer six billion yen (£47m) profit, revised from the 20 billion yen (£157m) it expected earlier in the year.
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Nintendo Japan has revealed two 3DS XL special editions featuring Mario and Animal Crossing designs.
The smartly-dressed duo will be available in bundles with New Super Mario Bros. 2 and the upcoming Animal Crossing 3DS - in Japan, at least.
A Japanese Nintendo Direct conference also divulged details on nine older 3DS games soon to arrive as downloads from the 3DS eShop.
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Nintendo sold just less than 10,000 3DS XL units in the UK on Saturday.
The 3DS XL total was "a little shy of five figures", Eurogamer contributor Johnny Minkley told our sister site GamesIndustry International.
UK chart company Chart-Track does not publicly release hardware sales figures, and Nintendo claimed this morning it would not divulge 3DS XL sales totals.
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UPDATE: Nintendo has just confirmed it is no longer selling 3DS hardware at a loss. The change comes as of today, 25th July. The news was announced in addition to the company's latest financial report, detailed below.
The cheapest place in the UK to buy a 3DS XL this weekend will be at Asda. The supermarket giant is planning to sell Nintendo's shiny new handheld for just £169.99.
An increased pixel size for the 3DS XL will not look "awkward", Nintendo has said.
HMV has advertised the Nintendo 3DS XL with a second Circle Pad using an internet mock-up.
The new Nintendo 3DS XL is not big enough to squeeze in a second circle pad, company president Satoru Iwata has explained.
Hello big boy! Bertie poses with Nintendo's new handheld.
The 3DS XL has arrived! It's in the Eurogamer office, anyway, and so am I. Would you like me to steal anything for you while I'm here? I can easily source you a half-empty bottle of Brecon Carreg mineral water or - bit trickier, this - a four-foot tall steel broadsword belonging to the editor, currently buried in a plinth of plastic ice. Nobody's going to miss that.
UPDATE: Online retailer Play.com has opened the 3DS XL price war with an offering of £179.99 for the device's Blue or Black models.
Toyota's latest in-car navigations system are now compatible with the Nintendo DS.
"Around here, we're pretty good at making eyelids."
Nintendo has announced the full list of ten Game Boy Advance titles to be given away in the 3DS Ambassador programme.
Nintendo's much-derided 3DS Circle Pad Pro accessory has a beefy battery life of 480 hours, according to the device's manual (posted online by Andriasang).
Weekly shop giant Sainsbury's has slashed the price of gaming hardware in an aggressive bid at the Christmas present market.
The 3DS eShop will be updated in November to allow DLC, demos and the ability to download content while in sleep mode, Nintendo has announced.
Nintendo's planned November 3DS firmware update will allow gamers to record up to 10 minutes of 3D video footage.
Videos can then be uploaded to YouTube, Japanese newspaper Nikkei reports (via Andrisang), although the paper was unclear on whether this was possible directly or merely through SD card transfer.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is expected to fully detail the update in a pre-recorded webcast to be broadcast later today. The talk will also see Iwata reveal the upcoming Mario Kart 7's online functions.
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In hindsight, I should have listened to my mum. You see, mum loves Nintendo handhelds, and has owned every single major new model since the original Game Boy.
As far as rumours go, the first whispers that Nintendo was planning on somehow stapling an extra circle pad to the side of the 3DS was at the wackier end of the tittle-tattle spectrum, and you can be sure Eurogamer thought long and hard before reporting on it.
Does it block the 3DS game card slot?
Colourful handheld hits Japan 20th Oct.
Almost definitely never coming to Europe.
Highlights games, plays down 3D.
The 3DS Nintendo Video service will launch tomorrow, 13th July, in Europe.
UPDATE: Nintendo has issued a press release to Eurogamer confirming the following e-Shop titles for Europe next week: 3D Classic Excitebike (free in Europe until 7th July), Game Boy versions of Super Mario Land, Alleyway and Tennis for the Virtual Console, and the Pokédex 3D app revealed yesterday.
The 3DS eShop will then be updated every Thursday.
ORIGINAL STORY: Nintendo launches a firmware update for the Nintendo 3DS on 7th June. It adds the long-delayed e-Shop online marketplace and web browser.
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UPDATE: Ubisoft has contacted Eurogamer to say the report is untrue.
UPDATE: Nintendo has confirmed to Eurogamer that the Nintendo 3DS system update will launch in Europe on 7th June.
Nintendo's May 3DS firmware update has been detailed by a new report. It includes the Nintendo eShop, although promised Internet browsing functions are nowhere to be seen.
The list of additions - published by Famitsu and translated by The Magic Box - include the initial batch of downloadable eShop content.
Nintendo had previously promised a web browser would be part of its May firmware update. Before that it had been intended for launch day.
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Nintendo has sold just over 3.6 million 3DS units to date.
Welcome to Cheap This Week! We already tell you which games are out this week, so we thought we'd try bringing you a weekly roundup of the best deals in gaming as well. Look out for Cheap This Week each Wednesday.
Update 2: Huge US retail chain GameStop has chimed in too, insisting it isn't seeing an unusually high number of returns. "This is something that we are not experiencing," said a spokesperson.
The Nintendo 3DS sold 113,000 units during its first two days on sale in the UK, Nintendo has announced.
The sales figure beats the UK launches of the Wii (105,000) and Nintendo DS (approximately 87,000), making the Nintendo 3DS the fastest-selling Nintendo console ever in the UK.
Sony's PlayStation Portable holds the UK console launch record – it shifted 185,000 units during its launch window in 2005.
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Last week, analysts and shops predicted opening weekend 3DS sales could be as massive as 200,000 units. Their estimates were made off the back of a Nintendo-flaunted pre-order count of 140,000 3DS consoles.
Tesco 3DS offer unable to be refused.
We're used to buying video games and consoles from the likes of GAME, WHSmith and supermarkets. Petrol stations, not so much.
Nintendo has moved to calm reaction to US boss Reggie Fils-Aime's controversial comment that the Japanese company refuses to do business with "garage" developers.
Nintendo 3DS owners have reported an error on the console that forces a hard reboot.
Got a Nintendo 3DS? Haven't opened it yet? Changed your mind and fancy selling it for more than you bought it for? Then you're in luck. UK shop CEX will buy your boxed Nintendo 3DS for an incredible £215.
UPDATE: Amazon.co.uk has issued Eurogamer with the following statement: "Thousands of customers have already received their Nintendo 3DS console and we will continue to make deliveries throughout the day."
Nintendo has guaranteed that you'll be able to walk into a shop today, this weekend and next week, and buy a 3DS.
Nintendo has warned gamers that the eye-catching 3DS prices currently doing the rounds at UK shops will not last long.
What are the chances of walking into a shop tomorrow and buying a Nintendo 3DS off the shelf?
Supermarket Tesco and high-street electronics shop Currys have both lowered the Nintendo 3DS price to under £180.
"An absolute outrage!"; "Shameful exploitation"; "I love living in rip-off Britain". Just a small selection of reader reaction to the news that the 3DS would sell for around £230 when it debuted in the UK.
Update: GAME has clarified that a free 3DS won't be given to the 482 GAME/gamestation queue-leaders at shops up and down the UK. Instead, their names will go into a hat, from which a winner will be picked to receive a free 3DS.
Original story:
HMV may be the official 3DS launch partner, but GAME will outnumber the rival shop-chain by opening a fleet of 482 GAME and gamestation stores tomorrow night at midnight.
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A Nintendo 3DS can receive demos while dormant via the Wi-Fi connection as you casually stroll past a shop or a "spot" - that's what the SpotPass feature is all about.
How to make your Mii three stories high.
Update: HMV has clarified to Eurogamer that a 3DS costs £109.99 when trading in a DSi XL; £139.99 when trading in a DSi; and £154 when trading in a DS Lite.
A whopping 1200 stores across the UK open at midnight Thursday to sell the Nintendo 3DS – 13 of which are classed as VIP store openings.
Supermarket Morrisons will stop selling the Nintendo 3DS for £187 this Sunday, ONM reports.
The Nintendo 3DS is Amazon.co.uk's most pre-ordered console of all time.
The Nintendo 3DS price war ramped up this morning after supermarket Morrisons listed the handheld for an eye-catching £187.
Nintendo will launch a "large-sized" Alternate Reality card for use with the 3DS handheld.
The official UK launch partner of the 3DS will be HMV.
The official UK launch, therefore, will happen at the shop-chain's flagship store on 150 Oxford Street, London. A northern launch extravaganza will happen HMV LiverpoolOne.
Both events begin 11pm Thursday night (24th March) - an hour and a minute before the UK 3DS officially goes on sale.
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UPDATE: A Nintendo spokesperson issued the following statement to Eurogamer: "We do not discuss product security details (for obvious reasons), nor can we discuss the details of countermeasures available in the Nintendo 3DS system.
Nintendo reckons 85 per cent of the UK will have seen its Nintendo 3DS TV advertisements at least three times in the run up to the handheld's 25th March launch.
SEGA has revealed the five Game Gear games it will make available to the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console when it launches in May.
Epic's game making technology Unreal Engine 3 works on everything – except the Nintendo 3DS.
Nintendo hopes its 3DS handheld will do the talking when it comes to convincing gamers of its merits.
The UK should have enough 3DS launch stock to go around - but GAME has warned that if excitement builds then sell-outs are a real possibility.
Mobile game publisher ngmoco has slammed Sony's Next Generation Portable and Nintendo's 3DS.
For Sony, the Next Generation Portable's 3G functionality is one of its killer features, but for 3DS maker Nintendo, it expects having to pay for the service will put people off from buying it.
GAME will open 100 of its stores at midnight 24th March to welcome sales of the Nintendo 3DS.
More than 400,000 Nintendo 3DS units have been sold during opening weekend in Japan.
That initial allocation of stock was quickly snaffled by pre-order customers standing in queues that stretched over 750 people long, Nikkei reported.
But by as soon as Sunday stocks had been replenished, according to Andriasang - as Nintendo sets about fulfilling a Japanese shipment target of 1.5 million 3DS units by the end of March.
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The 3DS is the latest, and possibly the most outlandish, handheld games console from Nintendo, a company which has dominated handheld gaming since the Game Boy launched almost 22 years ago.
There was much excitement at the first demonstrations of its remarkable screen, which allows players to view games in stereoscopic 3D without the need for glasses. But a seemingly lacklustre line-up of launch software and steep pricing of both the 3DS and its games have recently deflated the hype. It looked as if Nintendo was just adding gimmicky features – and a great deal of cost – to the DS without responding to the radical changes in mobile gaming brought about by the smartphone explosion.
In truth, both the 3D screen and Nintendo's conservative strategy have distracted us from one simple fact: for the first time in over six years, we have an all-new generation of DS. 3DS is the successor to the world's most popular gaming device. And that makes it a pretty big deal.
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Eurogamer TV gets stuck in.
There's just one month to go now until Nintendo releases its shiny new handheld and everyone in the world throws their 3D specs in a bin. Yes, as of 25th March, we'll all be able to enjoy glorious, glasses-free, three-dimensional gaming with the Nintendo 3DS.
Providing we're willing to part with £230 first. And aren't one of those people whose eyes can't even look at a 3D screen without their eyes going all swimmy. But this is missing the point. The POINT is that this is the start of a magnificent new era. Soon we will be able to visit gameworlds where objects in the distance look not just smaller, but farther away. And what a wide range of worlds there will be to explore, right from launch.
As covered in our recent previews there's new Pilotwings and Kid Icarus to enjoy, not to mention Super Street Fighter IV.
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Published as part of our sister-site GamesIndustry.biz's widely-read weekly newsletter, the GamesIndustry.biz Editorial, is a weekly dissection of an issue weighing on the minds of the people at the top of the games business. It appears on Eurogamer after it goes out to GI.biz newsletter subscribers.
The launch of a new Nintendo console is always a big event, but the resurgent company's dominance of console sales in recent years has meant that the launch of a new piece of Nintendo hardware marks a major milestone for the games business as a whole. It's to be expected, then, that the eyes of the gaming world will turn to Japan this Saturday when the Nintendo 3DS finally arrives in the hands of eagerly waiting consumers.
Nintendo is undoubtedly gearing up the statistics and press releases already, because for all the frenzied coverage the launch will generate, it's actually a pretty well understood and stage-managed event in many regards. Almost every console launch in recent years has been the "biggest ever" by some measurement, for example, but such statistics are largely meaningless since demand almost always exceeds supply on launch day - meaning that this is an achievement not in terms of sales but in terms of manufacturing.
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Eurogamer's 3DS from all angles.
Shop GAME will give you a trade-in price of £190 on the £196.99 Nintendo 3DS if you bring it back within a month of buying it.
Forget mirrors. Looking at your own face in boring old 2D is so last decade. What if you could see yourself the way others see you? What if you could capture multi-dimensional images of the world around you? What if you could make 3D porn?
Part 2: Hands-on impressions from last weekend's showcase.
Cheap, disposable smartphone games are one of the biggest problems facing the games industry today, according to Nintendo US chief Reggie Fils-Aime.
Last week a Nintendo UK spokesperson informed Eurogamer that the 3DS's eShop would go live on launch day, courtesy of a system update.
However, CEO Satoru Iwata has now cruelly over-ruled that claim, announcing that the patch won't hit until May.
Speaking at an investor call in Japan last night, the Nintendo boss explained, "The first system update is scheduled for late May, at almost the same time around the world."
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The Nintendo 3DS will use a built-in pedometer to record how far you walk and reward your strides with Game Coins.
Earlier this month Nintendo invited two competition winners to join the games industry in Amsterdam for the announcement of the European 3DS launch date and software. Eurogamer reader Richard Horne was one of them, and as soon as he got back he wrote up his epic impressions of the hardware and software. Read on to see what he made of them.
With a brand new Nintendo money report comes a brand new worldwide Wii and DS sales total.
As of 31st December 2010, the DS (DS, DSi, DSi XL) has sold 144.59 million units, globally, and the Wii 84.64 million units.
Massive numbers. Can 3DS replicate them?
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All the action from Amsterdam.
Zelda! Street Fighter! Rabbids! Resi!
UPDATE: ShopTo has lowered its asking price to £199.85. It's claiming it's a "promo pre-order price" available "for a limited time only".
Finally, Nintendo has confirmed the European 3DS launch date.
The handheld will arrive here on 25th March, according to a press release.
The 3DS price will be "decided by retailers" - "please refer to their prices," said Nintendo Europe president Satoru Shibata at a press conference in Amsterdam, Holland, moments ago.
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Live from 2pm GMT / 3pm CET.
Nintendo has told Eurogamer there is a "possibility" 3DS games from one region won't work when played by a 3DS from another region.
Breaking: the 3DS is compatible with the DSi and DSi XL power cable.
Contrary to warnings recently offered by Nintendo, the 3DS does not have the potential to damage the eyesight of children under six, so say medical experts.
Cartridges for Nintendo's ambitious new 3DS handheld may be able to hold a whopping 8GB of data - that's more than an Xbox 360 DVD (6.8GB).
Mario! Zelda! Pilotwings! Star Fox! Resi!
Tag mode! Mii support! 3D picture cards!
Last night's leak of the Nintendo 3DS tech spec reveals a lean, power efficient device assembled from a relatively mediocre set of components. Once again, the platform holder has used a selection of established, cheap, off-the-shelf chips and made it feel fresh and new thanks to the implementation of a game-changing concept: in this case, glasses-free stereo 3D.
Nintendo will reveal the date and price of the 3DS in Japan on 29th September 2010.
3D simulations of renowned Nintendo 64 games have appeared on YouTube. They offer non-E3 goers a glimpse of what the 3DS can do.
Dutch online shop Bart Smit has told Eurogamer its date and price for the 3DS are internal expectations.
