Sep 29, 2010 09:05 GMT  ·  By

Nintendo has held a press conference in Japan saying that the Nintendo 3DS handheld will be launched on February 26, 2011 on the Japanese market, coming with a price tag of 25,000 Yen.

Initial news from Nintendo suggested that the new device would arrive before the end of the year in the home territory of the company and at some point before the end of the fiscal year 2011 in Europe and North America.

The Nintendo 3DS will offer gamers the chance to experience specifically designed video games in full three dimensions without requiring the use of any specialized glasses, like the systems that are prepared for home consoles.

The device will not be very powerful, with Nintendo continuing its philosophy of creating devices powered by proven technology that rely on a big idea to entice gamers, with the 3DS taking over the mobile gaming market like the Nintendo Wii did for home consoles.

One surprise has been the price tag of 25,000 Yen, which translates to about 300 American dollars, quite a lot to ask for a handheld gaming platform.

The Nintendo 3DS is a new platform and a price higher than the now available DS family is to be expected but with the overall economic situation on big gaming markets still pretty grim gamers might not be thrilled to pay 300 dollars for a new handheld.

The Nintendo 3DS will probably have to compete with a new PlayStation Portable from Sony, a device that has not been officially unveiled but appears to be in the hands of quite a few developers for initial evaluation.

Satoru Iwata, who is the president of Nintendo, has told the audience, “If you don’t have software that makes use of the 3D display, you cannot show the charms.”

He added, “If there is no expectation for hardware spread, people will not develop software.”