Have some money leftover from all the holiday shopping? Get a few GameStop gift cards yesterday? You might be able to put it to good use today! A number of GameStop retail stores have been reported as actively taking pre-orders for Nintendo’s upcoming handheld: the Nintendo 3DS. At the moment, it seems GameStop has a non-official, $199 placeholder price in their system, but you’re not allowed to pay it off in full at the moment, nor are you able to pick a color. Reservations require a minimum deposit of $50.
The Nintendo 3DS is expected to arrive in North America in March. It will launch in Japan in February 26th for ¥25,000. That was actually the launch price for the Wii in Japan, which translated to US$216 at the time — Nintendo of America later decided to pack in Wii Sports and increase our launch price to $250. Those 2006 conversion rates don’t hold, though: When the ¥25,000 price point was revealed in September, it equated to US$288. Today, it’s US$302. Still, it’s expected that Nintendo of America won’t want to alienate the North American market, and it’s possible we may still see a sub-$250 launch price.
