Iwata says a fall 2009 release would "probably be too late."
Nintendo's DSi may have just arrived on store shelves in Japan, but the handheld game player has yet to release in overseas markets. However, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata recently offered hope that availability would come sooner rather than later.
"An autumn or year-end [2009] launch would probably be too late," said Iwata at a meeting with analysts and investors last Friday. When it was unveiled earlier last month, the DSi had only been vaguely described as releasing "well into" 2009. However, while Iwata's statements provided some hope, he declined to give further details, saying that "specific plans will be unveiled by our local subsidiaries."
While this sheds a little more light on the American prospects for the device, Europe is already expecting the device to arrive sooner than that. Shortly after the DSi was unveiled, a spokesman for Nintendo of Europe said they had plans to launch the DSi in spring 2009 for the European market.