Hmmm....

Good news everybody!

So if 3DS does hit in Japan this year, which NWR staffer called it?

Everyone?

I am sure Greg and both Jons will import the system.

Yeah, we're having this conversation right now.  James C. and Matt W. will have to beat some school children since that's a Saturday.

I have a couple of concerns, was it even verified that the Twitter account belonged to somebody who worked for Keys Factory? Twitter is full of fake accounts, I could go and set up a Twitter account and claim to work for Datel and say that we are releasing our first 3DS accessories on October 16, then delete it after a couple of hours to make it seem real (and that I was forced to delete it by my bosses).

I am not saying 100% that it's fake, I would just not get too excited.

As for importing, I would not do it. For one, I like the security of that warranty in case something goes wrong with the system. I also want to be able to register the system with Club Nintendo, and I have patience to wait for it to come here.

That's why it is a rumor!

To be honest, it wasn't directly aimed at you. I have seen some sites (including NeoGAF) reporting it as fact. This is also something I have seen with other news with people just assuming a Twitter or Facebook account is real and then reporting what they say as fact.

Do I want it to be true? Meh. I have plenty of games to keep me happy for the rest of the year and I probably wouldn't have the money to get the 3DS  if it came out this year anyways, so it wouldn't bother me to have it not release until 2011.

Fair deal.

I was originally a proponent of 3DS in 2010, but now I'd rather have it pushed back to 2011. There's too many games I'm interested in coming out now. I prefer being broke instead of in debt.

Whatever happened to portables being region-free because, you know, people travel around the world? I feel like we're going backwards here. I imagine it's an anti-piracy measure, possibly even forced by whatever new key management scheme they've cooked up, but it really sucks. It's one thing to have different online stores for different regions. It's another to say I can't buy and play a (physical) game for my portable while on my vacation in Europe.

There is a good possibility that Nintendo will go the route of Apple and make the 3DS unable to be opened by the consumer, which means no screews to open it up and you have to send it into Nintendo to open it up for repairs. They will do the same with the wii 2.

At a consumer level I'm fine with that for portable gaming platforms and even consoles, honestly. That sort of anti-tamper makes sense for closed platforms. Not that hackers won't find a way inside anyway, eventually....

I've always thought the 3DS would launch in Japan before year end, they seem pretty set on getting that done. It's the other regions I'm not sure of. The DS models are still selling pretty well here, there at least isn't a reason to release it here because of low sales.

I don't see how it could possibly be legitimately for anti-piracy.

Nintendo had been using non-standard screws for years, so that wouldn't really be new.  You weren't supposed to be able to open it up already, aside from the battery.  And you can't replace batteries on PS3 controllers either.