Nintendo 3DS Launches in Japan

This past Saturday the Nintendo 3DS has launched in Japan, with an initial shipment of over 400,000 units, which instantly sold out across the country. And upon quickly releasing the second shipment, that sold out too. So, it looks like the 3DS is going to be making a powerful impact, whether that impact will surpass that of the last DS generation remains to be seen.

However, now that the 3DS is out and in the hands of gamers, we're learning more and more about the system. Some of it good, some of it, not so much.

As far as the bad goes, there are reports of massive eye strain when using the Nintendo 3DS for extended periods of time. Nintendo of Japan has released a statement saying that gamers should take a 15 minute break from playing, after every 30 minutes of playtime. That's twice the advisory they have with a typical console or previous handheld game. So, may we have yet another Virtual Boy on our hands? That remains to be seen.

The Virtual Boy was Nintendo's first attempt at full-3D gaming in the mid-90's and it only released 16 titles since, and was swiftly taken off the market afterwards. It's interesting to note this, as only 16 titles were released at launch for 3DS.

Another thing to note is, despite months of arguing that the anti-piracy technology is groundbreaking and that the platform is unbreakable, within the first weekend of the handheld's release, images of an R4 running successfully on the device have already been seen. And while it may not be "fully hacked" yet, it's still interesting to note the homebrew community have already made such impressive strides with the system.

The Nintendo 3DS will launch in North America on March 27 for $250.00 Nintendo says they want over 4 million units circulating worldwide by the end of March.