3DS pricing, date details promised in Sept. - Report

Nintendo has confirmed to Bloomberg Japan that the 3DS is coming out in the island nation this quarter (see update below) and that pricing and an exact release date will be revealed on September 29. Nintendo had previously announced that the handheld would be out in America some time in 2011 after confirming at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo it would be out this fiscal year. No dates for other regions have been confirmed.

The Nintendo 3DS will allow games to be played with a 3D effect without the need for glasses and was debuted at this year's E3 in Los Angeles last month. The company also confirmed a wealth of first-party titles were in development for the handheld, as well as significant third-party support from the likes of Konami, Capcom, and Activision.

The 3DS is to be the fifth iteration of Nintendo's latest handheld. The original DS was released in 2004 in the USA and Japan, with a European release following in 2005. In 2006, the DS Lite was launched across the world, and in 2008, Nintendo launched the DSi. In 2009, this was followed up with the DSi LL (DSi XL outside of Japan), a larger version of the DSi. After years of runaway success, the handheld's fortunes seem to be slipping, with Nintendo blaming poor DS hardware and software sales for its recent quarterly loss.

Recently, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter suggested that the 3DS could retail in the US for in excess of $250--$100 more than the original DS did on its US debut. He went on to say that he felt Nintendo could still sell "millions of units" at that price point as he branded the 3DS a "revolutionary device" that would spur hardware and software sales alike.

UPDATE: Since this story was published, Nintendo has confirmed that it will be revealing date and price information for the 3DS on September 29. However, the Mario Factory has said it is has not confirmed that the 3DS will be out this quarter. The headline of this story initially stated that the 3DS was due out in October, according to the Bloomberg report. GameSpot regrets the error.