Nintendo 3DS Launch By March 2011 With New, "Finalized" Design

Nintendo of America head Reggie Fils-Aime has confirmed the launch window for the upcoming Nintendo 3DS, though stopped short of giving exact dates when gamers can expect to pick up the 3D-capable handheld.  Speaking to IndustryGamers, Fils-Aime said that Nintendo plan to have the 3DS launched in all major markets – Japan, the Americas and Europe – by the end of March 2011.

That, of course, coincides with the end of Nintendo's financial year, hence the hurry to make sure the expected boost in sales appears on this year's accounting sheet.  The company has reported declining sales of the DSi (along with the Wii) in recent quarters, and is counting on the 3DS to reverse that trend.

As for the 3DS' hardware design, as we spotted on the company's product page that's still not finalized.  Fils-Aime said Nintendo's designers and engineers have basically left themselves some wriggle-room to tweak things based on feedback from attendees at E3 last week:

"You know typically, at an E3, our engineers are looking for feedback. You know, we have an army of Nintendo representatives out on our show floor talking to attendees, getting reactions to everything in the device: the depth slider, the buttons, the sliding pad that is, essentially, an analog-type stick. These are things that we're looking to get reaction to, including the overall button placement. When we get all that feedback, then we'll finalize the design" Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America