Nintendo DS to Launch November 21

mcc writes "PlanetGamecube is reporting the upcoming Nintendo DS handheld has been given a launch date of November 21st and a price of $150 ! It is also being reported that the Nintendo DS will ship with PictoChat (a sort of chat/whiteboard software) and some form of the Metroid Prime Hunters multiplayer FPS bundled in. A fact sheet is also available."

Comments

Re:It's nice to hear..

[mod_parent_down]

What is largely relevant going to the handheld market from consoles is not really sales figures, but rather 3rd party support. Publishers have been dropping the GC like a bad habit, and they won't likely jump back on the Nintendo bandwagon until DS proves that it can move units.

So all they'll have to spur sales in the beginning is 1st party stuff. There are 2 problems though:

First, there are some nasty sharks in the water this xmas season in the console game market. San Andreas, Halo 2, GT4... While it's not direct competition, people only have so much time and money to spend, and DS isn't first on anyone's list (except the hard-core nintendrones).

Second, once xmas comes and goes, and PSP comes out in spring, nintendo will have no flexibility in moving their price point to compete. They're betting the farm on massive early adoption. You read $150 and you can almost see the sweat on their brow.