Nintendo 3DS starts selling in Japan — and gets hacked right away

By Dean Takahashi

Nintendo started selling the 3DS handheld game system this weekend in Japan, and fans lined up in chilly weather to get their hands on the new handheld which can be viewed in stereoscopic 3D without special glasses.

The system won’t arrive in North America until March 27 and in Europe on March 25. Nintendo typically targets its initial launches of new game systems for the Japanese market first and then it builds larger supplies to launch worldwide. The system is a critical one for Nintendo, which wants to continue to dominate handheld gaming despite the strong sales of Apple’s iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad — which have become spectacular game platforms. New game systems typically sell out in their first sales spurt, so we’ll be watching to see how the launch goes for Nintendo.

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