That'd be very un-Nintendo, so I'm calling BS. E3 is right around the corner, anyway.

This just in, the Battery lasts 12 minutes!

OT.  I doubt it.  Battery longevity has always been a priority for Nintendo.  While there are batteries out there that could do this and keep a decenty battery life, they are to damned expensive for a handheld.  Nintendo will want this guy resonably priced so they will probably stick with the same grade Lith batteries they are using now. (They are not Sony and will not go crazy on the price, nor will they take a loss on Hardware)

Who cares... like the DS the new ways to play a game are the things that's going to sell the console... not how purrty the graphics are. I would be happy with Iphone graphics - well, not the graphics, but the screen.

And that would make it about on par with the PSP.  Why would Nintendo do that?

What is Nintendo-like these days?  Nintendo seems bent on the unexpected at this point in time.  You don't know where they are coming from.  They seem to be seriously into disruption and catching Sony and Microsoft offguard and doing things people don't expect.  What Nintendo is in need of is catching the early adopters again, with leading edge tech.  Having the 3DS to be able to do with the 360 and PS3 can do, in 3d WITHOUT the need for glasses, seems to fit disruption.  Nintendo then is able to make headway into next generation this way.

On this note, did you think 3DS and doing 3D was "Nintendo like" when it first was announced?  They bombed with Virtual Boy after all.

Thanks.  Of course, it could be VERY VERY wrong to.  In the blog entry, I go into the strategy involved, which is Nintendo offering integration between its platforms, by going with 3DS stuff as the way to get a large number of next gen games for their home console.  They are now doing this, and it helps them have a competitive advantage.  Having it work this way would also enable the 3DS to act as a controller with their next home console. It makes sense, if you think Nintendo is following this strategy.  I would say look to how Nintendo has done stuff with their handhelds to see how they will go.  They do try out things, to see how well they would work, and work incrementally, in ways that people don't see.  I do believe the DSi XL is a test of the size of the system, and the 3DS will likely be that size.  This then gives you room for the second analog stick there.

This approach, which people don't see, allowed Nintendo to get rid of the "Gameboy" name, which then allows them to position their handheld as a more "mature" system for all ages.  And one has to think why Nintendo is doing all this.  Well, I think that maybe Apple is forcing them to have the most advanced handheld out there.  Do the 3D but also have it have graphics that are in the ballpark of the current HD home consoles, is a way to do it.  And then also make sure you target sufficiently long enough battery life.  And then you have a LOT of games ready to go for the next home system Nintendo releases.

Again, all this can be wrong.  But hey, if it is on target, please contact some market analyst companies out there, so that they can see this.  MAYBE it can result in myself getting a job.  It is time for Pachter to go!

Guys, you make it seem that technology kepts getting improved while the development of better batteries or battery life is at a stand still. Laptobs, netbooks, and other portable devices more powerful than the home consoles use rechargeble batteries. The 3 DS could do the same. However, I'm not saying that the IGN story is true. I doubt that it is. They also said that their sources, in another article, stated that the PSP2 would be about half the power of the PS3. That's very doubtful too. IGN is just hyping stories to improve their fanbase.

Two words come to mind: passive cooling.

Exactly how big is this handheld supposed to be? Because if it's anything near the ballpark range of even the DSiXL, where are the active cooling fans going to be placed?

Unless the engineers who designed the chipset, cpu and gpu(s) have found some sort of way to break the laws of thermodynamics, CELL level processing power still generates a lot of heat in addition to consuming more power than your average laptop, if that's the claim anyone wants to throw out there in regards to the 3DS processing power. 

Kind of pointless to even bother speculating since Nintendo will have pre-production models at E3 in less than two weeks, but offhand I have to say that this guestimation is even worse than the $200 Natal guess from last year.

As far as cost goes, even if Nintendo can sell them at a profit for $250, I don't think that's a unreasonable price at all given that it will be a device that offers a gaming experience unlike any other currently on the market.

If they want to go all PS3 on the other hand and charge well over $300, they may have another Virtua Boy on their hands.

Liquide cooling Dude!!! thats what they must have!!!

Big fan of the DS, own it love it...but THIS? I will believe it when I see it