yes im sure japanese people want to move with a tank, shoot and aim using their body instead of buttons.

I think that the reason is those 3D-SCREENS they are not cheap or easy to manufactures (and we even know who the hell is producing those) and if nintendo made the decision to release the console with just a few units they would create e-bay market where a 3ds would be sold for 500 or more , also that will let the third-party have more time working on the games and that is always good...

STILL I SAD CUZ I WANT MY 3DS NOW !

bhahahahah!

If Nintendo were to release the 3DS this holiday and were to have a massive shortage then you can bet to see most 3DS put on ebay selling for $500

And i would be probably happy to pay for it .... i want it sooooooooooooooooooooooo bad.

Fair enough, I can see why they did it. Plus, this way they get to maximize DS sales for one final holiday season before moving priority over to 3DS.

MS would like to be able to make them, but Kinect isn't sensitive enough to track bukkake.

DS offers are starting in Europe and its sales are growing: if the same starts also in America and Japan, DS will have, maybe not a record, but nevertheless great Xmas, so releasing 3DS next Spring will have been a good move to avoid spoiling the last Xmas that DS is able to manage alone without any doubt. Anyway, given 3DS launch price, I still expect DS' Xmas 2011 to be bigger than 3DS' one.

More like they want to avoid competition from Wii and DS.

Kinect couldn't even put a scratch in the 3DS's launch especially in Japan. Infact if 3DS launched this winter it would probubly do the exact opposite harming Kinect sales far more then Kinect harming its sales.

I think the real reason is the DS still has another Christmas in it and so does the Wii. Nintendo knows once 3DS is on the market consumers will forget/ignore the Wii and DS. Nintendo wants to ensure that DS continues to sell well even after 3DS.

Notice that the 3DS will be launching right around the time for Black and White for NA. They know that the DS will probubly continue selling okay in Japan in february and the DS will get a boost in hardware sales when Black and White are released in NA and later Europe. This means DS will remain profitable and viable buisness model despite 3DS launch.

Also 3DS will sell out regardless of when it launches so why cannibalize the Wii/DS by launching this Christmas. Sell the console next year and all the early adopters will pick it up. Now some say selling 4-million is probubly going to be tough, but If I recall the origional DS sold nearly that many in like two months, and it was out of stock everywhere. If Nintendo ships four million units I am 100% positive that it will still sell out and their will still be a shortage especially with the software line-up.

Another reason, Nintendo is forecasting sales of 15-million software titles. Who is going to buy 3 titles per console? Not five year olds getting it for Christmas. Not casuals buying it for Nintendogs, the early adopter hardcore gamers are the ones who will buy that much software in just a month. By releasing in March they ensure that only the hardcore will be buying the system, we all know early adopters buy lots of software. Nintendo is banking on those early adopters (Hardcore gamers) to sell enough software.