And boy it's expensive.

Have you been itching to pre-order the Nintendo 3DS? According to an anonymous tip, GameStop and EB Games stores in Canada (unconfirmed for the US) are now taking pre-orders for the Nintendo 3DS. As seen in the picture above from a GameStop store, a release date is listed for March 20, 2011 along with a price of $299.99 (CAD). According to the anonymous source, there are no specific pre-orders for the colors of the handheld (Cosmo Black or Aqua Blue), however gamers in Canada can now head out and check with their local GameStop or EB Games store to put a pre-order deposit towards the 3DS (minimum deposit could be $5 or $50).

http://www.gamingbits.com/nintendo-ds-dsi-3ds-news-bits/rumor-nintendo-3ds-release-date-price-shows-up-in-gamestop-canada-pre-order-list-picture/

This ties in with what JoelCool reported here

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=120061&page=1&str=471188357#

Hopefully it also applies in the USA. I would really like to be able to preorder while i'm here at my Permanent Address in a timely manner.

LOL @ Gamestop pre-orders as an indicator of anything.  I remember when the store in the mall I worked at offered me a pre-order for Capcom vs SNK 3 circa 2001 (I played a lot of fighting games back then), just after the release of 2.  They put shit in their system that blatantly isn't true, no need to be taking this at face value just yet.  We'll know what the system costs and when it's coming in at CES.

I already pre-ordered mine earlier today. Its 300$ and I forgot whether it launched on the 20th or 21st. But yes its legit. See my post for more details. P.S -in the future you should check to see if anyone else recently posted an identicle or close to identicle thread. Also it costs a minimum down payment of 50CDN.

I could be wrong but I suspect this is a place holder release date and price; and that they are using $300 as the price because they are certain it will be that price or lower. In the past, I have seen companies run into trouble because they allow pre-orders under the assumption of a reasonable price for a product and the price ends up being higher than that price.

$299 CDN sounds like $279 USA to me.

Other recent system launches (past 5 years) for comparison...

GB Micro ($99 USA, $129 CDN)

DS Lite ($129 USA, $169 CDN)

Wii ($249 USA, $279 CDN)

DSi ($169 USA, $179 CDN) 

DSi XL ($189 USA, $199 CDN)

...of course the price is probably placeholder on Gamestop's part, and the absolute upper limit of what they expect the thing to cost.

Holy cow!