I haven't been able to verify this yet. I did, however, see a guy on a train playing Monster Hunter Tri-G on 3DS

It did make sense for them to limit the 3G version in this case, because it does not seem to be that well-integrated of an idea.

I also called this not coming off the blocks well so that I agree with. But what I disagree with is thee ios/ipda/cellphone gaming being a factor. As has been on display with 3DS, thee ONLY major hurdle hand held gaming is facing is rising cost in a down-trodden economy. 3DS gets a price drop, and sales go upward. People are not comparing iphone to 3DS, they are saying, "250 is too much for a hand held."

The two are not related (ios/pad/phone gaming and hurt hand held sales) and should not be considered as such.

http://allisbrawl.com/blogpost.aspx?id=131192 read point 3

First, I disagree (somewhat) with that article's writer. There IS overlap between handhelds and tablets/phones. Just because he says there isn't doesn't mean it's not true. While I doubt there are many people who question "should I buy an iPad or a 3DS", that doesn't mean there aren't people who don't even consider buying a 3DS because they already own an iPad. Or an iPhone. All three devices are expensive. Dropping $250 on a 3DS when you already own a $500 iPad that plays some pretty great games WILL seem illogical to many people out there and considering how many iPads Apple is moving on a daily basis, there is bound to be a lot of overlap between the mobile devices.

Casuals drove the DS to never-before-seen heights. Old ladies, middle-aged mothers, businessmen, they were often seen toting around a DS because they wanted to play games. Well, now a good portion of those people are carrying an iOS or Android device in their pocket. They don't care about the latest and greatest graphics. They just want to play 2-3 games and be happy about it. If they already lug around a device that does that for them, why are they going to consider dropping another $200 (plus $30-40 per game) on a device specifically to play games? They already have all they need in their pocket. Hell, in my experience, even many children are more interested in the multi-media capabilities of tablets/phones than in dedicated gaming devices. All three of my nieces had DSes and 6-8 games apiece. What did they ask for this Christmas? Two iPads and an iPhone for the oldest. There wasn't even a whisper about the 3DS. That's where the market shift is happening.

If the economy was to blame, the iPad would be seeing mediocre sales. It's not. Apple is selling more high-end devices in every market than it ever has in the past. The iPhone, iPad, and Mac lines continually break records, despite being some of the highest-priced equipment available in its respective market. People are spending money. Saying they won't spend it on a gaming handheld because they're broke is really ignoring what's happening in favor of blaming external forces for a market shift that many have seen coming for years.

Ipads/ipods and other tablet mobile devices are not DIRECT competition they are "Indirect" competition.  To completely disregard the effects of these products is idiotic.
Although they do not provide the same functions and they are "subsitutes".
There is also budget competition, if you had 300 dollars to blow on these devices what would you choose?
Some will pick an ipod touch or a cheap tablet, while others will pick the 3ds or vita.
These portable consoles are expensive, it adds up with these 30-50 dollar games.
Apps games for 1-5 dollars. 
Are 3ds/vita games worth 10-50 times the cost.
Some may say yes and some no.  Definitely people are starting to be aware that phones and tablets can be used for games.

Meanwhile in Australia we're getting slapped with the $350 price tag and terrible pre-order bonuses. Surely I can import it from somewhere?

I am the writer. And what I said I stand by. There is absolutely no way that people are taking an android over a 3DS for gaming. It is not happening. And I am not saying what you imply at all. You imply I am saying everyone is broke... no-no...I am saying the price of a dedicated hand held video gaming system is too high for todays consumers. The perception (sic?) of a hand held video gaming console is that it be affordable and not close to console prices. Which is why people are willing to buy 3DS now that would not just a short while ago.

You use ancedotal evidence so allow me to do the same. My best friend has an iphone and an android tablet but said, "No way would I get a 3DS at that price. 250 for a hand held is too much." Price dropped, he got the Zelda 3DS bundle. I am not saying he is broke, I am saying the cost is too high for a hand held... especially in todays economy. He afforded all three, but not a 3DS at 250. Get it? Good.

The blame is not on external forces, I am trying to say that even without other compitetion, if the hand held consoles released at the prices they did, people would still balk because that is a home console price tagged to a hand held. Nice try spinning it.

And this ios/ipad/cellphone media crap reminds me of how myspace games and other free or cheap pc games would hurt the market... yeah, we see how that turned out.

Jesus Christ. I never said anyone was taking an Android over a 3DS for GAMING. In fact, I kind of said the opposite. My point is that they are overlap devices. There are people out there (like me, all of my friends, my nieces) who own MULTIPLE Android/iOS devices. We can afford the 3DS but we have no interest in buying one because we already own "good enough" mobile gaming devices.

They're not in direct competition with each other; anyone who says so isn't paying attention. But that doesn't mean they don't share consumer space. Overall, I think the 3DS will do moderately well for itself. For a handheld gaming device to succeed, it needs to differentiate itself from the tablet/phone market. The 3DS does a decent job of that. Do I think it will be as successful as the DS? No, I think there's about a zero percent chance of that happening. The casual market that made the DS so massively popular has moved on to other devices. Still, that doesn't mean Nintendo can't make it out of this generation with a tidy profit. But even if they do, that doesn't mean the market is stable or expanding because it's not.

On the other hand, I think the Android/iOS market is going to absolutely fucking kill the Vita. It's too expensive (and unlike Nintendo, I doubt Sony has the wiggle room for a price drop) and it crosses over with Android/iOS far more than the 3DS. Sony (again) couldn't have managed the design/launch of a handheld device much worse than they have twice in a row now.

Your "my family said this so its true" evidence is pretty ridiculous. I agree with you to some extent that the casual market is less likely to buy a dedicated handheld than they used to be, but you're also clearly wrong that they've moved on. The system is shattering handheld first year sales records, and shattered all first year records for gaming in Japan. Super Mario 3D Land doesn't break 5 million units in under two months without massive casual assistance, and Mario Kart 7 doesn't break 4.5 million in less than one month without massive casual assistance. Even Nintendogs, the most casual of all, is trucking along with sales similar to its predecessors in rate of sale, over 2 million and steadily continuing forward. 

You've moved on from 3DS, and apparently so has your family. That's great, but your "market analysis" based on anecdotes is conjecture which is not supported by the evidence. My own prediction is that yes, the dedicated handheld market has shrunk to some extent, and the 3DS will likely only be a 100 million lifetime seller, but your "version" of how things are happening is full of absolute statements which you cannot support with data. 

PS: Way too early to call the fate of Vita. Western sales are a total mystery due to the promise of a real Call of Duty on a handheld, and Monster Hunter or a similar breakout hit (remember it was practically unknown when the first game hit PSP) could do a lot for the platform in Japan. That said, it's certainly in trouble at the moment.

I'm pretty sure I mentioned that I thought the 3DS would do okay for itself in the long run. "Shattering handheld records" isn't exactly impressive and is akin to being awarded a silver medal at the Special Olympics. What's it going against? The DS had entirely mediocre sales until the Lite released and it missed the first holiday season in Europe and Australia due to its staggered launch. The market was much smaller in the Game Boy era, which last launched over a decade ago. The PSP spent most of its first year wandering around like a crazy homeless person. And these "records" came after Nintendo had to lop a whopping $80 off the damned thing just three months after launch. Like I said, I think the 3DS will be okay but Nintendo can't be thrilled about how things have shaken out for the device thus far. I doubt they forcast slicing $80 off every device just to get the things moving off store shelves when they plotted out the lifecycle of the unit.

You can go ahead and bash my "market analysis" but I'm looking forward, not backward. The 3DS has been propped up by a massively premature price cut and when a handheld typically gets swept by the casual market (12-36 months after launch, if at all), I don't see the 3DS catching a sales wave anywhere near the level of the DS, especially since Nintendo has already used their "price cut boost" card and won't be able to prop up the device with a nice price cut after the typical 12-18 months.

You may think it's too early to call the fate of the Vita but from my perspective, that thing looked stillborn the moment it was announced as the NGP. It's too expensive, the games are going to be too expensive to develop compared to potential ROI, and there are other devices out there that do more and play games well enough (iOS, Android) or devices that offer a truly different experience for dedicated gamers (3DS). I don't see people giving a shit about the device and unless Sony starts forking out cash to developers (which they are hardly in a position to do at this point), I don't see third parties doing much with the device outside of porting whatever 360/PS3 game they think they can get running on the thing.