Start gathering your nickels and dimes because the Nintendo 3DS is coming and it's going to be expensive.  At a press conference in Japan earlier today, Nintendo announced that the successor to the DS would reach Japanese stores in February 2011 in both blue and black editions for a price of ¥25,000.  That's just under $300 at the current exchange rate, by the way.  North America and Europe will see the system in March of next year at an exact date and price to be announced.  As far as games go, a new video is making the rounds that shows the 3DS library in action (in plain 2D, of course).  Check out these clips of Kid Icarus, Metal Gear Solid, Star Fox, Paper Mario, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, two Resident Evil titles, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Dead or Alive, and much more.

I've been saying for months now that Nintendo is going to make another billion dollars with the 3DS, but if that $300 price carries over to the rest of the world, I may have to up that estimate.  That is very pricey for a handheld system.  After all, one can get a Sony PlayStation 3 or Microsoft Xbox 360 and a game for that price.  This is going to be a turning point for Nintendo this era, as this price is either too much and not enough people will buy them to meet the company's expectations or everyone empties their wallets and purses to own one.  Oh, who am I kidding?  Everyone's going to want one of these (including me), expense be damned.  Of course, at $300 I would never want to take this portable system out of my house.  I would hope that Nintendo of America would sweeten the deal on this a little by packing in a game to increase the value.  A real game!  Not Brain Age 3D or a collection of clocks.