Nintendo 3DS Japanese Pre-Launch

As we write this, the next generation of portable gaming is less than 8 hours from starting. Japan will be the first recipient of the Nintendo 3DS, with the system scheduled to arrive early Saturday morning. 

We've been walking the streets of Tokyo all week looking for demo kiosks and pre-orders. We found plenty of demo units as shops put many of the launch titles on display and also set up special kiosks with looping videos showing off the system's features.

But for pre-orders, it seemed that everyone had sold out back when reservations starting being taken on January 20. Most retailers were telling us that the system would be available exclusively to those who pre-ordered.

A few major retailers, however, will be having same day sales. From what we hear, the large Yodobashi Camera in Tokyo electronics capital Akihabara already had 100 people an hour after closing time. If you love the occasional line pic from a Japanese launch, you'll probably get your fix here.

The 3DS is launching in Japan with eight games: Combat of Giants Dinosaur 3D (Ubisoft), Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (Level-5), Ridge Racer 3D (Namco Bandai), Samurai Warriors Chronicle (Tecmo Koei), Super Street Fighter IV (Capcom), Puzzle Bobble 3D (Square Enix), Winning Eleven 3D Soccer (Konami) and Nintendogs + cats (Nintendo). 

Nintendo has officially said that it aims to ship 1.5 million systems to Japan this fiscal year (before March 31, 2011). This is out of a total worldwide shipment of 4 million units. 

Less officially, we heard some retailer reports a while back that the system would see around 400,000 units on launch day. This would match the Wii's initial shipment back in 2006. 

Some retailers like Amazon.co.jp have already started taking orders for the next shipment of systems, which arrives in early March. But for those who want the system on launch day, if you don't have a pre-order, you're going to probably want to get up early and hope you make the cutoff point at a shop that's doing same day sales.