Nintendo unveils...GUESS WHAT?

[Htom Sirveaux]

Mattel was the company that started handheld gaming

*ahem*

[Nate]

Well now I have to post this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYvzSo1bJHs

[Mithrandir]

So I challenge you to name one thing Nintendo created that Sony and Microsoft took...

Rabid fan bases?

[Bobtheduck]

Rabid fan bases?

I seem to remember some violent fights between Commodore and Atari fans...

[Nate]

Sega does what Nintendon't.

[Sparx00]

Okay, I COULD be slow, or I could just be unaware of what nintendo is doing (which I don't really think I am), but this looks an awful lot like a April fools prank to me.

[Nate]

Nintendo doesn't do April Fool's.

Besides the announcement was made March 23rd. That's over a week before April Fool's.

[Sparx00]

Well, I still can't help but feel a little suspicious about these things they said in the article.

[Quote=Kotaku article]According to Nintendo, the product will go on sale between April 2010 and March 2011.[/quote]
[Quote=Linked letter from Nintendo in the same article]We are planning to announce additional details at E3 show, which is scheduled to be held form June 15th, 2010 at Los Angeles in the U.S.[/quote]

Why would it would go on sale before they show it at E3?
It just doesn't add up... Anybody got some extra info on this???

[Nate]

The gaming industry works in quarters. First three months are Q1, second three are Q2, and so on.

Nintendo probably said "This will go on sale between Q2 of this year and Q1 of next year." This directly translates to April 2010 to March 2011, because technically April and May are part of Q2. If Nintendo debuts it at E3 on June 15 and it goes on sale the next day, that's still Q2.

[blkmage]

It turns out the reason why Nintendo released a shoddy press release so close to the North American release of the DS Xbox-Large was to head off a Japanese press leak.

And Nate is spot-on about the financial quarters. "Between April 2010 and March 2011" is just "next fiscal year" translated into normal-speak.