Nintendo 3DS Launches in Japan

As if on cue, another customer turned up to pick up his pre-ordered unit just as I was leaving - a suited and booted Japanese salaryman in his late thirties, who was picking up a black 3DS with a copy of Super Street Fighter IV 3D, which has been heavily advertised on train lines around Tokyo all week.

"I think I own just about all of the consoles," he told me, before rushing back to the office from which he was meant to be on a smoke break. "I even bought an Xbox 360 last year. I like playing some of the Western games that you only get on the 360. I lined up to get a 3DS pre-order last month - I'm really excited about playing Zelda and Mario in 3D, especially."

According to the salesman, a majority of their pre-order customers were men in their thirties. "It costs 25,000 Yen, so maybe it's hard for younger people to afford. Also, this is Shinjuku, so we have a lot of office workers - maybe younger people would go to Akihabara or somewhere like that instead."

Indeed, a couple of stations down the tracks in the youth culture hub of Shibuya, I found a small group of younger 3DS owners standing around rather self-consciously playing the new console outside the station entrance. They were playing a few rounds of Street Fighter IV 3D - obviously one of the big winners on launch day - while waiting for friends, they told me, although the time-honoured Shibuya tradition of making sure you're seen in public with the latest fashionable gadget was obviously also being respected here.

The four of them were all 21 year old students at the relatively nearby Sophia University, and had queued up together to get pre-orders on January 20th. "We were going to queue this morning as well, and try to get the 3DS early," Hiroshi - the group's spokesperson thanks to his enhanced willingness to be patient with my halting Japanese - told me. "But we went drinking last night instead so we couldn't wake up in time." Sensible man.

Like the salaryman in Shinjuku, this group was also most enthusiastic about games that aren't even out yet - Zelda, Mario and Pokemon being cited as the titles they most want to play on 3DS. "I want to play Monster Hunter with 3D!", another of the group announced loudly in English when I asked what games they were looking forward to. Indeed, if that series, which has been the backbone of PSP sales in Japan in recent years, were to make the jump to the 3DS, it could make serious waves in this market.

By the time my trip brought me back around to Akihabara, even the Kamen Rider OOO lines had evaporated, and I managed to find another salesman willing to talk about the morning's launch. "We did have some units for people without pre-orders," he said, "but they were gone very quickly. Maybe people thought they'd be lucky if they came and lined up. A lot of them filled out order forms so they can get a unit when Nintendo sends us more."

And when will that be? "Soon, I think. It's already a very popular system. Do you want to pre-order one?"