Nintendo's 3DS has been making headlines from the first time this portable console was announced and today all those rumors regarding availability and price can be put to rest since Nintendo has just stated the 3DS will become available on February 26 in Japan for ¥25,000, or about $298 US, while Europe and March will get this in March. 

Unfortunately this means the 3DS won't be available this Holiday season as so many of you expected, instead Nintendo launching a special edition Super Mario DSi LL on October 28th (that packs no hardware changes compared to the regular DSi) to give their fans something to buy for Christmas.

Speaking of hardware, Nintendo didn't share any info regarding the 3DS's specs, apart from the fact that it will be bundled with a 2GB SD card to make photo sharing easier, so all we know in this regard comes from a rumor we reported about not so long ago, stating this portable console will come with two 266MHz ARM11 CPUs together with a Pica 200 GPU clocked at 133MHz, 4MB of dedicated video RAM, 64MB of RAM and 1.5GB of storage space.

The 3DS will also be WiFi aware, so is able to download data from compatible hotspots (whatever that may mean), this functionality also being used for transmitting Mii characters that can be created on the console thanks to the integrated front cam and Mii Studio software.

Gaming wise, Resident Evil The Mercenaries 3D seems to be the main title in development right now, but Satoru Iwata, Nintendo's president, said the company will be taking a stronger initiative in helping third-party games come on the 3DS.

I have to admit that I am a bit disappointed the 3DS won't be available this Holiday season, but Nintendo fans will surely have enough news to keep them happy until February (or March depending on where you live). (via IGN)