Nintendo America's 3DS Conference Tidbits

I'm sure you've already perused my live blog of the European 3DS conference, but you might be wondering what you've missed in the US version occurring simultaneously. Here are a few tidbits you might like to know.

First, the indication LED has four colours - blue for new downloads via SpotPass (Wi-Fi hotspot transmissions), green for StreetPass, orange for when friends are online (!) and red for low battery. The system comes with a charge cradle so you can be in sleep mode constantly.

The 3DS Mii Plaza will show you the people you've encountered in your travels, as well as the country they're from and the most recently played games. Super Street Fighter has a fight request option that will prompt you even if you're in another battle. The built in pedometer earns you coins to be spent in games or apps for bonus content. They're definitely want you to carry the thing around.

The DSi's audio software will be built in. Some pre-installed software like the Shop will only become fully functional with software updates after launch. It'll be much easier to find friends and see what they're playing thanks to the universal system code rather than individual game codes.

The US release date: March 27th, 2011 for USD$249.99

We can hope that the Australian price will be around this amount, but realistically it will most likely hit the $279.95 or even $299.95 amount here. Not cheap, but not as expensive as some predicted either. As a point of reference, the PSP was originally going to be $429.95 in Australia, until consumer pressure pushed it down to $399.95 for launch day.

So, will you pick one up?