Last month, an article appeared in Japanese newspaper Nikkei. In it, Nikkei stated that Nintendo was targeting Asia. Moreover, the paper gave a specific example of this tactic—namely that Nintendo was launching the 3DS in South Korea on April 28.
Nintendo aggressively refuted the article, releasing a statement that the article "isn't anything our company is possibly announcing, nor is it anything this company is confirming. What Nikkei wrote is based on speculation."
That's some pretty good speculation there, Nikkei! Because Nintendo's South Korean branch just announced that the 3DS is launching there on April 28.
Much to the dismay of Korean gamers, the portable will be region-locked to South Korea (it's region-locked in other territories, too). Korean actress Gong Hyo-jin will be appearing in the ad campaign, and the handheld will be available in three colors: Cobalt blue, Misty Pink and Cosmo Black. Launch titles will include Super Mario 3D Land, Tekken 3D Prime Edition, and fashion game Countrywide Model Audition Superstar 2.
Last month's Nikkei article also stated that Nintendo is about to launch the 3DS in China. Speculation!
Nintendo 3DS [Nintendo of Korea]
Jongsu Chang contributed to this report