Just some info to further speculation that has (probably) absolutely no bearing on the release date of the 3DS at all, but some might be interested to know:

Current to Last gen.

Nintendo DSi: Released April 5, 2009
Nintendo DS: Released November 21st, 2004
Nintendo Wii: Released November 19th, 2006
Nintendo Gamecube: Released November 18th, 2001
Nintendo DS Lite: Released June 11, 2006
Xbox360: Released November 16th, 2005
Xbox: Released November 15th, 2001
Ps3: Released November 11th, 2006
PsP: Released March 24, 2004
PsPGO: Released October 1st, 2009
Ps2: Released October 26, 2000

Older gens for nintendo:

Gameboy: July 31st, 1989
Gameboy Color: November 18, 1998
Gameboy Advanced: Released June 11, 2001
NES: Released October 18, 1985
SNES: Released August 23, 1991
N64: Released September 26, 1996

Note These are the US releases of the products- This list is not perfect I am sure, some information may be incorrect, feel free to correct me if you find any inconsistencies.

Edit for fix

Not surprised. Companies want to cash in on the insane United States phenomenon that is the Christmas shopping season.

Yea, that too is what I was thinking when I was looking these up, I would post the JPN releases to show how they differ form each other, but like you said you can prob guess that they arent as focused on the xmas holiday, if I remember correctly.

Hmmm, this does bode well for the possibility of a November 3DS release.

Thats what I am hoping, but who knows

Your date for the DSi is wrong, based on US release. April 5th, 2009, if I recall correctly.

Yep

it appears a few of those dates are Japanese release dates and the others are US releases

Thanks joe Ill take a second look, like i said I could have made a mistake or two

your welcome

Ok I updated with a fix, if you notice any more just let me know