Just wanted to open a thread to discuss why Nintendo made this marketing decision. We're still over a month out from E3, so the hype train will have died down a bit by then. The XL is about to launch and this is sure to dampen it's sales. Nintendo has always aimed to make BIG announcements with presentations. So what exactly is this all about? And, more importantly, what, if anything, prompted (or forced) them to announce this new console like this?

You have quite a few good points. I guess Nintendo is trying to take a Valve-styled approach to marketing. The only difference is that Valve has had more experience while Nintendo is completely new to the idea.

It's only been announced on the NoJ's website, in the Investor Relation section. In my opinion, I think it was mistakenly put up, and that someone in Japan right now is committing seppuku.

I dunno, maybe it was an accident.

Feel free to continue this discussion in the main 3DS announcement thread. :3