The Nintendo 3DS launched this weekend in Japan, and it should be no surprise that the handheld sold out immediately. Stores saw lines of more than 200 people by midnight, which swelled to close to 600 people by morning. The initial shipment of 400,000 units has sold out, but inventory is expected to quickly be replaced with shipments arriving throughout the week. Nintendo had planned for 1.5 million systems to be sold in Japan by March 31, with 4 million worldwide by the end of the fiscal year. Now that the next-gen handheld war has begun in earnest, Nintendo's racking up a hefty head start over Sony’s NGP—though, to be fair, the NGP isn’t expected out until the end of this year. Expect the Nintendo 3DS to sell out faster than The Black Eye Peas when it launches in Europe on March 25 and in the U.S. on March 27. [via Andriasang]
