Nintendo 3DS dares to compete with Xbox 360

Nintendo’s upcoming 3DS is already whipping up considerable interest in the handheld gaming market thanks to its glasses-free 3D technology, dual 3D cameras, and support for 3D movie playback.

However, clearly not content with competing against Sony’s PlayStation Portable, the 3DS is now even daring to puff out its tiny chest at larger, more powerful gaming platforms.

Japanese reports translated and posted by videogame blog Kotaku have revealed that the 3DS will boast game cartridges able to store an impressive 8GBs of data, which equals the disc capacity attributed to Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

Of course, the quality of Nintendo’s 3DS titles are hardly likely to rival those on Microsoft’s home console, but the portable device’s cartridge format does mean significantly faster access speeds when compared to disc-based media.

In terms of improvement over existing DS cartridges, 3DS games will apparently range between 1GB and 8GBs in size—certainly a major step up compared to the previous data ceiling of just 512MBs (or just half a gigabyte).

According to the leaked information, which emanates from Taiwan-based 3DS cartridge manufacturer Macronix, Nintendo has reportedly implemented an initial data ceiling of 2GBs.

The Nintendo 3DS will make its international debut in Japan on February 26 at a price of 25,000 Yen (approx. $300 USD).

Nintendo has not yet said when the new console will hit retail outlets in North America and Europe, although March 2011 is widely accepted as the most likely launch window.

The gaming giant is also remaining tight-lipped regarding 3DS prices outside of Japan. Curent projections suggest it will cost around $250 USD in the United States.