Retailers in the UK are apparently readying themselves for a March 18th release date for the Nintendo 3DS.

As of this moment Nintendo has yet to announce an official release date for North America and Europe, however that's not stopping retailers from taking pre-orders.

Retailers such as Best Buy UK and Woolworths are now taking pre-order deposits on the 3DS and have March 18th as the release date - while other shops have a March 25th date. All of the sites have similar listings for the unit because they all pull from a central hub called the Hut.

One interesting aspect of these pre-orders is that they have the unit in three colors: blue, black and red. When the box art for the 3DS was unveiled this week, we only knew of the black and blue units - maybe this new red color could be a UK exclusive or a third SKU for the rest of the world.

The sites also have the 3DS listed for a price of £249, which comes out to $388. If this holds true, then we could see a price of around $250 in North America. We'll just have to wait until Nintendo makes their announcement next week to find out if Michael Pachter was right.

During E3 2010, we saw the extensive list of games being developed for the 3DS. Alongside the UK 3DS pre-orders, we also have a list of games that have yet to be confirmed as launch titles. The games include DJ Hero, Saints Row, Assassin's Creed: Lost Legacy and LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean. It's highly possible these aren't launch titles - and just regular pre-orders. One example is LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean, which is scheduled for a May 2011 release on all consoles other than the 3DS. It's unlikely a multi-platform title such as this this will come out early on the 3DS and then in May for all other consoles.

The 3DS will hit North American shores sometime in March and is expected  to be in short supply. Are you pre-ordering to ensure you get yours on launch?

Source: Eurogamer