Nintendo 3DS gaming handheld won’t be arriving this year

Nintendo‘s 3DS, the hit of the E3 trade show in Los Angeles last week, won’t be arriving in 2010. Tonight, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime appeared on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon talk show and said that the 3DS won’t be appearing until next year. Previously, Nintendo had only said that it would ship the portable gaming system before March 31, 2011.

The 3DS can display stereoscopic 3D images on one of its two screens. You can see the 3D imagery even if you aren’t wearing 3D glasses. That made it a big draw at E3. But it looks like anxious gamers are in for a long wait.

It’s not clear if Nintendo is pushing back its launch date. But it’s likely the company didn’t anticipate the 3DS would be as big a hit as it was. It probably has to line up more supply of the device before it can do a launch. Well, Nintendo has been thinking about this one for 15 years — as Satoru Iwata, chief executive of Nintendo (pictured above) told us — so it’s no surprise it isn’t in a rush.