The DSi landed in Japan Saturday morning, marking the arrival of the third generation of hardware for the country's best selling platform of all time.
Nintendo backed the DSi with a huge marketing campaign, including ubiquitous commercials and in-store displays. This is true of any Nintendo hardware launch. Different this time, though, was that most major retailers held pre-order programs.
Despite the pre-order only stance at many retailers, there were still plenty of places to go on launch day to pick up a system. Although not at the level of the DSLite or Wii, this resulted in the pre-opening lines that we're used to seeing.
Some shops, including the well-known Yodobashi Camera outlets in Akihabara and Shinjuku, had notices warning of pre-order only policies. These shops still managed to draw short lines just prior to opening, presumably consisting of pre-orderers anxious to get their systems.
Shops that were doing same day sales saw the expected frenzy. One Bic Camera shop in Ikebukuro had some 400 people waiting ahead of opening time.
source:
http://ds.ign.com/articles/926/926271p1.html