Nintendo DS to hit U.S. stores this November at $149.99.

Official word came across the business wire last night. The Nintendo DS will make its worldwide debut in North American stores on Nov. 21 at an MSRP of $149.99. Here’s the writeup from the folks at Joystiq:

This just crossed the wires moments ago (occasionally insomnia has its plus side): the double-screened Nintendo DS portable game console hits retail stores on November 21st (just in time for you-know-what) and is going to sell for $149.99, which is about fifty bucks less than we’d expected. Even better, for once we’ll get it before the Japanese—it goes on sale there a few days later on December 2nd. Other juiciness: it’ll come with a software app called PictoChat which’ll write you draw pictures and write messages with an on-screen keyboard and wireless beam them to other DS users. They’ll have 20 titles initially available, and as mentioned before, the DS will be backwards-compatible with Game Boy Advance SP games.

Both the fact that it’s hitting state-side before Japan and the price point are big surprises and will really put the pressure on Sony to take a loss on the PSP which some analysts are expecting to cost in the $300 range.