Some people in Japan were less than happy about it too (I read one review on Amazon.co.jp that bitched about how they didn't make it apparent enough on the box that no charger was included), although they did the same thing apparently with the 3DS XL also. Your regular 3DS chargers work, so it's not a "new" charger, which I guess is the justification since a lot of people will be upgrading or whatever. Of course, then what do they do with the old unit? If they sell it, not having a charger is a slight annoyance for the person buying it. If you pass it off to a relative or something as a hand-me-down, then hey, let them buy their own charger. Myself, when I sold my 3DS XL, I sold it with the charger, figuring it'd be worth more to do that and not have to dock the price for not having it, and then just pick up another charger somewhere. You'd think I'd be annoyed by this, but I guess since I imported my unit and new about it in advance, I just ordered an $8 charger from Amazon which got here weeks before the unit did. No biggie. If it was a premium item at like $30, then I'd be pissed. I believe online retail for these systems in Japan is about $190 (last time I checked Amazon, and that's what I paid for mine shipped since I got a good deal, though of course not from Amazon.co.jp since they won't ship them here). So another eight bucks doesn't seem like a big deal.
But it does seem weird to sell a product minus something required to use it. You just know this is going to lead to a whole bunch of pissed-off people who don't read the box. You know your average American dumb-fuck in Walmart isn't going to even look. I really thought that in the US they'd include the charger, since they did with the 3DS XL.
EDIT - Jesus. Typos, sorry.
And I guess I may as well give impressions of mine since it showed up today.
First and foremost, it feels heavier than the 3DS. Not by a lot, and not really "heavy", just ... more substantial somehow. Less like a toy. I don't really remember exactly what my other felt like, so I don't know if this is just me or what. Does this have a bigger battery?
Not sure if unit is exactly the same size, but it basically is. My old case fits like a glove, though it's not quite perfect since I now can't charge it in the case because the charger receptacle has been relocated to dead-center-top, so the sleeve it sits in with my case gets in the way. Not a big deal. This case wasn't designed to charge a 3DS XL while it was in there either, it just could if you turned it around.
Anyway. Home button is no longer the shitty-and-squishy button it was on the 3DS, and sits by itself at the bottom of the touchscreen. Start and select buttons are now little round buttons back on the side where they belong. This is great stuff. My buttons aren't colored, but the actual ABXY on the buttons are different colors. Nice touch. Shoulder buttons feel the same, except obviously cut in half, and the two new ones feel just as nice as the others. C-stick feels ... weird. It's a little rubber nub and is very stiff. I can't even tell if it's actually moving when I push it. So not really sure what's up with that, but have nothing to test it with that I'm aware of.
Power is now a small button on the bottom right of the unit. Headphones jack in dead-center bottom. Volume and 3D volume are still on the sides of the top screen. Probably the weirdest layout adjustment is that the game card slot is now in the bottom left of the unit. Not sure why they did that. I preferred it on the top/back like it's always been. Also weird is the stylus cubby, which is now on the bottom as well, between the headphone jack and power button. I don't know if I care or not, but so far it's super unnatural since the stylus has traditionally been on the side and it's natural for me to want to grab it there. Every time I try to grab it now I sort of fumble with it. It doesn't come out as easily ... more flush with the body of the unit. Won't really know until I use it for a while whether this is an annoyance or just adjusting to the new location.
The new screen is wonderful for 3D. The viewing range is way better and it makes a lot of difference. Much less irritating, so that's a huge plus if you enjoy the 3D effect. I didn't think I'd care, but I found myself using it a lot on the old model, so I'm very happy about it being improved. The angles are way, way more forgiving. You basically have to actually try to get it to not look right.
Other than that, it's a 3DS. Looks the same when you turn it on. Operates the same. Mine's in Japanese now, but everything seems to be in the same place and all. So no operational differences at all, which is expected, but bears mentioning if you were expecting the UI to be new and improved or something.
I'm happy with it. Since I got a very good price on my old unit, this one was really only like $30 or something for me, and since I can now play all the import games I want on it (heh ... well, only import games, really), it suits me much better. I haven't looked at the language options. I think Japanese models may just include Japanese, though I imagine North American models will have the usual English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, whatever.
So ends my review. I haven't actually played anything on it yet. Made a mii or two, set up all my junk, and looked at the theme store. Dunno what it is US, but Japan store has everything for about 1 or 2 bucks, depending. They had a decent amount of stuff on there, but nothing that really blew me away. I liked the Hanafuda one I saw before, which I think idol got on his 3DS, but I couldn't find it. Not sure if Nintendo is like all the other places and will only sell to you if you have a Japanese credit card. I'm not planning on purchases in the eshop anyway, though, so it really doesn't matter. But I probably would buy a shiny new theme for 2 bucks just because the home screen remains (just as its always been) awfully boring.