Mockup done by Kotaku

Looks like we have a leak on our hands. Nintendo has apparently been planning to release a 3D handheld gaming console that will take over from the Nintendo DS. This gaming machine is going to be called — 3DS. Clearly, they didn’t have to go through too many brainstorming sessions to come up with the name.

If the rumor about this new 3D handheld gaming device is true, then it might become the first of its kind in the market and the first to achieve some kind of critical success in the market. In the mean time though, this device has caused a lot of churning in the gaming world thanks to the fact that E3 is right around the corner and an announcement like this sounds quite plausible.

The news broke some time earlier with a chinese blogger posting a claim that he has the development kit for this upcoming device. The 3D gaming console is sure to have a very different architecture, so Nintendo might have started seeding the SDK already to help developers release quickly.

Just like with the enlarged DS, the XL, Nintendo is saying nothing about this rumor. Just like most other companies, it is keeping mum about the whole affair and declining to comment. But there’s one thing I really want to know — will be required to wear 3D glasses for this? Looking at the description, it looks like we might have to. But wearing glasses while I am out and about, standing in line at WalMart and playing on my 3DS, is not the most appealing of thoughts.

Kotaku promptly made a mockup of the said device, which you can see above. According to the leak, the device has two touchscreens — one main and large and the other small and auxiliary.

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