Nintendo of Japan has just announced their next handheld unit, tentatively named the "Nintendo 3DS." The portable platform will offer 3D gaming without the need for 3D glasses, and will be backwards compatible with DS and DSi games. The "Nintendo 3DS" is the successor to the Nintendo DS series and will be on display at this year's E3. We can expect the "Nintendo 3DS" to launch in Japan by the end of the fiscal year, which means that we'll see it somewhere between E3 2010 (in June) and March 2011.

3D is the next major step in gaming, but the only thing that's really holding it back is the need for 3D glasses. Nintendo seems to have gotten around that peripheral limitation with their new portable and it will be interesting to see just how Nintendo pulls this off at E3.

Nintendo 3DS Info in English [John Ricciardi's Twitter -- Image]