E3 10: Wider cartridges on 3DS confirms physical hardware

Of course all of the excitement for the 3DS is well founded. I was blown away with what Nintendo has done in creating a masterful handheld that can really kick up the handheld market. Of course, with all of Iwata’s talk about connectivity, it seemed a real possibility that Nintendo is releasing a device that could be that much more reliant on digital distribution.

However, yep, we confirm that there is a physical media slot. About a time and a half wider than the original DS card slot, it looks like Nintendo is going to have physical cartridges that build on the original. Nothing too exciting, but coupled with other new hardware additions, such as the pretty fantastic analog nub and the 3D-slider (even in 2D the demo looked stunning), the 3DS is incredibly exciting. Of course, with physical media, I wonder how Nintendo is going to fight piracy. It’ll be interesting to watch. Now all we need is some talk on pricing, and this baby could be the hottest device from Nintendo yet.