3DS said to feature 3D control stick, Sharp LCD screens; will be playable at E3

As if news of a new handheld device coming from Nintendo in the middle of the night wasn't enough, Engadget today spotted two reports out of Japanese newspapers Asahi and Nikkei detailing the 3DS' known hardware so far. Asahi claims that the handheld's 3D output (remember, sans silly glasses) comes via a "parallax barrier LCD" from Sharp, while Nikkei backs this up and adds that the device's screens will measure roughly four inches diagonally across (each).

Nikkei also claims the device will feature a "3D control stick," though this could presumably be an analog control stick, as well as rumble support and an upped battery life / speedier Wi-Fi. And while we heard last night that the device would arrive on retail shelves sometime in "Fiscal 2010" (before the end of calendar year March 2011), the report says it will arrive during the "second half of [calendar] 2010," owing the new handheld's reveal to slowing DS sales. In speaking with a representative from Nintendo of America, the New York Times confirmed that we'll get our first hands-on with the 3DS at E3 2010, so we'll get our chance to find out exactly what that hardware contains soon enough.

Source 1 - Asahi
Source 2 - Nikkei
Source 3 - The New York Times

[Via Engadget]