Report: Nintendo 3DS Gets “Slide Pad” Add-On (First Pic)

Serkan Toto

Dr. Serkan Toto is an independent consultant and advisor focusing on Japan’s web, mobile and social gaming industries. Based in Tokyo, he works together with financial institutions and startups worldwide. Serkan has been the Japan contributor for TechCrunch.com since 2008. He is sept-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics. → Learn More

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011
391680324

This week’s issue of the Famitsu, Japan’s biggest video game magazine, is due out tomorrow, but gaming geek @south1996 appears to have made an early and pretty interesting snapshot: it’s the first picture showing the 3DS joystick add-on the gaming world has been speculating over for weeks.

As you can see, the so-called “slide pad” is designed like a cradle that holds the lower part of the 3DS, making the device as a whole rather bulky (one Japanese game blog estimates that it makes the 3DS 1cm wider on the left, 2-3 cm on the right and 2cm to the bottom).

The slide pad adds an analogue circle pad on the right and three shoulder buttons to the 3DS (L1, R1, and R2).

The arrival date or price of the add-on are unknown at this point, but one line in the picture says that it will be usable with Monster Hunter 3 (tri-) G, an update of the popular RPG series for the 3DS Capcom is currently developing.

Via Engadget