Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime revealed that it plans to release the 3DS by March 31, 2011 in all of its major markets.

At the E3 Expo, Nintendo gave the world the first look at a portable system that lets people view games in 3D, without the need for special glasses. Nintendo also announced a substantial list of upcoming games for Nintendo 3DS, the Wii console and the Nintendo DS family of systems – a lineup that reads like a who’s who of some of the greatest franchises in video game history with a completely new look and feel.

Nintendo 3DS comes with a 3.53-inch top screen and a 3.02-inch bottom touch screen. It has three cameras – one inner and two outer – to deliver the 3D effect and take 3D pictures. It includes a motion sensor, a gyro sensor and even a Slide Pad that allows 360-degree analog input. At the E3 Expo, Nintendo showed attendees a range of games and applications for Nintendo 3DS that reinvent some of the industry’s most beloved franchises. These include:

• Kid Icarus: Uprising, the long-awaited franchise follow-up to the NES classic.
• Mario Kart, which shows off the potential of driving and tossing bananas in 3D.
• nintendogs + cats, a new version of the best-selling nintendogs franchise that lets players interact even more with their virtual puppies – and kittens!
• PilotWings Resort, a flying simulation that lets players soar above Wuhu Island.
• Animal Crossing, a new installment of the charming community-building franchise.
• StarFox 64 3D, a game that demonstrates the true distance and depth of outer space using Nintendo’s well-known franchise.
• Steel Diver, a new submarine-navigation game from Nintendo.
• Paper Mario, which brings paper-based 2D environments to life.

Nintendo 3DS also comes to market with the strongest third-party support of any video game system in Nintendo history. Games on display at the Nintendo booth at the E3 Expo include:

• DJ Hero 3D from Activision
• Resident Evil Revelations from Capcom
• The Sims 3 from Electronic Arts
• Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D “The Naked Sample” from Konami
• Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracles (name not final) from LEVEL-5
• Ridge Racer (name not final) from Namco Bandai Games
• Kingdom Hearts franchise game from Square Enix
• Dead or Alive 3D (name not final) from Tecmo Koei Games
• Samurai Warriors 3D from Tecmo Koei Games
• Battle of Giants: Dinosaur Strike from Ubisoft
• Hollywood 61 (name not final) from Ubisoft

A sampling of other Nintendo 3DS games already in planning includes Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition (name not final) from Capcom; Madden NFL and FIFA Soccer games from Electronic Arts; Codemane: Chocobo Racing 3D and a Final Fantasy franchise game and from Square Enix; a Ninja Gaiden (name not final) game from Tecmo Koei Games; Saint’s Row: Drive By from THQ; Assassin’s Creed: Lost Legacy, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory from Ubisoft; and a Batman game from Warner Bros. Additional games are in development by Atlus, AQ Interactive, Disney Interactive Studios, Harmonix, Hudson Soft, Majesco, Marvelous Entertainment, Rocket, SEGA, Takara Tommy and Take-Two Interactive.