( CNN ) -- The 3-D entertainment craze continues to spread to video games . Nintendo announced Tuesday it will introduce a handheld console that plays games in 3-D without the use of special glasses . The handheld device will be called the 3DS , succeeding Nintendo 's DS series of portable gaming consoles . A brief press release issued by Nintendo did not specifically state how the 3-D effect would work on the device . The console wo n't go on sale until June at the earliest . Nintendo said it will announce more details at the E3 trade show , to be held June 15-17 in Los Angeles , California . Tuesday 's announcement marks a new direction for the Japanese-based company , which had previously been dismissive of 3-D gaming . Earlier this year , Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said , `` I have doubts whether people will be wearing glasses to play games at home . How is that going to look to other people ? '' The new 3DS device is expected to be backwards compatible , allowing it to play DS and DSi games . The 3DS name itself is a temporary name until the official name is revealed at the E3 convention . Gaming blogs were buzzing Tuesday with speculation about how Nintendo will achieve the 3-D affect without specialized glasses . Kotaku suggests that it may work similarly to a Japan-only game called `` 3D Hidden Puzzle , '' which uses the DSi 's camera to track the movement of the player and adjust the image accordingly to make it appear 3-D. Nintendo said the 3DS will go on sale before the company 's next fiscal year ends , on March 31 , 2011 . Earlier this year , Sony announced a software improvement that will allow 3-D gaming on its PlayStation 3 console . And some game developers are working on techniques to show their games in 3-D on Microsoft 's Xbox 360 device and on PCs . All those systems will require the use of special glasses to achieve the 3-D effect .
Nintendo said it will introduce a handheld console that plays games in 3D . The device , temporarily called the 3D , will play games in 3D without the use of special hardware . It will go on sale in Japan at the earliest ; more details will be announced in September .