Nintendo confirm extra-large 3DS XL handheld

Larger version of Nintendo 3DS launches on July 28th across Europe.

One of the biggest rumours doing the rounds at this month’s E3 show was that Nintendo were on the verge of revealing a larger version of their 3DS handheld, indeed Japanese newspaper Nikkei even went as far as to run the story, an article whose “facts” were vehemently denied by the Big N itself.

It seems however that there was indeed truth to the report, Nintendo having belatedly revealed the officially titled “Nintendo 3DS XL” via their most recent Nintendo Direct online video.

The 3DS XL comes with 90 percent larger screens, will be available in Silver + Black, Red + Black and Blue + Black, comes bundled with a 4GB SD card (an increasingly necessary accessory as Nintendo move towards releasing all games via their digital eShop), improves upon the standard 3DS’ battery performance and becomes available across Europe on July 28th.

Nintendo 3DS XL will also launch along side New Art Academy, a new entry in the Art Academy series and Freakyforms Deluxe Your Creations, Alive!, a Nintendo 3DS game where you can bring your very own creatures to life; each of which has been designed around drawing with the system’s touchscreen and so take advantage of the 3DS XL’s larger screensize.