Nintendo didn’t disappoint at E3 yesterday, showing off not only the what looks to insanely cool 3DS (with a whole bunch really cool games to go with it), but also some little surprises that look to show Nintendo raising the bar on mobile gaming yet again. Read on for all the info.

Hardware

First things first, the hardware. While it initially may look like just a normal DSi, once you get closer you see Nintendo has made some really great improvements. For one, the upper, 3D enabled screen is a bigger 3.5 inches than the DSi’s 3.25 inches (though of course it’s not as big as the DSi XL’s 4.2 inch screens. But who needs that extra .7 of an inch when you got glasses free 3D!), with the bottom touchscreen being 3 inches. The 3DS also packs not one, not two, but three cameras– 1 on the inside of the device and 2 on the outside for taking 3D pictures! Yeah, told you there were some surprises. Nintendo also has added a “Slide Pad” that to me looks like an analog stick similar to those found on the Xbox 360 and PS3, along with other new additions like a motion sensor and gyroscope (as seen on the iPhone 4), a WiFi switch and 3D depth slider for adjusting the 3D (even during gameplay), and a home button below the touchscreen. All this is on top of the other features we’ve seen on the DSi like an SD card slot and stereo speakers.

Even those who’ve doubted Nintendo’s focus on specs gotta admit that this is pretty solid, especially for a device that can fit in your pocket.

Games

Now what good would the 3DS be without some 3D games? Nintendo sure has a bunch lined up that look to be really great. We’re talking Nintendo classics like Mario Kart, nintendogs+cats (with cats being new this year), Animal Crossing, and Kid Icarus: Uprising, as well as games from third parties like Madden, DJ Hero 3D, Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D, and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory.These are just a small sample of what Nintendo plans to have for the 3DS, and if these graphics from Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory are any indication of what we can expect, then Nintendo has yet another huge hit on their hands. Seriously, this looks like Xbox-esq graphics, on a portable system and in 3D!

Unfortunately Nintendo didn’t announce any price or release date info, and even went out to say that the designs we see today can still be tweaked and aren’t final. Regardless though, Nintendo has clearly here shown why they are the leader in portable video games and we really can’t wait to see this launch so we can play with it ourselves.

While we wait though, we want to know: if you had to pick between this, a PSP GO!, or an iPod touch as your next portable gaming system, which would it be? Let us know in the comments.

You can see more of the new 3DS and other announcements Nintendo made at E3 at their E3 site here.