The rumours have swept the internet for a few days with various leaks and reveals – now finally the whole story is starting to come out. The ‘Slidepad’ peripheral attaches onto the Nintendo 3DS and adds new functionality with a number of new buttons: most importantly a right analogue stick, and also has an L2 button, plus a rumoured R1 & R2 buttons.

The attachment is quite bulky, adding a lot of volume to the next generation handheld device, and requires a triple-A battery to run. The array of new buttons should allow it to better compete with the soon to be released PlayStation Vita, as well as allow it to be utilised in more complicated games.

So far six games have been announced as compatible – Biohazard Revelations (Japanese title of Resident Evil: Revelations), Ace Combat 3D Cross Rumble, Kingdom Hearts 3D, Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D, Dynasty Warriors VS, and Monster Hunter Tri G – but it is highly likely there will be more on the away.

So far it has only been announced for Japan, and it retails for ¥1500 – equivalent to around £12/€14/$19.

What do you think of how it looks? Would this encourage you to buy a 3DS, and, if you already have a 3DS, would you buy this if it was made available in your region?

[Source: Nintendo {Japanese}]