The Nintendo 3DS was first unveiled at the E3 expo in June, but there’s a few months yet before it actually launches.

With this in mind, could the system we saw at E3 undergo any cosmetic changes? In a word: no. Nintendo – perhaps encouraged by the rapturous reception given to the new console by gamers and the press – seems happy with its creation. As they should be, in my opinion. I haven’t personally handled a 3DS yet, but it certainly looks gorgeous, and not many of Nintendo’s handhelds have felt cheap.

In a Wired interview, project designer Hideki Konno promises that “you can take this [E3 design] as the final shape.” In other words, the console you see above will be the one you’ll be queuing up for later this year in a desperate bid to keep your kid happy this Christmas.

It wouldn’t be unlike Nintendo to change a design of one of its handhelds late in the day. Who can forget the very first time the company revealed the original Nintendo DS, back at E3 2004? The model on the left was what we were getting, until Nintendo saw sense and gave it a facelift (right), helped no doubt by negative reactions from gamers:

See also: All of our Nintendo 3DS news

[Via Wired]