Rumor: Photographs of Production Nintendo 3DS Fresh Off the Assembly Line

With a planned February 26 launch date for Japan looming, Nintendo's 3DS must be starting to roll off assembly lines. Chinese video game site TGBUS posted a series of very believable images it claims are of a fresh from the factory 3DS, smuggled out by a intrepid worker and posted to the forums (as spotted by Engadget). Click on one of the thumbnails below to see the whole group of them. There's also a video on YouTube (for the time being at least).

The pics include a number of comparison shots with the supposed 3DS stacked up next to its GameBoy predecessors. Along with size, these shots also give a first hint at the finish of the materials used for the handheld. Another image shows the boot screen listing the SDK as version 0.13.2 and memory of 96MB.

The 3DS will run ¥25,000 when it hits in Japan. Pricing and launch timing have for Europe and North America have not been announced but we expect to hear those details later this month.