Aug 23, 2011 09:41 GMT  ·  By

A rumor coming from a French site is saying that video game publisher and hardware developer Nintendo is working on a new version of the 3DS handheld, which will be launched during 2012, will have a second analog stick and will place less of an emphasis on the three-dimensional gaming capabilities.

01net is the source of the rumor and the site has some credibility because it's the one which leaked the name Project Cafe and the details of the home console that Nintendo then officially announced under the name of Wii U.

The site says that it has a reliable source inside Nintendo and that the company is concerned that it has placed too much of a marketing focus on the 3D gaming side of the 3DS, putting off some of the customers who are simply interested in picking up and playing games on the move.

Apparently, the newly redesigned 3DS will also have a new name, in a move which should restart sales.

The new handheld will allow players to get video games that have no 3D component and will also have a number of restrictions placed upon how the glasses-free three-dimensional gaming is used by developers.

Nintendo is also planning to add a second analog stick to the new, redesigned 3DS and developers have allegedly already been asked to develop video games that use the new control scheme.

The company is also thinking about launching an add-on for the original 3DS that will add the second analog stick.

The Nintendo source also claims that there's a paucity of developer kits for the new platform and that only about 300 are being created each month and sent to developers.

Nintendo has just cut the price of the Nintendo 3DS in order to boost sales, a move that seems to be working on the Japanese market during the first week of its implementation.