As E3 is coming very fast, all three big consoles and the game developers are ready to make a show.

But Nintendo has something else for us. Launching June 11th, 2006 Nintendo DS Lite.

This doesn’t mean that this will be the only thing Nintendo will show at E3. No sir, they will also show the new hand-held console to gamers along with a few select games.

The release date of the DS Lite marks the 5th Anniversary of the Game Boy Advance launch in the United States, and ironically follows Nintendo’s tendency to release several of their systems on a Sunday. The price point also remains the same as than the original Nintendo DS system, which apparently will continue being sold at retail outlets at the suggested price of $129.99 unless Nintendo mentions otherwise.

DS Lite is 21% lighter and 42% smaller in volume that the original DS. The buttons were redesigned, the microphone is now located to the hinge of the center of the system and the power button was moved to right side of the system and is now a switch which prevents players pressing it accidentally during gameplay.

As for the battery life, DS has four levels of brightness to increase the battery’s life. At the lowest level of brightness, it is still brighter then the original DS. According to report estimates, the battery life for the system is 15-19 hours on the lowest brightness setting, 5-8 hours on the highest.

Available only in Polar White color, Nintendo DS Lite comes at a price of $129 instead of the $149 that was announced at the April pre-E3 event.