Nintendo 3DS XL announced

Interesting. Nice looking system. I know people are freaking out about no second analog stick, but this is a sidegrade not an upgrade. They won't stop production of the original model. This is just another option, and adding an upgraded (or different) component risks fragmentation if people make exclusive games for one version.

Posted:11 months ago

Like the whole world didn't see this coming.

Ultimately the whole DS line is going up a dead end unless they put a phone in it. Sad but true.
Yes it is, or soon will be, the best selling console in history with over 150 million units. But soon smartphones will be selling 10 times that every year.

Posted:11 months ago

The mildly dopey thing is all the whining about the lack of a second stick on the XL. It wouldn't be feasible anyway (even though there's room for one now) as I can't imagine the reprogramming of all those games that would use it (it's not a simple fix that can be patched in, right?). Then again, a new 3DS with dual analogs would be ready for any NEW titles that had use for them, right?

Posted:11 months ago

@Bruce As far as I am concerned, I do not want do make phone calls with a portable console and I dont want to have an analog stick, shoulder, and face buttons on my smartphone. Hence, your theory about the extinction of dedicated portable consoles doesn't make sense. The market is getting smaller, for sure. But it will never go away. Same argument as for the continuing of decentralized home console infrastructure. This won't go away either in the foreseeable future.

Posted:11 months ago

@Bruce

I think the fear (hope?) that the mobile market will win out and decimate the dedicated portable market is a valid one, and your opinion is welcome. However, we also get to see that exact opinion from you as the 1st post on nearly every article on the website. ^_~

I mean no offense, and apologize if I have done so - but we get it, you think console gaming is gonna be dead soon.

Edited 1 times. Last edit by Matt Walker on 22nd June 2012 9:48am

Posted:11 months ago

Handhelds need to make calls like Android smartphones needed apple logos.

Posted:11 months ago

Bruce, is that why the PS Vita is outselling the 3DS so well? And the nGage really took it to the competition too, didn't it?


Sorry Bruce but not only do we have a precedent showing us that having a phone in your portable game console doesn't guarantee success but it doesn't guarantee it will outsell non-phone capable portable consoles either.

Further than that but the mobile phone market and the mobile console market can, should and will co-exist. Why must you constantly remind me of a religious zealot every time you post?

As for this redesign, this will likely do as well as the original DSi XL/LL redesign. Which is to say not as well as the original units. Pocket portability just took a pretty big hit with the new size and there's not enough 'new' to give it a big sales advantage over the original 3DS.

Posted:10 months ago

The big thing with the lack of the second analogue stick in the 3DS XL is: what if you do want to use it? Will we have a new attachment for this model (making it a XXL)?

Posted:10 months ago

Phone + peripheral device = syntax error

Why in the world do I need my games to be on my phone? Anyone who enjoys gaming and their peripherals know you only have so much battery life.

So if you want to make that emergency call or receive, you cant game. If you want to game, eventually your phone will die. Far better to have SEPARATE non integrated devices.

Posted:10 months ago

No second circle pad... no purchase.

Second why would I want a phone on my game console? What is this obssesion the industry has with a single device that can do everything. When im only interested in curtain specific things.

Posted:10 months ago

Phone games have their place, but only as distractions. They by no means replace a bespoke gaming device. When I am on a train I might use my phone to play a game and pass the time, why would I use it at home????

Posted:10 months ago

seams really stupid not to add a second stick to the 3DS XL (3DS LL) as the 3DS already has an add-on adaptor that can add that feature it wouldn't have been much of a problem with backward compatibility would it...

Posted:10 months ago

Also for those of you asking for a second stick, understand that the circle Pad Pro also adds L2 and R2, something which you can't put on a handheld without considerable discomfort.

Posted:10 months ago

Excellent - this is exactly what I wanted from the next 3DS :)

A second stick (and extra buttons) would have been nice ... but it also would have caused significant issues re: backwards compat. I guess Nintendo may release a Pro Controller shell thing for this one too.

As for a phone on a handheld... no thanks. We all want a *good* handheld, and we all need a *good* phone. They are mutually exclusive - otherwise products like the Ngage or the Sony Playstation phones would actually be a success.

And as Bruce failed to mention - its only a couple of models of phones that are selling *very* well. Many, many models are flops - and don't sell enough to exist in the market. The DS/3DS will have outsold 95% of phone models ever released.

Posted:10 months ago

@Bruce 20+ million people so far would disagree with your short sighted and limited opinions.

Edited 2 times. Last edit by Doug Paras on 23rd June 2012 5:04am

Posted:10 months ago

Why do you want a second analog slider? So you can manually correct badly implemented cameras in third-person action adventure titles? So you can play underpowered FPS titles farmed out to B-teams?

None of the must-have 3DS titles require a second pad, nor would they have been improved by the addition of one.

(and I say this as someone who completed Resident Evil Revelations using the Circle Pad Pro)

Posted:10 months ago