BREAKING: Nintendo announces new 3DS

[crimsonpug]

I'm usually one of Nintendo's most steadfast supporters around here - but this has got to be one of the most boneheaded moves I've ever seen this company make. What is the sense of releasing a new hardware iteration if their NOT going to include the extra buttons the Circle Pad Pro added (not only did the CPP add a second circle stick, it also added an extra trigger at the top)?

It's bigger - but the resolution is still going to be the same so 3DS games will look "stretched" and sure it has a "longer" battery life, but I just played my 3DS for 5 hours last night without a recharge and that was about as long as I could go anyways - battery or not. Heck they even "rounded" the corners more so when it's closed it looks like a mini-laptop.

Who the hell are they going to sell this to anyways? Most hardcore gamers who want a 3DS and don't have one have been waiting for Nintendo to get off their ass and release one with a second circle pad built in. THAT'S why 3DS sales have seemed to stall a bit (that and there has been a mini-drought of good games the last few months). People haven't been waiting because they want a bigger 3DS! Now Nintendo is going to have a crap load of these XL's left over because those same people are either still going to wait for another revision - or they are just going to say "Fuck Nintendo" and go and buy a Vita instead.

Now THIS is the stupidest decision by Nintendo since the Virtual Boy - and the sad part is, the 3DS is in actuality a Great fucking system and well worth a purchase. I doubt people will see it that way after this though.

[Dan]

I'll wait for the inevitable 3DS XL Plus with the extra circle pad.

[SteveM]

Yeah put me in as another person that was waiting for a revision with a second circle pad. I guess I'll keep waiting.

[AnonymousBroccoli]

The problem with adding a second stick in there at this point will be getting developers to support it—just like any non-standard peripheral. What about the few million people who own the original 3DS? Do they get the goofy add-on for free, or do they get hosed a little more than they have already? Do you pack it in to the first big 3DS Nintendo title to make it mandatory, and add a little extra cost to that? See: Donkey Kong 64's expansion pack, Wii Sports Resort's Wii MotionPlus. But then, how many games supported those add-ons?

I certainly think the better move would have been making it part of the standard hardware, and let the old ones be gradually phased out. I guess it depends on how much confidence they have in the 3DS, and how long they plan to support it.

[DJ_Lae]

Calculations peg the PPI (pixels per inch) of the 3DS LL at 107.

For comparison:

78 - DSi XL
107 -- 3DSXL
128 -- Original PSP
132 -- 3DS
163 -- Original iPhone
221 -- Vita
219 -- Samsung Galaxy SII
326 -- Retina iPhone

The DSi XL had hideously chunky pixels. This will be almost as bad - and it's not as if the regular 3DS had a spectacular looking screen, either, low res coupled with 3D crosstalk.

Even ignoring no second stick the face buttons are still as awkwardly small as the regular 3DS.

[crimsonpug]

The problem with adding a second stick in there at this point will be getting developers to support it—just like any non-standard peripheral. What about the few million people who own the original 3DS? Do they get the goofy add-on for free, or do they get hosed a little more than they have already? Do you pack it in to the first big 3DS Nintendo title to make it mandatory, and add a little extra cost to that? See: Donkey Kong 64's expansion pack, Wii Sports Resort's Wii MotionPlus. But then, how many games supported those add-ons?

I certainly think the better move would have been making it part of the standard hardware, and let the old ones be gradually phased out. I guess it depends on how much confidence they have in the 3DS, and how long they plan to support it.

There are already a few games that support the Circle Pad Pro - Resident Evil Revelations and Metal Gear Solid 3 3D come to mind immediately, and I think I remember hearing that Kingdom Hearts 3D will also support it. That and developers already know that it exists and haven been designing support into their games since Nintendo announced the add-on (remember, none of the games that support it actually say they support it on the box or in the manuals).

So developers already support a second circle pad - and at the same time they also include a "traditional" control scheme. So adding a second circle pad - like many, many, many people and developers already thought they would - wouldn't cause that much of a hassle.

Those existing 3DS owners who didn't want to buy the add-on, would still have the traditional control scheme which wouldn't be hard for developers to implement, and those who bought a revised 3DS would get the best of both worlds.

[mclazyj]

So I guess this super sized model will not work with the circle pad pro. Way to go Nintendo, unless they released the Circle Pad Pro XL to make the device even larger.

[faits]

[fuzzay]

Geniuses run Nintendo, guys. Geniuses.

[c.chippy]

Does this mean the older model is getting a price cut? If so, I'm okay with this.