Woke up to the news this morning of a 3DS revision. My excitement quickly turned to “huh?” Does Nintendo even listen to it’s audience anymore?
What I dislike
- Firstly, no addition of a second analogue stick? This is probably what gamers of all kinds have cried for the 3DS to have. Sure they gave us that quite ghastly second analogue stick add-on, but from what I hear that seems to make playing games a little more strenuous. Not to mention it performs just awfully for lefties like me Come on Nintendo, really?!
- Apparently an AC adapter won’t come with the console. Wait what? Maybe Nintendo think that current 3DS owners like me will simply use the charger we currently have (assuming thats compatible). But the problem is that would leave me with TWO 3DS’s. If I was to ever invest in this “upgrade” I would trade in or sell my current 3DS. Which would mean I would have to buy an AC adapter for this one anyway. I would gladly pay a little extra just to have one in the box.
- The 3DS and Vita both suffer from horrendous battery life. I would have hoped that any revisions would greatly increase the how long it lasts. The 3DS XL will last between 3.5 and 6.5 hours while playing 3DS games (compared to 3-5 hours for 3DS) and between 6 and 10 hours while playing DS games (compared to 5-8 hours for 3DS). I suppose any improvement is good but i still feel its a little poor.
What I Like
- The screens are bloody HUGE. You get 4.88-inch and 4.18-inch top and bottom screens, respectively. Of course I have not seen one in person yet, but that screen looks like it will give the vita a run for its money. I just hope that this increase in size doesn’t seriously effect the resolution some of titles (especially DS titles). But playing in 3D may hurt my eyes a little less now, seeing as there is more screen real estate.
- I got my 3DS pretty much on release week. It was given to me, so I had no choice of what colour I got given. Of Course(!) I was handed the quite drab black/grey version. I got bored of how it looked pretty much after a day. Nintendo came good with a few awesome colour variations later on in the 3DS life-cycle, but I wished they had a few more at release. But having a Red, Blue and just for Europe, a silver version to choose from, you can colour me happy.
- Its a start right? This isn’t the console revision we asked for in the slightest and no doubt there will be some backlash. But i think new buyers of a 3DS will have a great handheld to get started with. The old guard like myself probably won’t invest in one though, unless we feel we really NEED a much larger screen.
- Games, games and more games. During the event where this was announced, we saw a shit load of games coming out in the future. If you buy one of these, you sure as hell will be spoilt for choice as to what to play, both now and in the future. Fire Emblem anyone?
