Before we start, what’s the difference between the Nintendo 3DS XL and the New Nintendo 3DS XL?
The New Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS XL are updated revisions of the 3DS and 3DS XL that were first unveiled during the Japanese Nintendo Direct presentation on August 29, 2014. The new models feature a faster processor, face tracking for improved 3D viewing angles, additional ZL/ZR shoulder buttons and a new “C-Stick” pointing stick that are comparable to and backwards compatible with games that support the Circle Pad Pro, colored face buttons inspired by those of Super Famicom/SNES controllers, automatic brightness adjustment, microSD storage, larger batteries, and integrated near-field communications support for use with Amiibo products. The regular-sized New Nintendo 3DS also has slightly larger screens than the prior model, and a suite of interchangeable faceplates.
In most reviews I read, it was recommended that if you’re new to the 3DS world, buy the ‘new’ model and if you have a 3DS already, there’s nothing compelling enough to warrant the upgrade. The team at our local GameStop who really honestly cares very little about anything (seriously, they’re awful) recommended I buy the previous gen and that I shouldn’t spend the extra $25 on a new C-stick, faster processor, improved 3D tech and other things. I didn’t take his advice.
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Before I give some thoughts on the 3DS XL, I know what you’re all thinking. I have an iMac, MacBook Pro, iPad Air 2 and iPhone 6 as well as an Xbox One and Nintendo Wii U. There’s no way my gaming isn’t fully covered by any one of these devices. I disagree. I don’t have a good portable gaming setup and before you get all bent out of shape that I’m riffing on iOS Gaming, I’m not but iOS gaming isn’t for me.
I need my iPhone to always be charged and ready to do what it is built for which is making calls, answering emails and navigating me to my destination. The iPad Air 2 is a pretty large screen for me and it’s not heavy but it’s awkward for gaming while laying in bed and I find the screen to be too immersive for things like racing. It’s cool but just too large. Both devices have one fundamental issue that isn’t Apple’s fault. iOS Gaming is awful because the publishers are awful.
Freemium games rule iOS right now. There are very few games that cost more than $5 because they are full of advertisements for other games, in-game purchases of coins, power-ups, levels and publishers makes games that you can beat in a very short time so that you’ll go out and buy another one of their games. The idea of ‘levels’ or ‘world’s is pretty much a thing of the past and publishers are more stoked to get you to buy hundreds of extra features than give you a game that brings hundreds of hours of entertainment for $15-$50 up front. I can spend $50 on Sims, Civilization or Forza 5 and get 100-200 hours of play time out of those. There are very few iOS games that offer this.
With the Gameboy, I’m given the ability to have one single small device that fits in my bag or pocket that has a 4 hour gameplay battery life, has self-contained games via download or cartridges and no in-app purchases that waste money. I’m really happy with that model
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Nintendo’s 3DS XL packaging is basic and no frills. You get a built-in game that’s fun to play but my first title was Pokemon Omega Sapphire. I played Pokemon Yellow, Red and Blue on the Gameboy Color as a kid and that title is familiar. I also have had a chance to play Mario Party and Super Mario 3D Land borrowed from Heather who bought her 3DS at the same time.
Setup:
Once you remove the device from the box, you realize quickly that there’s no charging cable included. I spent the extra $7 up front at Gamestop for an AC adapter which charges the unit in about 2 hours. The included paper materials were totally ignored and I booted the 3DS up and went through the typical computer geek steps. Once the setup is complete, I enabled WiFi and joined the local network and performed a system update. Then, I explored the system settings which were pretty basic. There’s not a lot to customize. The home screen customizations are basic and you can pay money for themes which I won’t be doing.
Once the device was fully charged, I began to explore the Nintendo Shop. It’s similar to Wii U’s shop so if you use that, you’ll be pretty familiar with the shopping experience. The most popular applications for the 3DS were the free ones (YouTube, Hulu, Netflix and a few games that were free or demo). I would have liked the Nintendo Shop to split up Freeware versus Demoware versus Games so I could see what top titles were.
What’s not clear is portability of your purchases. I like buying cartridges. They’re tangible, can be moved between devices and you can sell them when the game is no longer interesting. I doubt you can do any of these with Nintendo Shop games.
On 3D:
You don’t need glasses to experience 3D on the 3DS XL. There’s a cheap plastic slide next to the main display and you slide it set the 3D intensity. I don’t know why this isn’t a switch because honestly, who turns on 3D just a little bit? You either want it on or off. 3D looks pretty good but it’s not without faults. First, the 3DS uses an face-tracking camera above the camera (yes, very creepy) to adjust 3D based on the location and distance of your face. If you look away, the tracking fails and you get a stutter in the 3D when you come back to the gameplay. The function works well with sunglasses if you’re curious so no worries on gaming during a bright day. The monitor doesn’t need to see your eyes, just your head it seems.
3D overall works great. Most games support 3D full-time while others only do it during local climax areas. I don’t think the feature is novel and I didn’t find myself turning it off but I’m confident it does drain battery faster so if you’re on a long plane-ride, turning it off is in your best interest. Luckily, the screen works great in 2D and 3D. Also, the bottom tappable screen is 2D only which is also just fine for me.
On that tappable screen:
There are 2 screens on the 3DS and it’s something I’m just now getting used to. The top screen is where the game action takes place. You look at that 90% of the time during an RPG or 100% of the time in a fighting game. The screen sitting between your thumbs is for in-game interactions like switching out Pokemon, selection of PowerUps or initiating a map view to see where you are in the world. The game developers code both screens to work independently. The 3DS includes a stylus but I found the screen works just fine with my fingers. Even typing my name or WiFi Password on the very small keyboard works just fine despite my huge thumbs that usually don’t do well with touch-screens.
The screen has a bit of an identify crisis when it comes to browsing the web. I loaded up TechCrunch on the 3DS web-browser and both screens show the page meaning the TechCrunch logo and first 2 articles show on the top screen and the rest of the page shows on the bottom. I can use the bottom screen for scrolling and clicking and the top does’n’t work. Also, the 3D mode is disabled during this on the top screen. The 3DS is not a good web-browsing device at all so I guess this was just not well thought out.
Taking 3D Pictures:
There’s a ZR button you push and hold to activate the camera without having to click home and then open the camera. 3D pictures seem cool but it’s really a novel idea. I can’t imagine anyone with a smartphone ever using this function. There’s no sharing functionality either.
Pedometer, SpotPass and other Features:
The 3DS has a built in Pedometer that tracks your footsteps and gives you virtual rewards. Pretty dumb feature but interesting. I don’t have the 3DS in my pocket all day so this is a moot feature. SpotPass is nice. It handles notifications when you’re on a recognized WiFi network and updates the system and apps while the device is in sleep mode (lid-closed). If you fully power it down, updates and the pedometer don’t work which is logical. I don’t have conclusive tests that show how long the device lasts in sleep mode.
The WiFi doesn’t support domain/Active Directory logins so I can’t use the device @ work on my lunch break. It plays games just fine but won’t connect to our Corporate WiFi.
Hardware, Build quality / Usage:
The 3DS XL isn’t built very well. It doesn’t feel solid and I’m betting there’s a lot of empty air space inside the casing. The display itself has a 2-piece hinge that actually has a give/travel of 1 centimeter even on day one. Those of you that have a 10 year old MacBook or RAZR from 2001 know about that hinged travel that happens over time as springs give out. The device stays in place but the travel is annoying and feels cheap.
The buttons are all well built. The touch screen is plastic and even moves slightly when I’m clicking it as it’s not flush with the display beneath it. The top display on the hinge is also a bit heaver than the bottom piece which means in bed, playing the game over my head my thumbs which would normally be focuses on clicking a lot of buttons are spent playing grappling with my index fingers on which fingers are to hold the unit while the other clicks buttons. It’s impossible to play this laying down for more than 5 minutes because of the weight of that top screen.
The overall build quality is just very cheap. For $200, you’d expect something on par with an iPod touch or even a Zune. This doesn’t have it and I assume it’s just too many compromises made in order to keep profitability and costs down despite the huge feature bloat.
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Overall, I’d say anything outside of putting a game cartridge in and playing is poorly thought out and worth scrapping. I’d love for Nintendo to release a 3DS XL and get rid of everything except for video game playing. No web browser, video apps, pedometer, 3D Camera and instead focus on making the screens and build quality A+ and get rid of all of these background services to make battery life more reliable. Finally, the ability today to suspend software and multi-task can also be scrapped.
I am a fan of the 2-screen setup and it is a nice improvement. The backlighting is also well done and certainly a huge change since my GameBoy Color back in the 90s.
For portable gaming, it’s almost like iOS developers should copy the one-time game purchase model and make games that can be played for hundreds of hours and Nintendo simply needs to stop making hardware and start selling their games on iOS.
I’d still miss the dedicated hardware but I don’t think that many people would.