Nintendo announces new 3DS and 3DS XL

Given that we know so little about it (besides that it's coming to Japan this fall and the west "sometime, maybe"), I'm holding off judgement. I'm happy with my 3DS' battery life (though I've had a charging armor pretty much ever since I got it). When we know more, I'll decide if I get one.

If I do, it'll be the XL.

 

I too really don't see that many new games requiring the new hardware.

Let's not forget that in the very recent past Nintendo released the low-budget, low-tech 2DS, which flies in the complete opposite direction of supporting a newer, fancier 3DS. If I as a 3DS owner of several years am pissed I would imagine the guy that just bought his kid a 2DS is even more pissed.

 

I actually think this one will be no different from the DS Lite to DSi "upgrade" path. Most developers won't probably make New 3DS only games by virtue of limiting their market.

The best I'm expecting is limited support for the New 3DS while making the actual games mostly compatible with the normal 3DS.

 

Im really worried about the constant hardware revisions/concurrent hardware releases and what this is doing for Nintendo's finances, theyre already tanking as it is, and theyre making the same mistakes that Sega did before its tragic fall, they're losing focus and wasting too much money on derivatives. They need to stick to a few core hardware pieces and quit spreading out their lineup. they're wasting money and confusing their customers, which will also cost them money.

 

I thought Nintendo was still sitting on top of a mountain of money. Last I heard they were, despite all the people saying they were going under because they didn't like the Wii or whatever their reason was at the time.

 

Why do people say "constant hardware revisions?" It's a little more frequent, but nothing like you spending another $200 to upgrade your phone with your $1200 a year cellphone contract. Once every two/three years is not THAT frequent. This is what you get in an electronics market obsessed with making things smaller and more full featured.

 

I don't know why you keep comparing a handheld gaming device to a phone. Pretty sure the phone is a bit more important if you, I don't know, talk to people? The problem with Nintendo is that these upgrades seem to little & too late. I am just going to wait until the 3DS is done with before I buy one, & I doubt that's what they would want.

 

Upgrades to phone and this are stupid if you ask me. That's another topic I could go on about, and I don't think everyone upgrades their phone every year.

 

I upgrade my phone every year. Keep resell value high. Sorta

 

This is the heart of the issue, history has proven time and time again that what's important isn't hardware but is in fact the games. In a time where Nintendo is massively lacking in 3rd party support the last thing they should be thinking about is relesing more of the same hardware, they should be putting their resources into making first party titles to increase their console lineups as much as possible. The choice between another 3DS or another F-Zero is an easy choice for me to make, one that would end up me actually buying the WiiU and supporting the console. I haven't bought a 3DS yet and I'm still not going to buy one, not until they're at bargain prices, the WiiU is something I'd seriously consider given the right software. It's shame they haven't learned from past mistakes, it really seems like Nintendo have got lost in their own madness.

That is of course unless the new 3DS nub is for F-Zero 3D support lol...

 

Almost all of the upgrades to handhelds from Nintendo have been minor if you look back at history, gameboy pocket, gameboy sp, dsi, xl versions, same diff.

 

I don't think we'll see many exclusive titles, but maybe they should make new 3DS exclusives digital download only, so that they simply won't download to an old 3DS. This would also mean they'd avoid any confusion in stores, particularly with parents (who I know from experience often have enough difficulty distinguishing between DS, DS Lite, DSi, 3DS, 2DS and 3DS XL) buying games for their kids.

 

This instantly came to mind:


I'm inclined to believe that this will be something akin to the DSi, where it has very few exclusives (the DSi had 6 retail exclusive games), and 99% of the new boxed games will work with both.

EDIT: Oh hey, and the new 3DS will still be region locked. http://www.examiner.com/article/new-3ds-same-old-region-lock Joy

 

Nintendo has fucked up so much with names these years. I'm probably the person who likes the Wii the most here, but the name is inexcusable. Why Wii? The name is so bad you'd swear it is a marketing stunt. Next we have the Wii U with the same absurd name plus they forgot that old people and kids make up a large part of their demographic, and they too much at face value. New 3DS's branding is them shooting themselves in the foot again.

 

Because it's easy to pronounce in any language.

@Sonicsean:

That store is here in Australia, JB HiFi. They make all sorts of stupid signs, and stupid art work because in their minds they're the hip cunts of retail.

 

Still sounds stupid, and it is slang for piss in a few languages. Many believe the Wii U is an accessory for the Wii. The first ads had the gamepad prominent, but they failed to show the console enough. I've seen gamers on forums, who would usually know better, make the same mistake.

 

Of course, it looks like an attachment, considering some of the life-style ads for the system show regular Wii remotes.

 

Oh, and (from the front at least) the Wii U looks an awful lot like the original. It has a very similar shape, same looking disc slot. Honestly if you told me it was a redesign of the Wii I wouldn't be surprised.

I doubt anyone would argue that the XB1 or PS4 look like redesigned 360s or PS3s.

 

Could not agree more with the people that are comparing this with the DSi, that is exactly what it is.

So glad I did not buy one yet, but might buy a 2DS down the road as it gets even cheaper because of this.

 

I like how that sign only applies to 50% of the Wii titles on display in the picture.