Nintendo "New" 3DS XL Review

Weapons upgraded.

After I reviewed the Wii U I felt like Nintendo had built something that was far too different to be a worthwhile competitor to Microsoft and Sony. The console was too unorthodox and unsupported compared to the competition plus it's price point wasn't exactly great compared to the PS4 and Xbox One. So I decided to delve into an area of Nintendo that wasn't as subject to scorn as it's home console, their handhelds. This is the latest version of their 3DS console; the oh so creatively named "New" 3DS XL and I do have to say, it's pretty awesome.

Size compared to a Gameboy Advance SP and a PSP.

This is the first DS handheld I've owned since I sold my old DSi a few years back so coming back to the DS after all that time felt different yet thankfully familiar. The handheld wars have played out much differently compared to the home console wars recently. The PS Vita, which is the more powerful main market rival of the 3DS has been basically left out to dry because of it's terrible market performance, now serving more as a second screen for the PS4 rather than a serious handheld console. This means the 3DS has basically taken the top spot for handheld consoles although mobile gaming and emulation have been putting loads of pressure on it. I do wish Nintendo had named the device something less ridiculous than literally calling it "New". I mean really, why not call it he Nintendo 3DS XL Plus? Dumb name aside, the newly revised XL doesn't look too terribly different from the old model. The body is still plastic but it feels durable and it's not an eyesore either. I chose my system in red and it has a nice looking, almost carbon fiber metallic look on the outside with a nice shade on the inside; also note the throwback colored face buttons. It's also still big, obviously, which is good if you have larger hands and like to have a bit more surface area to grip on; a prime selling point for the XL although it may be pushing the boundaries of your pockets a bit. 

But don't let the same basic looks fool you because quite bit has changed actually. The overall control layout is the same as the old XL; the D-Pad, shoulder buttons, and face buttons feel solid, much like on the old DS systems and the Circle Pad which can basically be seen as an improved version of the control stick on the PSP. The Home button remains in the same spot while Start and Select have been moved below the face buttons. The Power button is now located on the bottom of the system. The newest feature that's been added to the controls is the addition of the C-Stick. Okay, it's not really a stick but more of a rubber nub loaded with super sensitive sensors to make it act like a stick. It's designed as a replacement for the Circle Pad Pro attachment that the old XL model used and it does it's job, although compared to the Circle Pad it just feels a little off.

Also carried over from the Circle Pad Pro are the two extra shoulder buttons that are now placed in between the existing shoulder buttons. Because of these being added, and games that have support for the Circle Pad Pro will work straight out of the box on this system. Also of note, the cartridge slot has been moved to the bottom along with the stylus which by the way is rubbish. This new stylus is shorter than the last and it's more uncomfortable as a result. It's like holding a pencil that's been sharpened down far too many times. Even worse is that the old regular 3DS model had a telescoping stylus. Why the hell  Nintendo decided to go backwards with this thing is beyond all reason. Granted I rarely use the stylus for anything so I don't really care but thankfully you can get some aftermarket retractable styluses on the slow boat from China dirt cheap here.

And another thing; what in the name of all that is holy made them decide to put the microSD slot under the back cover? Why not have a covered slot on the side like on the DSi? Also, the back cover is held on by screws and is a little bit of a bitch to remove. Not Xbox 360 faceplate difficult but it still makes you a bit nervous, also requiring to remove screws in this day and age is bit ridiculous too especially on high dollar electronics. If they were ever to strip, you're screwed, pun intended. Seeing how the cover is a bit tricky to remove to start, why bother with screws to begin with? Chances are most people won't have to access this thing that much much so it's not too huge of an issue but if you make laborious use of the microSD slot, it's a bit of an inconvenience. Like the old XL model, the system still does not ship with a charger. Why? I don't know, it's stupid. It's like toast without butter, or Kool-Aid with no sugar. It's something that should be in the box to begin with and not having one is pretty shitty. So put aside a couple of buck for a charger or $13 for the OEM one on top you the price of the console and whatever games you get. The battery life is advertised at around 3.5 to 7 hours, an improvement over the old model.

As for it's screen size versus the new XL is the same as the old model, 4.88 inches on the top screen and 4.18 on the bottom. I will note that the screens are the same resolutions as the smaller models so they won't look quite as sharp quality wise compared to them. The regular sized model of the "New" 3DS also got a bump in screen size over the old model meaning the jump in screen size between the XL and the regular model isn't quite as significant as it used to be. I still think that screen size or not, the XL's larger, more comfortable body is enough of a selling point for most.

The biggest changes though occur in the hardware of the system where it has been bumped up to a Quad-Core ARM11 MPCore processor and 256 MB of RAM, basically doubling it's processing power from the old model. This results in noticeably faster loading times and if you were to pit an old 3DS model against a "New" model, you will definitely notice the drastic speed difference. Also included is built in Amiibo and NFC support so you no longer have to use the separate peripheral to use the figures. The system has also improved it's auto-stereoscopic 3D feature, called Super Stable 3D. This has basically added a head tracking sensor to the system so it can adjust the 3D when your head moves, resulting in less ghosting than the old model. As for the 3D itself, I found it subtle, giving the illusion of depth in most cases with some things popping off the screen. I didn't feel any form of headaches with the 3D on but it's different for everyone, some do some don't. It's definitely not like a Virtual Boy where you get a migraine within minutes of playing. The 3D is a neat feature albeit a gimmicky one, plus it drains the battery quicker. That slider next to the screen will let you adjust the intensity of it or turn it off completely, which is what most people do.

The cameras are pretty much just a tacked on addition although they have some interesting features. The system comes with AR Cards, meaning augmented reality. The idea is that you place the cards on a flat surface and point the camera at them generating a virtual image on the screen and allowing you to play some games. I didn't delve very deep into the camera features just because I didn't feel like they were worth that much time. Either way, the 0.3 MP sensors both on the back and front put out a distinguishable yet somewhat atrocious looking image. You're not buying this for photography though and if you are, you need help.

In all honesty the overall experience of the 3DS is remarkably similar to the Wii U, all the way down to the dual screens, UI, and core features. I'd actually go as far to call it a bit more pleasant of an experience than the Wii U because there was something about the Wii U's whole big screen, little screen, switch them all the time thing that never really caught on with me. I went through basic setup like normal, signed into my Nintendo Network account, popped in Alpha Sapphire and I was good to go. The 3DS doesn't make the dual screen feature a chore like it does on the Wii U, which is nice. But if you delve deeper you will find that things like Miis, Miiverse, the Plaza, even Netflix and YouTube are on this thing. Holy crap, it's loaded, and way more than I would have expected.

Yep, that's my blog logo on a Miiverse drawing just to show that the 3DS doesn't loose any capability that the Wii U has despite it being a handheld. The fact that the 3DS, especially the "New" models with their added features can do almost all the same things the Wii U can do is a bit mind blowing to be honest. And that's not even bringing games into the picture. The 3DS has a ton of titles that are also on the Wii U, like Super Smash Bros to name a big one as well as big time exclusives like Pokemon. On top of that you also get the Virtual Console library which I mentioned in my Wii U review was a bit dismal and of course, the whole original DS library backwards compatible. Damn, and lets not forget the fact that 3DS games are cheaper than Wii U games and don't look that much worse compared to a console that's a whole generation behind the PS4 and Xbox One in terms of graphics. Okay maybe you can argue the big third party games for the Wii U... *crickets*.

Wii U - "I'm in charge!"
"Do you feel in charge?"- 3DS
Wii U -"But I'm a home console!"
"And you think this gives you power over me?" - 3DS

The thing is that if you want to play big AAA games you would buy an Xbox One or a PS4. If you want to play Nintendo's rather excellent first party games and exclusives, you would buy a Wii U. It doesn't help that the 3DS has much of the same capability and games lineup for less money. It's like Nintendo made the 3DS too good and none of it was for the benefit of the Wii U. I guess you can say that another part of the reason why the 3DS comes out on top is that we all tend to view home consoles and handhelds differently. Home consoles have developed this image as the serious, no nonsense, cater to all approach to entertainment; something I feel the Xbox One and PS4 got right and the Wii U failed at. Handhelds on the other hand have developed this image where they can get away with being more immature than their home console counterparts which might explain why I was more tolerant of the 3DS over the Wii U. There's just something about the execution of everything that feels so right on the 3DS that on the Wii U feels so wrong, I can't really explain it.

It just really feels like the Wii U and 3DS shouldn't even co-exist together, they are far too similar to justify the Wii U over the 3DS. It shouldn't be this way, the Wii U should be the cutting edge, refined console while the 3DS is the handheld option. Like the Gamecube was to the Gameboy Advance or the PS4 is to the PS Vita with, you know... actual success. But no, instead we got two consoles that are supposed to be in separate markets but the big one is too dumbed down and weird to compete with it's market rivals while the little one has gone above and beyond what it's market competition was. The 3DS and Wii U are practically competing against each other and that's not a good thing. 

Just to put some numbers down, the Wii U has sold 12 million units in it's lifetime, while the 3DS has sold 59 million units. Compare that to the PS Vita which only sold 13 million units worldwide, the PS4 which has sold nearly 40 million units, and the Xbox One which has sold 20 million units. The Wii U is an insignificant spec in the market because the 3DS has practically all the same features with the convenience of being portable for less money plus the Xbox One and the PS4 are just flat out better home consoles.

So should you buy a Wii U over a 3DS? No, and precisely for the above reasons. It's an equally capable, less expensive, and more practical substitute for the Wii U and the "New" models are a great improvement over the original. It's better than the Vita which shit the bed because nobody was buying it and now it's basically become a JRPG/Remote Play machine. Against mobile gaming though, handhelds in general have had it tough just because mobile gaming is cheap, many times free, especially if your phone was a hand me down from mom or dad but I will say that the 3DS has more fulfilling games than most smartphones provide. I mean really, would you rather be beating the living tar out of people in a heated round of Smash or go fly a drunken bird through pipes just to see a number get bigger? Apparently a lot of people do and that's where the market has gone out of the convenience of having one do it all device rather than an expensive phone and an expensive handheld console like in the old days. Maybe Nintendo should make a phone? Perhaps.

The 3DS is the console to go to if you want to play Nintendo, and the "New" XL is by far the best model to pick up. Now if you currently own an old model 3DS, the extra processing power is a welcome addition and you would definitely appreciate it along with the integrated NFC and new control inputs. Coming from years of experience hauling everything from my old Gameboy to my PSP everywhere I went, I'll go as far to call it the best handheld game console I've ever used. Yeah there are a few quirks about it, a big one having no packaged charger but those can be overlooked. You get a lot for what you pay for and the experience is a blast. Nintendo hasn't lost it's magic with handhelds since 1989.

The "New" 3DS XL currently costs $199.99.

Is It Better Than?

PS Vita- Yes, the PS Vita was a handheld full of promise that just didn't quite deliver. It's more powerful than the "New" 3DS capable of running games of quality comparable to home consoles, but all that power is underutilized with a lousy lineup of games and few on the horizon. The Vita is expensive too, $200 up front with prices for it's proprietary memory cards ranging from $60 bucks to a whopping $100 dollars. Holy shit. It's a great device for Remote Play on the PS4 and it's got a nice lineup of PS1 and PSP games on the PlayStation Store but it could have been capable of much more, which sucks because I really like it too. In world dominated by smartphones, it's a bit hard to make a relevant handheld. 3DS takes the cake.

Wii U- Yes, the Wii U is pretty much the 3DS for the big screen. After playing around with both of them for a while I found they both have virtually the same basic layout, features, and games. I think what really makes the Wii U disappointing is that it's designed to compete with the Xbox One and PS4, which it just flat out can't. The 3DS is fully portable, the Wii U's Gamepad can't even leave the room the console is in. You can get the "New" 3DS XL for $100 bucks less than the Wii U and have some room to splurge on games. Unless you really want to play Nintendo games on the big screen, the 3DS is a better option.