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Nintendo launches New 3DS XL with hardware improvements

Nintendo’s New 3DS XL, a hardware revision of its 3DS XL from 2012, hit store and online shelves last week. The changes to the hardware include an additional analog nub on the right side of the touch screen for camera controls, improvements to 3D viewing angles, decreased loading times for games, two additional shoulder buttons, and other miscellaneous tweaks.

Of course, for the many 3DS players that opt to turn 3D off at all times due to headaches or viewing angle awkwardness, the 3D improvements will be welcome. However, the other changes are not to be underrated. Anyone who owns the original 3DS XL can attest to the stunningly long wait times they are forced to endure before game software launches, so decreased load times for software is a much-needed improvement, however marginal the actual time difference may be.

Additionally, the right analog nub (I hesitate to call it a stick, even by the 3DS’ already-flat analog stick standards) presents opportunities for new games, especially first person shooters, to be developed with more natural control schemes. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask will be one of the first games to take advantage of the New 3DS XL’s analog nub and new shoulder buttons for improved camera controls. And let’s not forget how much easier smash attacks in Super Smash Bros. will be, as well as grabbing with the new R2 and L2 buttons.

Nintendo also claims to have increased the processing power of the New 3DS XL, though there are currently no numbers, or games, to back this claim. The first New 3DS XL-exclusive game, Xenoblade Chronicles, will be launching next month, so it remains to be seen by exactly how much Nintendo has beefed up the console’s internals.

The New 3DS XL also includes a slightly thicker and shorter stylus, rearranged button layout below the touch screen, near-field communication technology for Amiibo support, and a battery life increase of up to 30 minutes.

If you already own a 3DS XL, you may want to wait for more new games to come out that take advantage of the New 3DS’s additional controls, and for older games to be updated with support for the console. For owners of the original 3DS that still have not upgraded to the XL, the New 3DS XL will absolutely be worth the upgrade, as you will be getting the size benefits of the console as well as the aforementioned improvements. It still remains to be seen how newer games will take advantage of the improvements afforded by the console, though many players (this writer included) will be making the leap purely due to the tactical advantage provided by a “C-stick” in Smash Bros.

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