News

New 3DS Design Coming in August and Does Not Include a Second Analog Stick. For Reals.

By Sean Lama

Posted on June 23, 2012

Since the launch of the Nintendo 3DS, gamers have been pining for two things hardware-wise: Improved battery life and a second analog stick. When it comes to its handhelds, Nintendo is not shy towards redesigns and I personally was under the assumption that the first revision would, at the very least, incorporate a second analog stick. Nope.

Nintendo announced this week that the 3DS XL will becoming to stores on August 19th to coincide with the release new New Super Mario Bros. 2, and will be 90% larger than vanilla 3DS. This puts the system’s screen in a better position to be compared to Sony’s PS Vita, measuring at 4.88 inches.

The battery life is seeing a slight improvement, increasing from an average of 3 – 5 hours of constant play time on the 3DS to 3.5 – 6.5 on the 3DS XL. Strangely enough, Nintendo is saying that non-North America versions of the system will not include an AC adapter. Rather, they are expecting you to use your old one… Presumably. Is this a strategy to deter people from selling/trading in their original 3DS? I have no clue. But then again, clues are far and few in between when it comes to Nintendo.

Head over to IGN if you want to see the announcement video.

Sean Lama

Senior Editor | [email protected]

Sean started playing video games in infancy. He was not given a choice as much as a directive from his parents to be the best gamer on Earth. Sean was subjected to 10-12 hours of rigorous daily gaming throughout his youth, mastering the most complex video games and dominating online competitions. Sean's symbiotic relationship with video games led to writing about them for various gaming websites, and he is currently involved in sales strategy and analytics at one of the largest video game publishers in the world. Sean's mission is simple: Turn 100% of the human population into gamers, willingly or otherwise.