Nintendo Reveals "New" 3DS With Updated CPU

Seems really odd. It has more buttons and a better cpu that can run games the "old" 3DS can't, but it's still technically just a 3DS? I can see it becoming a really weak trickle into just becoming the next gen of Nintendo handheld where eventually all new games are only available it and it just becomes de facto next gen without the sales bump of a true launch

Exactly.

The trailer implies "faster downloads", so I'm guessing that might mean 802.11n or ac...or it could just be Nintendo being terrible with marketing and messaging.

I still want it, but damn it, Nintendo, ergonomics!

Sounds like a good time to upgrade to an LL, but I wish it had the cuter buttons like the regular one. I wonder how much fidelity you'll be able to get out of the analog nubbin.

Can't wait for my MH4U faceplate :D

Just got the Zelda one this past holiday and I STILL want to buy this one too....damn you nintendo. I'll probably wait first to see how it is. I love my 3DSXL, but I'm not a fan of the gold interior the Zelda one has. That and the D-Pad is a bit loose on mine and clicks. If this is a worthy upgrade, then I'll get it and sell my Zelda one.

My thoughts exactly. Nintendo have become the masters of these weird half-measures.

It blows my mind how bad Nintendo are at this business. I still can't get over the fact that I can't buy 1001 Spikes or Shovel Knight for my 3DS because I live in the UK.

It should be obvious but they should be releasing an all new handheld with a different name (I can't believe they didn't learn from WiiU) once the 3DS has run it's course, which could be in 2 - 3 years if they put any effort in to getting even a fraction of the hundreds of awesome platformers/indie/2D/pixel art games released within the last 4/5 years that would fit with the 3DS perfectly.

Instead they seem intent on making it hard for me to buy games that devs want to release on the 3DS, in fact impossible for me to give them money for multiple games that already work on the 3DS and are available elsewhere, purely because of where I live.

You can System Transfer your Nintendo ID to the new system, so all of your digital purchases will be linked to the new system.

At this rate we are going to get an Apple situation where people just start referring to things by the year they were released in.

hahaha what

(I'll probably still buy one)

How is this any different from what phone manufacturer's do with new hardware upgrades every six months? People will buy new versions of existing products, and a lot of these also have the same issue of Apps only working on software version X.XX.

People are really over exaggerating the effect that Nintendo's naming conventions have on their sales numbers. There was nothing to learn from the Wii U. The name was fine. Sure it was dumb but it didn't affect the sales numbers. This isn't a brand new device so the name works. Calling it a super 3DS would be more confusing since the Super Nintendo was an actual new console.

Unless it can run existing games at a better framerate in 3D mode (Zelda was fine but Pokemon was terrible), I'm perfectly content with my regular 3DS until any new first party exclusives that only work on it come out.

Good things come to those who wait. And, I am glad to see gaming hardware renovations which improve upon the original model. The PS3's lost functionality the further they progressed into their life cycle and the Vita no longer has the OLED screen. Apple renovates every year. Some apps only work on systems able to support the latest OS. Other apps don't function as well or at all on older hardware. Patrons either upgrade their Iphones and Ipads or accept that they will not have access to every app available. PC games have required and recommended specs, so this idea is not completely foreign to gaming. I know that people choose game consoles to get away from that, but I think it would be interesting to see how annual or perhaps biannual improvements to the processors and memory of the machines would effect game creation.

I think they're going to have to make that new stick a little bigger for western audiences. :/

I think I'm kind of okay with something like this happening if it has more CPU power. Rather than being stuck with a system with 4 year old hardware, its cool to see innovation within the same system. Not saying my 3DS XL sucks, but if this has more power and maybe possibly HD screens I'd be okay with upgrading. That 2nd thumb stick literally being smaller than a face button is bizarre though. If it's $250 or below I'm down. Not like it's any different than upgrading a phone or PC graphics card every two years. Maybe the "New" part of the title will be changed for the west.

They really should have called this the Super 3DS. The Super Famicom buttons scream it. Fuck their branding people in the neck

Diverting the energy they've put in to this in to getting some of the awesome indie/2d/platform/ games from the last few years on the 3ds would have made much more sense. The platform doesn't matter anywhere near as much as the question of what games are available and Nintendo have done a very poor job of getting good games that already exist on it's platforms.

@andrewb: The branding on the Game Boy line was pitch-perfect. Game Boy, the original. Game Boy Pocket, like the original, but small enough to easily fit in your pocket. Game Boy Color, like the original, but displays games in color. Game Boy Advance, like the original, but the games will be more advanced.

Everything Nintendo has done lately is just baffling. Wii. What the eff does Wii mean? Wii U? What? How does that convey anything useful about that system? 3DS? Why wouldn't that just play DS games in 3D, like the way the Game Boy Color would still play Game Boy games? Now there's gonna be a "New 3DS"?

To an average consumer who doesn't read news articles about this kind of announcement, what does that mean?

Somebody posted that Nintendo needs to fire whoever comes up with their branding team, and usually I don't go for all that "fire that guy" talk, but no, seriously, this person is doing a terrible job and has been for almost a decade now.

My 3DS XL isn't even a year old and Nintendo expects me to buy another one? I'm not even sure I like the one I have now. Honestly, if the market for 3DS games shifts to favor this new model, I'd rather just sell my current XL and put the money towards something more stable.

Hopefully I can somehow stick my expansion pak from my N64 into my 3ds to get this new cpu power, thats how computers work right?

@whatisdelicious: Oh I've totally posted the same sentiment on these very forums. I just don't understand the negativity about the idea that Nintendo is releasing new hardware.

Hell yeah.

It will play Xenoblade Chronicles? Congrats on selling another one of these, Nintendo. I will buy it.

That right analog stick is bizarrely placed. How is that going to fly?

Not a fan of anything going on with that second analog. I won't pretend to know how it functions unless I hold it, but based solely on appearances, any game relying on that second nub seems like a playability nightmare in the making.

@ultoroscariot: Super 3DS makes perfect sense. 'New' 3DS doesn't imply the added power to the system. Seriously bad marketing. Unless they change the name for the Western release. I won't keep my hopes up though...

It's really awesome that Nintendo is backing the Xeno team in a big way all of a sudden, but a WiiU HD port would have made soooo much more sense.

Still, I'm curious as to what they'll do with this thing. I only wish they'd toss an HDMI out port on the back of it.

More likely it might have a few optional enhancements that are exclusive to the new one, but 99.5% of the game will run fine on the regular 3DS. Nintendo does some weird things but shutting the door on 35 million 3DSes just to sell slightly faster hardware isn't one of them.

Updated CPU? So like some kinda 'Super FX' chip?

Such a cringe worthy comment and just wrong in so many ways.

It probably has a new wireless n or ac in it - since they are opening up the possibility of backing up files directly to a PC via wireless connection (and saying it will have faster downloads). But this is pure speculation.

I really don't think you want that. 3DS resolution images would look super rough scaled up to that size.

I'm onviously not a hardware designer, but was it impossible to have the start and select buttons to the sudes of the home button and then push the abxy buttons down and just have a second stick above them like the Wii U gamepad and pro controllers do? I mean... That could probably have voided the need for having a retarded nub thing instead of an actual second stick. The left stick is pretty good for a handheld. I don't get it.

wait, are they really calling this thing the "new 3ds" who is in charge of naming things over there.
a super 3ds would of been a nice throwback to SNES, but maybe that is their next gen.
(between this and wii u, and all the games with U tacked on the end...wtf)

Wait what what huh what huh

@ultoroscariot: Damnit it could have been the Super 3DS! Why, why did they let this opportunity pass them by!?

2DS, 3DS, 3DS XL, New 3DS, New 3DS XL. New 2DS next? For fucks sake, Nintendo. Just stop.

I can't figure out how they settled on this design. If they hadn't moved the Start and Select buttons they could have put a proper second analog stick there. Instead they half-assed it with a poorly placed nub.

Yes. You were able to carry over EVERYTHING from your old 3DS to any of the new ones since forever. You can even go straight from a DSi to this New 3DS and bring all digital stuff with you.

The right "analog stick" looks more like those nubs old laptops used to have in the middle of the keyboards that could be used for mouse control.

@andrewb: Oh, my bad then. I guess for me, the negativity is less that they're making new hardware and more that I just don't get what Nintendo is doing anymore, and it's a bummer. I keep waiting for a reason to buy back into Nintendo, but they just keep doing this. It used to be fun to like Nintendo. I don't know what the rest of the negativity would be about because I read maybe like five comments in and stopped.

Since there are games exclusively for this new device, doesn't it count as a new platform?

3DS has probably been the best platform out there the last 12 months or so. If there's going to be good games that I can only play with this then I'll get it.

I'm really looking forward to the guaranteed shitstorm that'll come with trying to transfer over my digital purchases from my 3DS XL to the 3DS NUB

Being poor and liking video games is frustrating as hell, man.

What? This is probably the weirdest console iteration I've ever seen. Two new buttons, one new stick, and an upgraded CPU, with the exact same name but with "New" added to the front. It's practically a new system entirely except Nintendo doesn't seem to be marketing it as such.

That being said Xenoblade chronicles on the go sounds rad so I'll probably end up buying it. But I have to wonder how many games will require this thing.

Do want. Xenoblade was a massive blindspot for me last gen. I hope that they make transfers between systems easy.

Nintendo actually has that process pretty well sorted out at this point.