@hailinel: Ummmmmmm ok........? Do you see portable gaming systems or even consoles having "exclusive games" on a certain version of a system....?.

This happened with the DS when the DSi was out, there were DSi only games and DSiWare.

Also, this happens often with a lot of mobile apps that end up only working on phones with certain software.

@snakeitachi: The Game Boy Color, despite being a colorized Game Boy, had a select few games that could not be played on an original Game Boy.

tiny right thumb stick? either put it or not...

Wait... so this is basically a new system? Maybe not a huge leap forward but I feel like it kinda has to be to split the userbase like that

So it's not a new handheld, and it will have exclusives. smh.

"OMG I bought a NES 30 years ago and now Nintendo is releasing a new Super Mario Bros. that I can't play! I feel tricked!"

Kids, please..

30 years ago ≠ 2 years ago.

THOSE COLOURED BUTTONS OMG IM SOLD

If some parents found it hard to understand that the Wii U was a new console and not an add-on for the Wii I can only imagine how tough it will be for them buying 3DS games when this new console comes out.

I hope retail do a good job explaining on the counter.

Even if I wanted to buy this I can't because all my games are tied to my current one. Good job Nintendo.

nail on the head, eh? everyone freaking out about the new processor fracturing the market may be on a witch hunt, what if nobody uses the new power and everyone continues developing for what is the much bigger overall regular 3ds market, developers don't like leaving money on the table for the most part. what if the nicer cpu just makes for snappier UI?

You can transfer your games and more or less all other data using the System Transfer application on the 3DS.

That tiny analog stick though... Hahahahaha.

That's not what's happening though, It's not NES to SNES. It would be like if the top loader NES was more powerful and had exclusive games that the original NES couldn't play.

Though Apple is a lot worse for this, the OS gets updated every year and a lot of apps don't work on older versions.

I bet that tiny analog stick is going to be the one of the most innovative things to happen to portable gaming since the dual screen layout. It potentially completely eliminates slipperiness and it's flat. The placement looks weird because we're used to seeing the analog far from the buttons but I don't see anything wrong.

I wouldn't really say you can compare Apple and Nintendo, the iPhone / iPad is first of all not really marketed as a console and in addition to that while it is true that they update the OS somewhat frequently the new OS supports phones far older than the current generation, iOS 8 for example which is still not released will still support the iPhone 4s and iPad 2, devices released around 3 years ago. So I don't see how they are far worse as far as software backward compatibility is concerned.

And before somebody gets the wrong idea, I'm not an Apple fan boy, I have been an android user for close to 5 years now but that doesn't mean I can't praise apple for one of the things they do right, and OS compatibility is in my opinion one of those things.

Nintendo is so fucking stupid with the hardware. I just got a 3ds last year, it would be nice if they had some sort of trade in-upgrade program

I think they've made that possible. But it's probably Nintendo-y and convoluted, not just signing in and re-downloading stuff.

Also that second stick seems really unnecessary and terrible. I can't imagine using that out of place nub is anything but extremely uncomfortable for the relatively few games that even support it.

still only one analog stick

Man it figures they announce a new model after I just bought a 3DS XL last month.

@friendlypossum: I thought Xenoblade was really good, but man, it's an expensive game to play. Spend the big bucks on a copy for the Wii, or spend the bigger bucks to play it on a New 3DS.

I'm in Japan this October and this seems only priced at 16000 yen which is A$164.00. I'll prob. pick one up.

Quick reminder that the 3DS isn't region free so all your games will have to come from Japan as well.

@corruptedevil: Yeah, my GFs from there so I'm actually trying to learn the language. Will prob. just play Japanese games for practice. Thanks for the heads up though ;)

Ah, cool. Just making sure because in this day and age something not being region free is an oddity.

@corruptedevil: Yeah true. The Japanese shop staff are actually pretty strict with selling to westerners. I bought a blue Vita from Bic Camera and the guy was like "you prob. won't be able to play this in your country", almost trying to talk me out of the sale. Then the girl behind the counter said "you realise this is a blue one right?" lol. I really want to buy a copy of Fatal Frame for my Wii U just to test as it's out in Sept, but I know it won't play.

Eh, whatever. I bought the zelda 3dsxl last year and I don't use it too often so I'm not in the market for an upgrade anytime soon. After Persona Q comes out it will go back to gathering dust.

Since this is going to have exclusive games, they should have called this the "Super 3DS" or something.
Calling it the "new 3DS" is just going to be confusing for consumers. just like New Super Mario Bros. was.

I am somewhat disappointed this new version of the Nintendo 3DS was not announced earlier. If it were, I would have pre-ordered it instead of buying a 3DS XL last year.

I swear Nintendo is dedicated to trolling me.

Or any loyal fanboy.

3DS XL still looks as ugly as ever.

why didn't they come out with a 4th version that would have better specs overall.

I did the transfer process last year from a crappy used 3DS XL to a nicer new one, and it was pretty much painless. They have an option right in the settings to transfer everything right over, and then you either move your SD card from the old to the new or you transfer all the files to the new 3DS's SD card on your PC. It's pretty simple actually, surprisingly so.

I really doubt there will be many "new" 3ds exclusive games. Know how many DSi exclusive carts there were? 5, and some of them were never even released. Also, this is the 3rd "version" to the 3ds since launch. I don't consider the 2ds as an upgrade (since it wasn't, it was a downgrade) in the same sense as other hardware releases in the past. There were 3 GBA's, 3 DS's, and now "3" 3DS's. If we see another upgraded version before the system is done, then I think we have a problem. This seems like the Nintendo of the last 14 years.

@octaslash: you need both systems to be of the same region( North America and Europe are seperare regions) you need them both at the same time to do system transfer.

And here I thought Nintendo had to have learned its lesson regarding confusing naming of their products.

I'll wait for the New New 3DS that has a full size second d-pad... You know it's coming!

Nintendo: Japanese for confusing your parents at retail this holiday season.

That right thumb stick is so small. I doubt its going to be comfortable to use, but I think I might still get this so I don't have to you my Circlepad Pro for Monster Hunter anymore.

I don't understand this... why not wait 6mths - 1year and actually release a new handheld? Nintendo really confuses me sometimes. This is the same as, say, going from PS3 to PS3.5... what's the point?

Hm, I really liked the matte surface and overall finish on the DSi, and I'll propably cave in just for that. Also, I've been running down my day 1 3DS a lot, and I really should finally get a XL. The Name is terrible, but damn, I'm sold.

This is great news, but that "New" name is weak.

I just bought a 2DS a week ago and was glad to hear Xenoblade was coming and then it is only for this New 3DS. It is still called 3DS but there will be games that can only run on it and not the old 3DS?! Not confusing at all!

EDIT: I must say that it feel wrong to update the 3DS so early and I wonder if this means most games will not work with the old 3DS or if most games will not take advantage of the new 3DS. The DSi was more powerful than the DS/DSLite but they did not make games that could not be played on the regular DS and DS Lite.

EDIT2: I get a video game console because I know it will last me 5+ years and then this happen. This reminds me of the "new iPad" that came out a while ago (I think most people ended up calling it iPad 3?) If I want to buy new hardware every year I would buy a tablet. So stupid of Nintendo when the 3DS was just gaining steam to come out with a new console. Unless they will continue to support the old version with only a handful of titles being exclusive to the new version.

@m2cks: 4 years actually. By the time this arrives here, it will have been 4 years since the 3DS launch

@chicken008:

So like the Game Boy Color?