I'm stoked about the 3DS XL announcement. Granted, I honestly thought it would take longer than a year from the system's release to reach this point, but all I can say is that a better Nintendo handheld experience is a better Nintendo handheld experience. So when Shigeru Miyamoto says that the current hardware is perfect for what the N has in store, (and this is still the same hardware, just bigger,) I'll trust him.

Seriously though, everyone keeps talking about how much of a let down it is that the 3ds doesn't have two analog sticks. Here's why I am not on board with that argument:

I can count the number of 3ds games that use the circle pad pro on one hand. I can count the amount of GOOD games that use the circle pad pro on less than that. When Nintendo starts to push the idea that a second analog stick is crucial to their handheld experience, that is when we should get serious about it. You could make the argument that it would improve the ease of manuverability of the camera, and on a game like "Kid Icarus" I would be inclined to agree. As a majority though, most DS through current 3DS games have gotten along swimmingly with the hardware provided. I don't believe there has ever been a time in my DS experience where I thought to myself: "Hey! You know what would make this better?'Nother stick!"A major problem here is developers not knowing how to utilize this idea of a second stick in a way that would be enjoyable I think. A lot of the DS success has been based off of what already works. So in theory, I could use the argument "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I wont though. That's silly.

So like I said, Once Nintendo thinks it's a necessity, then I'll be right behind them. They've never led me astray before

Oh... Yeah...

And the xbox 360 interface didnt absolutely suck?

I'm serious. The interface now makes me angry enough to consider stopping all together.

Not only do I have to spend unnecessary time navigating extra menus; menus that used to be a simple task that has become daunting, but I have to put up with the failure of a metro UI. It's like Microsoft just wants to slap us all in the face. They updated the blade with a UI that wasn't even terrible. One that should have stuck. The avatar system wasn't even that bad, (although it was a blantant money novelty) but even THAT is now a useless feature given the amount of navigation you have to do just to see other peoples avatars. Not only that, but I now pay 10 dollars more a year than I did back then, and I have to sit there and take ridiculous amounts of advertisements. Advertisements that should NOT exist on a service I am paying a premium for. GET IT TOGETHER XBOX!

Check out what I found in the Gamecube rack at Gamestop! I figured that at this point there wouldn't be nothing but sports games now that lamestop has stopped taking trade ins, but I was quite surprised at the selection still available. They still had things like Double Dash, Gale of Darkness, Baton Kaitos, and Melee. I can't think of a better way to follow a trip to the Chinese food buffet than to stumble upon something this awesome.

 So I was at gamestop today looking around. I've been missing the old Game Boy Advance days very much. You know, back when Nintendo made portable games that were fun to play because they were a good game? Not because they had a nifty touch feature. That's not a bash on Nintendo, dont worry.. I am probably the biggest Nintendo fanboy you will ever meet. Anyway, I was looking at some of their pre owned stuff and I noticed a nifty little item that I never really got around to.  
 

I really wish there was a way I could link my blogs. I write on my 1up blog but don't want to abandon it. Any ideas would be helpful!