Nintendo Reveals "New" 3DS With Updated CPU

I want one but having just bought a 3ds xl last year pretty much means that's not gonna happen. I just can't justify that...

the nub reeks of Thinkpad.

2xdual joysticks. EVERY FINGER A FISHHOOK JOYSTICK

Well I was going to be replacing my XL since the hinges keep cracking the case but I think I might wait now to get one of those.

This is going to be confusing and it's never good to split your base like this.

You're definitely right, but I think there's things they could do to fix that with sizing and scale like the old Gameboy player on SNES.

It might make more sense for them to just make a proper 3DS player as a WiiU attachment though.

Damn those colored buttons are tastefully playful!

Welcome at Nintendo, where consumer confusion is our main goal.

If the "new" 3DS would be able to push games to 60 FPS while in 3D, I'd be willing to upgrade, but I'm almost positive that's not gonna happen. I'd also be pleasantly surprised if this thing supported Miibos out of the box and not require you to buy additional hardware for that functionality, when it comes, but that's also probably not gonna happen.

Both handhelds on the market are frustratingly under-powered at the moment so it's good to see the hardware being iterated on, but I have this terrible feeling that the increase in processing power is going to be minimal at best. My doomsday prophecy is that even with the updated CPU, it's still gonna struggle with Xenoblade.

As someone who bought the original non-XL 3DS, I could see the "new" XL being a semi-justified upgrade, especially if the additional processing power doesn't actually impact the battery life, which is one of the reasons to get an XL to begin with.

This really should have been put off another 6 months and just been a whole new handheld. Not only are they fragmenting big time, they're doing it in the most confusing way possible.

I do think many of the changes are good, but I'm not sure some of the input changes should have been jammed into the current form-factor instead of just put on a whole new design. Time will tell; it'll be interesting to see how it does in JP.

Yeah, more buttons will make it better.

Was hoping i could come to GB for a good news story about this, but I guess Patrick can't be bothered cuz Pax.

I'll pick this up...if my existing 3DS breaks or is lost.

With the amount of handheld games I buy relative to PC and consoles, it's hard to justify simply upgrading. I still want to get a Wii U at some point, upgrade my PC, and a PS4 (if I get a lot more money, somehow), so a new 3DS is pretty low on my list right now.

I don't care about anything negative the Internet has to say about this. I want one now... 2015 is too far away :(

Due to the way and pace electronics move, yes this 2015 is too far and too late. :)

Nintendo has a track record of releasing handheld consoles late Q1-Q2. So hopefully we can expect the new one in the spring!

I'm pretty sure that's what built-in NFC means.

I'm gonna wait for the "new" 3DS XL deluxe turbo...

or a new Metroid game for 3DS, whichever comes first.

Straight up, fuck this. I just bought a 3ds XL a year ago and now that shits gonna be outdated?

How likely is an upgrade program?

Gutted. I bought a 2DS around 3 months ago. I don't fancy buying dlc for handheld consoles.

(that makes no sense but it also makes sense completely)

Well, I guess I'm glad I never bought a 3DS.

I paid $300 for one just last year, after games had FINALLY come out for it, and expected to be able to play games for the next five years, NOT be offered another thing exactly twelve months after my purchase.

Not all of us are well-off enough to jump in on every new wave and iteration of things we love.

Oh man, they should really announce a new handheld device instead of updating the 3ds to the point where not all games can be played on all 3dses. Next thing, you will need to purchase a big adapter with extra buttons and a new touchpad.

Nintendo seriously need to fire the guy who comes up with the name for their consoles.

CPU upgrade seems very strange. My only guess is that there trying to keep up with the cell phone gaming market. Whats next a better CPU in the Wii U?!

I gave Nintendo a pass on the Wii name but for fucks sake since then I think they are just determined to cause confusion with their naming strategy. Though part of me would like to think that this is Nintendo trolling everyone that has been clamoring that they must have a new system in 2015 to survive. I thought the new was in quotation marks for a minute, which would have been even better. So is this like the N64 jumper pack, but instead you have to buy the whole system again?

3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS, New 3DS, New 3DS XL. Should have come up with a new name for this, especially with the software split coming from it. I feel bad for all the retail people who will have to explain this clusterfuck of a product-line to the moms and dads who are not games enthusiasts.

Oh good, the Expansion Pak.

Should have just announced this with Majora's Mask 3d.

What the fuck Nintendo, you trying to kick consumers in the head?

@andrewb: Most people upgraded to XL when that came out, and a lot of people have gotten their 3DS's and XLs once it made sense to do so (a year or two into its life) when game library actually made it worth it. I personally have had the 3DS XL for a year and a half, and it will be probably close to 3 years of ownership by the time this new one comes to NA. However I am still unhappy about this. I think its stupid for them to fragment their audience, and even though money isnt a problem, I am not going to be buying this just based on principle, its a mediocre upgrade, Ill hold off for 4DS or knowing nintendo the "new, new, new 3DS" which will be backwards compatible with all this nonsense just like 3DS is compatible with DSi

Yeah, I considered it too, but ended up buying an cheap original DS instead, since I have plenty of GBA games I'd want to play. Seems like the right choice in hindsight.

So weird.

Can't wait for its final form.

hmmmmm new CPU...... hmmmmm, Honestly I was always asking for a longer battery life more then anything else..... but still the CPU is more interesting then a right analog stick which I'd use for only 2 games I own on my favorite system.

Well, thank goodness I bought that 3DS XL last year!

Looks like they could of put a full sized slide pad on the right instead of that tiny one, kinda want to get my hands on it and see how it feels. Dumb name, but I might upgrade since I still have the og 3ds and whenever I play it after using my vita it just seems so damn tiny. Definitely didn't see this coming.

I did buy a 3DS XL last year, but I don't think there should be as much panic about this as there is.

The Xenoblade port and extra buttons makes it clear what this is. I guess if you're into portable ports of older games, then you'd want this thing.

However, it would be pretty dumb for anyone making a new game for the 3DS to make it exclusive to the "new 3DS". So as long as the new stuff coming out is still compatible with my XL, I'm not gonna panic.

Cool, nice to see them still pushing 3DS.

I haven't bought a 3DS and I'm thinking the exact same thing. The 3DS is the friggin Goku of systems. "What do you mean there's yet ANOTHER form of Super Saiyan?! I just got this one!"

Apart from almost everything about this being ridiculous and finding it so frustrating they are doing this instead of getting some of the good games from the last few years actually on 3DS, I will say as someone currently on my second Thinkpad right now (and it's not that old.. 2.5GHz core i5 with a ssd) I'm a huge fan of the thinkpad nub and I still use it exclusively over the trackpad. If that thing is like a thinkpad nub then that is possibly a very clever move. The thinkpad nub, once you get used to it, is faster and more accurate than a trackpad (cough*steamcontroller*cough) and small enough to get out of the way of the face buttons.

Now that I've started thinking about it I'm 100% sure a thinkpad nub will be nicer to use/faster/more accurate than the 3DS left thumbstick which I'm not a big fan of, and possibly even better than a better thumbstick like a 360 pad stick.

But Nintendo still sucks (I say sitting next to my 3DS XL and infront of my TV that still has my original SNES connected with 35 games ready to play)

That weird stick thing looks like a chore to use. But hey, cradle that bad boy in a circle pad pro case and get ready for a new era of triple joystick gaming?

YUP

Until they ship a 3DS with a higher resolution screen, I'll pass.

Updated CPU thats required for new games? WTF? Assholes!

wait, so is this a new console? Or is it like when there was the new Xbox 360? Cos more buttons and a better CPU suggests it's a completely different system.

Might as well call it 3DS2 since its going to split the player base

How many 3DS's will they come up with?

What's that you say?

Nintendo are releasing a new console?

Which is a minor upgrade of the previous one?

And it's creating confusion?

I'm shocked.

Could this herald the arrival of a "new" WiiU as well?