The Shrine

Before I get into details on the 3DS XL, some other related announcements were made on the Nintendo channel too:

1. Two Smash Brothers games are in the works, Nintendo has brought in key developers from Namco's Tales, Soul Calibur, and Tekken teams.

2. Nintendo now co-owns the Fatal Frame franchise. This is mostly interesting because it is another step in the Nintendo relationship with Tecmo Koei. This thread opens some speculation on that: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=478981

3. Animal Crossing 3D, Professor Layton: Mask of Miracles, and Fire Emblem Awakening are first half of 2013 for the West (that's a long ass development time on Animal Crossing, it was among the first 3DS titles revealed to be in development).

Now for the 3DS XL

There haven't been any other real upgrades, there's a slight boost in battery life, and it contains a 5 inch top screen and a 4.2 inch bottom screen. It is launching the same day as New Super Mario Brothers 2 and Brain Age 3D - August 19th, at $199 ($30 more than 3DS).




This probably won't fit in your pocket.

Where the fuck is my 2nd thumbstick.

Anarky wrote:Where the fuck is my 2nd thumbstick.

On the Vita. Which, btw, i have heard next to nothing about lately. Are the sales ridiculously poor?

Anarky wrote:Where the fuck is my 2nd thumbstick.

This.

I don't think Nintendo feels its necessary.

There is currently an attachment that offers a secondary analog stick, but the only games that really benefit from it are games ported from home console (MGS3 and Monster Hunter 3G); while other games that have it as an option don't see any improvement (RE:R), or actually suffer from the interface (Kid Icarus Uprising left play). There are also already 18 million 3DSs with the single analog interface out there, so games will be designed around that interface; the 3DS XL is designed to be a larger version of handheld which features that same interface.

If Nintendo wants to add to the 3DS interface, it is likely they would release a standard sized model with that addition first. My gut says the interface probably won't see any changes this generation; but they might do a half-generation upgrade like the DSi, which may include a second analog stick.

Flip wrote:

Anarky wrote:Where the fuck is my 2nd thumbstick.

On the Vita. Which, btw, i have heard next to nothing about lately. Are the sales ridiculously poor?

Oh yeah. They were under 10k weekly sales in Japan, where the PSP was dominant, for a couple months until last week, when it took a decent-sized release to push them into 5-digits (if I remember, I believe it only went up to 13k as well). By comparison, the 3DS is generally well over 30k.

Really, the PSV is just an impressive piece of hardware right now, nothing more. There's is no reason to buy it on any level. Is there a killer PS3-PSV linked game you need? No. Is there a great game for it? Well, depends on your definition of "great" but nothing universal, no. Is there a large selection of good games? Not at all, I'd have a hard time getting more than 3 games for it and I'm a collector. Other media options? Non-existent.

One thing Sony seems to not get: gaming on handhelds and consoles is different. Their big PR push for the PSV is that it's just like your console but on the go. No one wants that regardless of how much you try to convince them otherwise. People generally want pick-up-and-play on a handheld or to reminisce old-school with a lower hardware price point (please, leave your "this is why smartphones will eventually replace handhelds" comments out, we don't want to overtake this thread with that argument). Right now, the PSV is actually more expensive than the PS3 if you take into account the fact that the PS3 for the same price comes with games and you have to spend exorbitant amounts just to save games or any sort of media on the PSV. It's a retarded consumer model which is why they're struggling so much.

That's why it's so puzzling that Nintendo didn't just include the second stick with the 3DS XL. They have Sony on the ropes completely and that's before they even release the PSP's saviour, Monster Hunter 4. The second stick would eliminate any possible hardware "advantage" the PSV might have. And they've already admitted the need for it in some cases with the release of the Circle Pad Pro. Just silly on Nintendo's part, just another short-sighted decision from them. This seems to be the norm over the last year or so.

And make no mistake about it, Monster Hunter took the PSP from nothing to dominant. They desperately need another one of those and there's no rumours of anything anywhere.