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Nintendo: 3DS XL’s Increased Battery Life More Important Than Second Circle Pad

According to Nintendo UK’s Ben Taylor, Nintendo was going to add a second circle pad to the Nintendo 3DS XL but ultimately decided that the increased battery life was more important. The increased battery life of the Nintendo 3DS XL would have been affected if a second circle pad was fixed onto the system. Would you rather have an increased battery life or a second circle pad?

There is, however, no second thumbstick. Many are calling this an oversight on Nintendo’s part. Is it something you might consider in future revisions?

Ben Taylor: “We did review the possibility of the second controller, but we felt that increased battery life was really important to players, and this would have been affected if we had introduced one. It would also have made the console a lot bigger and bulkier.”

“Importantly, the majority of games, for instance the likes of Mario Kart 7 or Super Mario 3D land, don’t benefit from the second controller. A second circle pad peripheral is in development for the 3DS XL which can be used for titles such as Resident Evil Revelations.”

147 thoughts on “Nintendo: 3DS XL’s Increased Battery Life More Important Than Second Circle Pad”

      1. I agree there isn’t really need for a 2nd analog (and the ZL and ZR buttons) because few games use it. And if it was included it’d be useless and the games run fine without the 2nd pad

      2. wow, jackass much? people play differently, everyones open to their own wants and opinions, personally i wouldve gone for the second circle pad, it wouldnt be used much but i still usually play around an outlet so i charge it. sometimes battery powers a pain, and they went the right way focusing on that, but dont get pissy knowing that not all people play portables on the go.

        1. yea i see what you are saying. But the gyro and touch screen works much better IMO. The majority who uses the 3ds is ok with just the one circle pad.

          Resident evil plays better with the gyro than the circle pad. I shouldn’t have bought that. I had more fun and fright without the circle pad.

          Maybe kingdom hearts 3d works better with it. I aint lying I think it will. But I prefer without still so am cool and alot of gamers are.

        2. “but dont get pissy knowing that not all people play portables on the go.”
          that’s the purpose of the 3ds, its suppose to be portable no matter what, it purpose it to take it with U, use it anywhere to outside to indoors. It has to do what a console can’t do.

          1. sorry, im not a big enough nerd to bring my video games everywhere. hahahah, not hating, just saying. yeah your right, portables are meant for on the go, and back when i had my gba sp i took it everywhere.

            1. Lol, what’s really funny is the size. We’re all talking about how it’s “portable”, but is it supposed to fit in a pocket or what?

    1. Same here havent missed it at all.. especially when playing resident evil revelations… that game was sick as it was out of the box without the CPpro

    1. but wii are talking about PORTABLE CONSOLE, mean its about take it everywhere, that’s why battery its necessary. imagine that your smartphone has to pick battery or control, and if pick control the battery is like 2 hrs.

      1. Dude calm down its just what their choice is, everybody is allowed to want something different you keep trying to convince everybody that wanting a 2nd pad is bad.

        1. im not saying it 2cp is bad im saying that adding 2cp its overdoing it. if they add 2cp in xl without no improve battery and developer are making exclusive games on the XL; that’s not a revision or a remodel, that’s a whole new system, and think about the consumer who bought the 3ds on day one, and they can’t play these games due to 2cp required (mandatory not optional).

          1. It doesn’t matter if you bought it day one thats the risk of buying something early. Thats like the people who bought the original PS3 and screamed about how its unfair for Sony to release a slim model.

      2. I know it’s portable, but when it comes to time where I can play my 3DS outside of my home, it’s normally a few hours at most. And most of the time I will still have an outlet near by. I understand your point, but this is my personal opinion.

        P.S. I hate phones. I almost never use mine.

      3. That’s the most retarded comparsion I’ve heard. Besides, the 3DSs battery lasts longer than 2 hours. Means, your comment was nothing but a waste of space.

    1. Precisely. They can’t seem to keep their reasons straight. There is like, 30 minutes extra. Really not worth it.

      1. You don’t realize the flip side do you? The circle pad pro has a AA battery, so it DRAINS battery. So, if implemented within the system, it would drain the power more so. Since it is built in you couldn’t ‘turn it off’ it would decrease the battery life, leaving the XL with a worse battery life of the original.

        1. Besides what good is having an extra circle pad if it’s not being used most of the time its pointless. And the 3DS already has a gyrosensor. It’s better to have the Circle Pad Pro has an add on.

          1. Devs would begin to utilize it then, it doesn’t HAVE to be used, but I think it would be great to have it included onthere.

        2. Actually, it uses a AAA and it lasts for about 450 hours when not in use. Barely a significant drain on the battery.

          1. Key phrase is not in use… the 3DS battery lasts weeks when it’s not use (probably months, but don’t want to overshoot it; also ‘not in use’ refers to off and not in standby/sleep mode). Point is that becomes a new piece to drain the battery whether it’s on or off.

            1. Either way, the drain is minimal. Think that the CPP needs to keep a constant IR connection to the 3DS as well. With it all integrated, you’ll barely lose any noticeable battery life.

    2. One of the ign editors says the battery life is very noticeable he didn’t do an actual test but he said it lasted a concise able about more.

  1. Well, in my opinion, that’s bullshit. Having a second circle pad would have been much, much better I guess.

        1. fanboys can say all they want in the end its all up to consumer who decided who buys what.
          fanboys will say they will buy it in this price but that’s a big lie. when it comes out they will find every reasons not to buy it.

          1. isnt there a limit to how many comments you can post within a time limit? jesus… im not here to read your opinion in every second comment….

      1. Consumers? Please, stop acting like Nintendo asked their consumers what choice to make at this and accept the fact that people can have something called “opinions”.
        But of course, since you’re a moronic fanboy you’ll be happy with every single decision Nintendo makes. You’re only here to kiss their ass to an unbelievable extent, after all. Grow some balls and learn to have a REAL opinion over things instead of liking every single shit Nintendo does. Not only on this issue, but on every single issue I saw you commenting on this site.

  2. U serious Nintendo? You pass up on something that everyone has been begging for and barely increase its battery life instead? Personally, I don’t really care about the extra B. Life, since I always charge my 3DS when I’m not using it- so it’s almost always fully charged… even though the battery isn’t that great. I’m honestly kind of mad.

    1. I think it’s only the trolls who are. Anyone with any sense would know that the XL would have a minuscule amount of power if the battery weren’t larger, and that 2 CPs are only used in about 4 games.

      1. exactly, plus the battery is right below the A,B,X,Y buttons so adding 2cp there, they will also have to make 3ds XL even more larger than it is so the battery has room to breath.

      1. peteriuss evil twins clone

        Remember back then when Nintendo first announced 3DS XL and they went like, “Oh, where is the second pad? WHY NINTENDO?!” Remember how they wanting the 2nd pad on their chat during the conference?

        1. remember also that 3ds XL is not a replacement for original 3ds due to it can’t be standard anymore due to 18 million sales.
          this is not a Sega situation that U are force to buy Sega CD, 32x, for only those few good games.

  3. I am the most superior Troll you fanboys have ever encountered! I am greater than Peteriuss! (Which was my goal in life)

    I live because you feed me!

    AND FIRST!!

    1. You’re a clone of me. Some stupid fanboy impersonator.
      And you’re not first.
      So many morons on this site.

  4. “increased battery life was really important to players”
    “[a second circle pad] would also have made the console a lot bigger and bulkier”

    Please explain to me how that is quantity over quality. Please.

    1. derp. This was supposed to be a reply.
      But to add on to what I was saying above, I hope you all realize that about seven 3DS games currently use the second circle pad, a couple of those which aren’t even available outside of Japan. So if you’re going to complain about not having a second circle pad, at least realize that the majority of the 3DS’ library doesn’t even use it to begin with.

  5. The battery life is not even a drastic change. If I want better battery life I’d rather buy the pack then have to buy that stupid accessory circle pad! The XL wouldn’t have forced ANYONE to upgrade with the addition of the second circle pad. All it was is the circle pad accessory added onto the device itself. Also, if I am correct. The games that use the circle pad accessory still work without it! I don’t get why they didn’t put one on, it would have catered to a larger market and made game play much easier!

      1. You can tell yourself that but it is, no whatever what you want to believe its a upgrade. Better screens (less glare), better buttons (Home, Select, Start), better 3d, better feel (round edges), better battery, and I can name a lot more.

        1. well this itself is not forcing people to upgrade, like there nothing on the XL that’s is exclusive to the 3ds, it just there for people who want a bigger screen and bigger everything, if Xl had 2cp it would make it better that 3ds itself.

  6. They didn’t add a second stick because that would be a fu to the 3ds owners.
    Plus it would be sega 32x than Saturn all over again. Having some new in 1 year that would be more efficient than the previous. Developers would see the second stick and think they can make games just for it.

  7. bad move, COULD OF THEN BEEN USED AS XTRA WII U PAD THOUGH WOULD HAVE MADE IT TWO CONSOLES AS WELL AS TO CONFIRM THEY GOT THE DESIGN (caps off lol) wrong. man raaaaa, yay more battary though (no)

  8. WelI I have never run out of battery with the 3DS and I take it on like ever trip with me and play it all the time. I dont think battery life is a problem with the 3DS we have RIGHT NOW. So adding the the extra circle pad might have been a better option…but then again I dont need the circle pad pro cuz I am a righty. So…idk too bad they couldnt add both lol!

  9. I’am honestly very upset to hear Nintendo’s ill sighted decision to choose a SLIGHTLY increased battery life by 1 extra hour…ONE FREAKING HOUR more than the 3DS which still isn’t close to enough playtime over adding a 2nd analog stick which EVERYBODY DEMANDED FOR AND THE XL WAS MORE THAN LIKELY POSSIBLE TO SUPPORT BOTH! Great going at listening to your loyal gaming community Nintendo. Now this makes all of us including me to think twice about throwing $200 in their faces for an overly grown waste of time excuse for a 3DS “upgrade” with a dual screen with blown up resolution and VERY barely altered battery life. I’m beginning to have doubts about the Wii U handling on its own ground due to the “slow CPU” argument I heard about. Might as well stay with my iPad 3 for gaming. Goodbye Nintendo…

    1. The 3DSxl is NOT meant to be a replacement but an alternative to the 3ds. It is made for older people who have trouble playing on small screens which I assume you have not.

      Also the slow CPU thing is debatued as some developers are happy with it when some are not. It might have to do with that they developed on an early dev kit or that they’ve not learned to optimize the hardware yet. So I am not worried about the Wii U. But I AM indeed disappointed in the 3DSxl.

      1. its not a “replacement” you can still play games that use a second circle pad without it. Do you really think that if the XL had one that all games wouldn’t support it without a second circle pad when there is 19 million who have a 3DS without a second one? If people want to get a second circle pad they could just buy the accessory for their 3DS.

    2. People like you make a big deal out of small things like this. ><

      Imagine if there was a second Circle Pad. It'd be like the DS Phat to the DS Lite again because the DS Lite was pretty much better, which phased the DS Phat out. The point of the 3DS XL is to not replace the original, because if it did, that would make the original obsolete, which can pressure people to buy an XL because the original doesn't serve any more purpose. Also, it's not an upgrade, but merely a larger version of the original with slightly large battery life, which was one of Nintendo's priority to make out of. At this point, not all games need a second analogue, so why put one in when you can optionally buy a separate accessory for your game of choice? And according to Iwata, adding a second Circle Pad would mean a smaller battery, which means the unit would have to be bigger in order to fit the battery in, which means there's no point of an XL version if that was the case.

  10. I have zero use for a second circle pad– what does everyone think they’re going to be playing with it? But this is still a sort of a weird answer. The new 3DS is LESS portable, it’s built for playing on your couch rather than taking along in your pocket. Battery life really doesn’t seem like it’s as major an issue with this.

    1. actually people are reporting that is actually more portable since it’s flatter than the original 3ds so it fits on you pockets.

        1. Well i didnt buy an original 3DS, so it makes sense for me to buy an XL.
          Again, its only an alternative. Other than a larger screen an slightly bigger battery, its the same thing

          1. that’s what im trying to say is not an upgrade rather than a 2nd choice for consumer to pick.
            everybody wins, except those fanboys who like to have 2cp to slap vita fanboys, even thought there not a lot of games that support 2cp.

  11. I don’t mind, as long as the CCP for the XL is released relatively soon. I’m not buying an XL until I can play RE Revelations properly.

    I did play the XL with Mario Kart today at a demo stand in HMV today, and I am very impressed by the size difference of the screen. Will be getting one once the CCP XL comes out.

    1. that’s pretty much it what Kevinkool123 said also it come with a 4gb with xl, but im using a 8gb on my 3ds so…
      my point is xl is not mean to be a replacement for 3ds original rather than a second choice for consumers, like vita and vita WiFi + 3g or i pad and i pad 16gb.

      1. peteriuss evil twins clone

        Of course, everyone is happy with their handheld, even mine in original. If they want to go with XL, they can go with it so they’ll be happy with their XL, as well as we are.

  12. could care less about a second pad. the only 3ds game I played that had that as an option was re revelations. which plays perfectly without it. the battery life increase better be high.

  13. the talk time for my droid phone is only 4-1/2hrs. I have to use the juice defender app to make it last the day. the battery life sucks because I thought I would need a physical keyboard. I only used it for a couple times and wished I bought a phone with good battery life :/

    1. atleast you got a smartphone, i gotta wait till NEXT YEAR to get a new phone, im stuck with a basic flip phone. While everyone else (siblings) have a iphone, just because im 4 years younger, im FUCKING 15 i know how to care for a item!

  14. To tell you the truth, I think the 2nd Circle Pad was unnecessary for the 3DS XL.

    Considering the fact it’s more of an add-on, and, right now, 4 games currently support a 2nd Circle Pad (Kid Icarus: Uprising, Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, and Resident Evil: Revelations), going with extended battery life rather than a 2nd Circle Pad was a more viable option.

    Now, if we had more games, including the aforementioned above, that supported the Circle Pad Pro, then the 2nd Circle Pad would have been included as well as the extended battery life.

    1. and before anyone begins to thread this, yes, I understand that a 2nd Circle Pad will affect the battery life of the system, which would have Nintendo resort to having a more powerful battery for the system.

          1. Yeah lol. Well it wasnt like i was gonna play the RE games. And if it DID have 2 circle pads, then that would piss off the people who got the original 3ds first

                1. I agree with the both of you. Pretty much the majority of Nintendo players have the 3DS; and the majority of THAT majority is probably not willing to get rid of their current 3DS in favor of the 3DS XL.

          1. just saying, try something random instead like…
            why does Aeolus pic look like a weed discuses as a Christmas tree? or
            one day when i get animal crossing 3ds im going to name my town either virusville or herpesland.

  15. Pingback: Nintendo 3DS XL - Page 110 - Nintendo 3DS Forums

  16. NOT relelvant to the topic:

    But just wondering, if any of you guys tried the Wii U, just wanted to know, is everything on the screen stretched out? Kinda like the dsi XL, and was wondering if like the pixels show TOO much while gameplay?

    1. Technically it would be shrunk down, seeing as the defult display for WiiU games is a tv.
      Games will look pretty damn nice on the pad screen, even though its not HD, jaggys will be small, less noticable. GC and VC games will look better on the smaller screen, no streched pixels

      1. “Games will look pretty damn nice on the pad screen, even though its not HD”

        NOT HD!?

        And yeah, didnt think of that LOL. I just thought of reolution of the gamepad and stuff

  17. I think because of the fact it’s only been a year after the first 3DS, especially with the price drop, a second circle pad would have annoyed early adopters (and rightly so). An XL console that doesn’t bring anything new but simply provides the option of a bigger screen for those who need it is fine at any point in the life of a console imo, and seeing as the battery life of the original 3DS was ridiculous, it would be stupid to have a bigger brighter screen running on the same battery…

  18. giving the XL a second circle pad would omly create more division in controll options for the 3DS. The original with 1 analog and 2 shoulder buttons, the original with attachment giving it 2 analogs and 4 shoulder buttons, and finally the XL with 2 analogs and 2 shoulder buttons. Unless, of course, nintendo found a way to incorporate 4 shoulder buttons on the XL, in which case I would trade up on day 1.

  19. So why hasn’t the 3DS got any shooters yet? second circle pad is more important, the 3DS XL has only 30 minutes extra battery life.

    1. PSVita will get all of the shooters, with the better graphics, real online multiplayer, and a proper second stick.

      1. ^ what he said…
        Not dissing the 3ds, i own and play both regularly… but the Vita is really the only choice if you’re a shooter fan…

  20. They marketed as a portable console, yet they bring console games on this. And take the away the ability to jump into a game with the useless added on features. What I’m saying is, why the fuck would you not add both?

    1. See, this is why I invested in a PSVita.

      They try to put console-style games on the 3DS, yet they all turn out to be hampered by single analog.

      Imagine RE:Revelations with better graphics, better online and dual sticks…

      1. Imagine RE:Revelations with the best graphics, the best online and the best controls…

        It’s now a PC game. Why not skip the middleman?

              1. Fanboy definition? Fanyboy of what, exactly?
                Are you honestly saying a handheld’s specs/online experience/controller settings can compare to a PC?

                1. ‘marginal’ difference? between Vita and 3DS? screw the ‘gimped’ comment, the key point here is that you’re deluded enough to believe the difference between these 2 machines is only ‘marginal’

                  Sorry mister fanboy, but the vita is a more powerful machine, from a technical standpoint, it’s just better…

  21. If anything, I’m glad it doesn’t have a 2nd cp, because then some developers would develop games using 2 circle pads, meaning anyone with a normal 3ds would have to use the circle pad pro, and the console wouldn’t exactly be portable.
    Why don’t people get that?

  22. Pingback: Nintendo 3DS XL: Era más importante aumentar el tiempo de la batería, que el segundo CirclePad. | GamerFocus.CO

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  24. Battery ftw, i dont like running out of battery when im playing outside my house, also having a little more battery for streetpass and spotpass functions is really handy, 1 analog stick is enough for me, i play more ds games than 3ds games tbh

  25. I don’t either miss a 2nd cp, but if the “extended” battery life is the reason to not include it, i’m kinda disapointed.. It’s only like 30 mins more juice :(

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