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Nintendo Japan Reveals New Nintendo 3DS Model And New Nintendo 3DS XL

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During today’s Japan only Nintendo Direct the company revealed that they have two new models for the Nintendo 3DS. They include enhanced 3D viewing, a second circle pad, and better battery life. Here’s the details about the new and improved models.

3ds_new_back

  • Better 3D
  • Second stick
  • NFC built-in
  • Coloured buttons
  • More buttons
  • Better battery (up to 7h)
  • Now compatible with microSDCard
  • You can back up data on your PC via wireless.
  • Browser improved, now works with HTML5
  • CPU improved, makes browsing Miiverse / eShop much faster.
  • Can switch designs now (covers)

Thanks to those who sent this in

128 thoughts on “Nintendo Japan Reveals New Nintendo 3DS Model And New Nintendo 3DS XL”

    1. Why did they ever make DVDs when they now can make Blurays… It’s called advances in technology. They couldn’t do those things before because it would of cost more and/or the technology just wasn’t there yet.

        1. The stick is not really the advancement here, is the wider 3D range and the larger battery life, plus a better CPU and a compact design. And the 3DS is 3 years old since February/March 2014.

          1. Could this not have been possible three years ago? If it couldn’t have, then it is true technological advancement.

            1. friedriceandkamehameha

              It would’ve been more expensive, at the very least. The 3DS launched at a pretty steep price, even with a specialized CPU from 2005. Now that the tech is cheaper, it’s like a GB to GBC upgrade

                  1. No, not a GBA to SP. There were literally no more enhancements between the two. It IS like the GB to GBC, but instead of graphics being updated, it’s the processor being upgraded.

            2. The wider 3D couldn’t, as the technology is still in development, the other things were possible 3 years ago but were a lot more expensive. The 3DS was already $250 at launch, with these enhancements it would be +$300 at launch, way too much, now the technology is cheaper and it can be released as a new model with a reasonable price.

      1. Actually it’s called planned obsolescence. Things are made to be replaced and to have longer sales life cycle.

          1. Yes it is. Nintendo already had technology to do that but they did a 3ds version withouth all these features so that it would become obsolete in some years. And that’s what happenned.

      1. You and me both, bro. I feel like I purchased that Zelda 3DS for zero reason what so ever. Like, I seriously feel like an idiot for buying anything related to Nintendo.

        1. I don’t know about you, but I bought my 3DS DAY ONE. I endured the first year game drought like a fucking idiot, and this is what I get in return. It was bad enough when they announced the 3DS XL, but this is a whole new level of fuckery. Never again.

        2. So when Sony has done the same shit but more frequently with PSP, its suddenly not a problem anymore is it? Or how about the same phones, tablets and PCs you buy on occasions? This goes for any form of technology and any and all companies do this. They’re not forcing you to upgrade. The option is always there when you need and wanted to.

          Jesus Christ you people are un-fucking-believable attacking. Nintendo like if they’re the only ones who do this and always rip you off. This is just how the technology market is. Either have the patience to accept it and wait for something else that caters your needs or shut it.

          1. Sony never did this with the PSP. The PSP never received this type of pseudo-Next-genification; it was all mainly aesthetic and screen modifications.

    2. Because they adapt and make the 3ds system better. God forbid they make their system better as the years of technology advance.

        1. Yes it is. It’s exclusive to the new 3DS. It can’t be played on the old one. This whole upgrade is sort of like the expansion pak which was required for a few N64 games.

  1. What a way to screw over existing 3DS owners, especially when the Xenoblade is only going to be playable on this ”new” 3DS… terrible name btw.

        1. Geee, thanks for the news captain obvious, I have to agree but then again, would people still buy it if it was a whole new name?

          Lets try it. Nintendo announces the new and never heard of before the nontendo 4ds sp!

          “what the fuck is a nontendo”?

          The new revolutionary video game of the future, starring Mario, link and king K. Rool with donkey kong and friends!

          “fuck this, not buying it because I don’t know it that well”.

          Introducing the new playground station 26, play all of you favorite games from playstation and more, like how to view more 3d tv without the 3d tv.

          “WHY IN THE FUCK WOULD I WANT THAT”?!

          See, doesn’t work so well does it captain obvious?

    1. There will be an optional trade in at your local game store. It’s not screwing us over at all. You might have to pay an extra, maybe 30 dollars but when I traded in my DSLite I got $120 put toward my 3DS. The rumored price of this is 160-188 dollars.

  2. Will you be able to do the system transfer from one 3DS to the other with these new models? Id love to purchase one but only if all my hard work on my original 3DS xl can be transfered

  3. Wait… I knew everything which you have written above… But you can swap the the cover?? JEEZ THAT’S AWESOME!
    Gonna get both, “New” 3DS XL and “New” 3DS.

    I just dislike the name really, really, really, really, really…8hours later…., really, really, really much….

    Nintendo should learn to give innovative names.. In my opinion, “Gamecube” just was the best Name.

    1. For the size. If they made a mother pad, they would have to extend the ds and it be uncomfortable for you right hand to play with

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  5. ‘You can back up data on your PC via wireless.’

    it will be hacked to play pirate games within the 1st week x-x

    but yes this looks fantastic. i was gonna start saving up for an XL at the start of next year so woopy

  6. I’m definitely getting this if it’s coming outside Japan. Especially since the stupid L button on my 3DS is broken!

      1. More like “how long did it take to break” Nintendo’s biggest flaw with their portables is the fact that their shoulder buttons are so flimsy. Never can you expect for your 3DS to last for 5+ years, even if you are the most careful and delicate with it.

    1. This may sound weird, but it may fix itself if you do this:
      Take half of the L button in your mouth and blow.
      The L button on my nds didn’t work anymore because
      there was dirt in it.

  7. Idk how I feel about this. It seems like a middle finger to previous 3ds owners, but idk. Still getting the 2ds, and then maybe I’ll consider this.

  8. I hope we will be able to grab it in a Pokemon ORAS bundle. That would be just awesome. 3ds is by far my favorite console, an I’m happy to see they want to improve it.

  9. Something to note, the screens are also slight bigger, and the graphics are slightly better.(Source: Japanese Nintendo Direct on the New 3DS)

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  11. Is Nintendo still employing people who have the console design tastes of the 90’s? The thing looks like complete shit, and that second stick… lmao. They’re repeating the exact same mistake which they made with the original Wii’s Classic Controller. The person who thought that the ZR/ZL buttons should be right beside the R/L ones should be fired…

  12. Ah, its ok. So now I give the blue XL to my nephew, keep my animal crossing one and get the new one with xenoblade.

  13. omg, no pls…do you know how much I had to pay in a single 3DS XL in my country???? 500 DOLLARS! FUCK NINTENDO! I WILL NOT HAVE MONEY TO PAY FOR ANOTHER, now I’m totally upset with nintendo, if it comes to us it will cost a fortune in Brazil, FUCKKKKKKKKKKKK

    500 dollars in my month salary…

    1. I REALLY LOVED NINTENDO AND FOUGHT ON OTHERS FOR SAYING PS AND XBOX WERE BETTER.

      If anyone from nintendo would read this blog I wish them to read this entire reply.

      I know what you mean Cindyaa. Bought my 3DS on it´s launch date from amazon, had to pay about 170 dilmas (abou t 80 USD) at that time on import taxes, then a few months later they had that price cut of 100USD and gave us those old GBA games as rewards…. I mean, those were good games but c´mon, I have already played them on my old indigo blue GBA (that looks purple to me)……
      I was convinced to leave nintendo and go micro$oft myself. But later on I found my girlfriend playing more than me on my handheld and had to buy another 3ds for her (if I wanted to use mine) on last years holidays.
      We own twelve physical game copies by now (not counting dozens of eshop games).
      Games in our in Brasil are expensive, really expensive, we have 60% import tax on games. When I was just a kid I bought many pirate Snes cartridges and PSone cds, I even managed to unblock my gamecube for burning my games myself. But because as of now I’m a grown man and work for paying my games I promissed myself not to pirate games any more since Wii times. this made me spend lots on nintendo, seriously. I was even thinking of buying an WiiU for the sake of Mario Kart 8 and Wind Waker WiiU as well as getting both Pokémon ORAS as I could play with GF.
      This news here just makes me think of buying flashcarts and forget new games from what once was the Big Nand now is just another company.
      I mean: I was a lil’ pissed when they had the price cut. I got pissed with the circle pad pro (they could have just on the 3ds already have you oppened up yours? there’s so much dead space on it’s PCB…). I got pissed when 3DS XL came to light but as soon as some friends bought theirs I dindn1t like it’s grip, and all in all it was just another “edition” of the 3DS. BUT NOW IT IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STORY. it’s a new console with exclusive games and all…. FUCK NINTENDO.
      Will blow the dust from my old purple GC and play some wind waker and f zero as a good bye, sell my pokemon silver and my game boy zeldas and everything I have that is nintendo related (a big buch of items) on mercadolivre wich is kind of a third world ebay, and gather money to buy an Xbox One, stick Forza 5 on it, and get myself a good wheel and pedals.
      There were a time on my life as a kid that I dreamed of having money for buying nintendo video games and now I have it, bu t I wont spend anymore on Nintendo. There were a time on my life that I ever cosplayed mario….
      Nintendo had an all diferent thinking behind what the company did. They wanted their money as any company do, but they thought of players. They tried their best to deliver the most of any game they released. And they sure delievered the most from any home and handheld console they made. That was the past. Now they are just another Sony, may God help them not to become just another Sega.

      I miss Yamauchi and the early Iwata years.

      I remember great concepts, I remember pokemon red and yellow (didn’t own blue). I remember Wii and DS, I remember Perfect Dark and its rumble packed cartridge on Gameboy Collor, I remember Ocarina of Time and Mario 64, I remember playing Mario Kart on four GBAs with only one cartridge, that sirs, was epic at that time. I Remember BrainAge, MK Double Dash, I remember spending two months of savings on Metroid Prime, and that really had all the value I paid for it. I remember Elite Beat Agents and Aria of Sorrow. WiiSports, the first Just Dance, no more heroes, Trauma Center, I even miss the e-reader…… Oh God, this was once a briliant company.

      1. oh man, I can understand you, but hardly people or nintendo will understand us..
        We are forgotten by those companies and whatever in the world, que unique solution, if we still love games, is to leave here, I will not pay 500 dollars again for a handheld, I was hoping that 3ds would exist for a long time, but not. =/

      2. So what do you expect Nintendo to do? Never advance thier handheld gaming devices? Give me a break. Nintendo has been doing this thier entire exsistance as a company. Personally I saw it coming. I new a new version of the 3ds was coming soon since it has been 3 years since launch.

        Also, instead of getting mad at Nintendo for the outragous prices in your country, perhaps turn your attention to the ones making it so damn expensive in the first place, your own Government.

        1. I doubt every future 3DS game will cater exclusively to the New 3DSes. Sure, there’ll be a few exclusives like Xenoblade (to help promote & justify the New), but I’m pretty sure there’ll mostly be 3DS games that are enhanced by the New but still playable on the originals, if simply compatible. I never got a DSi, but was still able to play new DS games on Lite (& my original DS) ’til I got a 3DS, which I still don’t have DSi exclusives (except downloads but only because the original DSes had no online). & I think there were plenty of GBC games that could be played on the GB (@ least in GBC’s early days).

          The New 3DSes have more upgrades than GBC & DSi did, but considering the original 3DSes’ hardware sales, & that the New is still just 3DS .5, those who stay w/ the previous 3DSes should find plenty before the true successor hits, supplanting the New w/ a graphical leap. & like someone already posted, the New is closer to an N64 Expansion Pak but w/ extra control options. DK64 & Majora’s Mask required the Expansion Pak, but StarCraft64 was still playable w/ or w/ out it, though the extra content required it. Out of the 16 or so N64 games I have, only 2 required it & 1 was enhanced by it. Seeing as how I already have Xenoblade on Wii, I’m not enticed enough to buy the New. Even if the C-stick works w/ MGS Snake Eater 3D, I’m not willing to spend roughly $200 on it. But the bells & whistles are very tempting, to be sure. Hel, there’s still too many normal 3DS games that require my limited supply of $.

  14. Just want to say I fucking called the changeable plates thing. Been suggesting that idea since before the original 3DS XL. But people told me it was a stupid idea.

    1. Well, the GBmicro already offered the option, so people should’ve been receptive to your idea, if they new their Ninty handheld history.

  15. I just fucking bought 3DS… I knew I should have waited for the next console.
    Though if this is their “next-gen” handheld, kinda underwhelming.

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  17. tskeaton94@gmail.com

    Seriously nintendo?? I just renewed my fucking 3DS. A heads up would have been nice. I swear, they’d better have a 100% trade in deal for newly bought 3DS’s if you have the receipt, or at least a really good deal. This is ridiculous

  18. And regarding the angry reactions of the fans, expect Miyamoto to appear in interviews soon, trying to explain why the New 3DS is so much cooler and how much more comfortable it was to develop games for it.

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  20. Fuck you Nintendo. Seriously fuck you. This was the console i wanted from the very beginning and now you come up with it. Now i have to buy a console that won’t get supported with the games that i like because you couldn’t design it right the first time. Nintendo needs to get with the times and fast. They’re dragging their feet everywhere. From online to software development to hardware development. They need more people with vision. Iwata is cool, but he needs help. So disappointed.

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      1. There was a Xbox One before the One? Funny. I never heard Microsoft or anyone else refer to the original Xbox as the “Xbox 1”

        1. No shit. It was mostly known as “Xbox 1” after 360 came out. That’s why the new model name choice is stupid and not even true to it name over the “all in one” marketing.

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  25. Im sorry, but knowing how dumb some consumers are, this will cause nintendo problems. Some people get confused like “can i play 3ds games on my ds? They are both ds’s” and “sweet i can get xenoblade on my 3ds” when in reality they have to get the one that says new on it. This name is extremely poor and will certainly cause confusion

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  27. Yea, I agree about the name. Who is coming up with these horrible names. The “new” 3ds? Imagine all the disappointed kids and confused parents waking up Christmas morning. Nintendo really needs to fire the guy who is in charge of Console naming. geez us fuck.

    One thing I dont agree with is all you people bitching and crying about this new 3ds. They always do this, always have always will.

  28. This news really shook me. Say whatever you want, but this is something that doesn’t really have precedent.

    You can’t say that they did it already with GB->GBC because the GB had lived out its entire lifespan. You can’t say that they did it already with N64->N64+Expansion Pak because that was an accessory. You can’t say that they did it already with the DS->DSi because DSi-exclusive titles were mainly app-like and never fully-fledged experiences (not to mention the processor bump+better 3D+buttons+the fact that there were 4 years between original DS and DSi).

    What is going on here is Nintendo introducing a pseudo-Next Generation console literally in the middle of the 3DS’s lifespan (just 3 years).

    This might very well be the last Nintendo console that I own if I see a strong push for more AAA titles on this “New 3DS”. I am personally appalled as a customer. Buying the original 3DS and seeing the immediate price cut made me lose a lot of respect for this company and this press release might be the beginning of me parting ways with Nintendo altogether.

  29. Wait…….does the new 3DS have a smaller screen? It looks as small as the original 3DS. That would suck if there’s no XL version.

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  33. What about the screen resolution, actually the current 3ds especially XL version has got pixel density far far below these days standards IMHO, any 4-4.5 inch droid smartphone is much better for our eyes

  34. … *looks at gold Link Between Worlds 3DS then looks at the New 3DS* Meh… I’m fine with my current 3DS XL. *notices that Xenoblade Chronicles from Wii is being ported to the 3DS but is only playable with the New 3DS* o.O Does the New 3DS XL come in black or green!? I must get this just in case Majora’s Mask 3D is also exclusive to the new 3DS! But I’ll get this new 3DS for Xenoblade Chronicles alone!

  35. I just bought my 3ds XL at the start of this year -.-
    So Freaken sad that this happened. But hey. Its the risk you take to purchasing hardware. Guess ill probably be trading in my 3ds for the new one when it gets out :/

  36. I posted on this article once but I’ll post again.

    Let this be a lesson to those of you that want to wait 3 years into the life of a handheld to get one: wait too long to get one & you might just see a better one getting announced a few weeks to a few months later which makes your late buy worthless if you prefer the best possible version of the handheld. It doesn’t have to be a day 1 buy but a year 1 buy is the best thing you could do. If not a 1 year buy, then an early 2 year buy. This way when the new version comes out, you won’t have to feel like you blew your money. At the same time, there is no guarantee we’ll get the New 3DS within the first 6 months of it’s announcement. We could be looking at a year long wait which is more than enough time to enjoy the handheld version you bought a few months ago. Unless you just bought it a few weeks ago, which case, it’s just very, very, very bad timing.

    1. No… Don’t defend this. You know this is wrong. Now 40 million+ people will have to upgrade once Zelda MM3D and Xenoblade comes out. I was ok with the slight design changes and stuff with the other models, but making exclusive games to this thing was beyond stupid.

      1. Oh but I did… and I am. The new & improved features won’t be enough to help this thing sell, so it needs exclusive games to be even more relevant. Like I said, let this be a lesson to those of you that waited so long into the console’s life to buy it. Either buy it at the end of it’s first year, beginning of it’s second year, or wait til the end of the console’s life. Enjoy the backlog if you go with the last choice.

    2. We are literally only 3 and a half years into the 3DS’ cycle and the amount of revisions is now sitting at 5. Compare this with the DS’ 4 revisions throughout its entire 7-year life.

      There is no “right time to buy” a Nintendo handheld anymore; we are getting new models on a yearly basis and this is unacceptable.

      1. Well good thing we aren’t forced to upgrade to the newer ones then. It’s not like we NEED a bigger screen or better graphics.

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