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Played a 3DS XL today - Impressions

Discussion in 'Handheld Gaming' started by Geoff, Aug 24, 2012.

  1. Geoff

    Geoff Administrator
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    Best Buy had a demo unit and I tried it out. I was actually pleasantly surprised - it's a LOT more comfortable than the original 3DS, although that might be because I have big hands. And I take back what I said about it looking like a Fisher Price toy. The unit they had was the blue finish and it was incredibly sexy. And the Start/Select/Home buttons are 500 times better.

    Not sure if games really look worse being blown up to the bigger screen. NSMB2 seemed to look okay but I didn't get to try anything else. The speakers are absolutely horrendous, though they weren't that great on the original 3DS either.

    Still absolutely not enough to justify spending the money to upgrade my 3DS though, but if I were a first-time buyer I'd lean toward the XL unless portability is absolutely important.
     
  2. TRIFORCE89

    TRIFORCE89 Sage

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    Meh speakers. I usually play with headphones.

    Everything I've heard about the XL is that it is an improvement. But, I don't like the size. It's even less portable now. If I had more money to spend and want to have an "at home" 3DS and an "out an about" 3DS, then maybe I'd get it. But no interest right now
     
  3. Cherrim

    Cherrim Resident KH Fangirl

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    The size/lack of portability wouldn't really bother me since I carry my consoles in my purse when I'm out anyway but I have very small hands so anything that makes it even harder to hit the centre buttons or tap something quickly on the touch screen is awful for me. :P

    As a rule, though, I don't find big screens very impressive. I upgraded to a DSi from my Lite a while back and the only improvement I noticed was being able to control the brightness at any time (and the colour... hot pink! *u*). The increase in size was mildly annoying and everything else wasn't noticeable at all. If they're making the console so big and not vastly improving other areas like sound as well, I feel like a lot of their problems would be solved if they'd just create an accessory/cable that lets you output audio/video to a TV or something.
     
  4. Geoff

    Geoff Administrator
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    And how would you get the 3D effect if you hooked it up to a TV? :P

    I still agree that it's a pointless redesign and Nintendo should have added a lot more to it though.
     
  5. Cherrim

    Cherrim Resident KH Fangirl

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    ...oh, right, there's 3D on the console.

    It still gives me a headache so I never use it. XD;
     
  6. Geoff

    Geoff Administrator
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    I'm usually okay with the 3D but I had to disable it every so often during KH3D for some reason. My eyes started hurting until I gave them a break from it for a few minutes.
     
  7. Andy

    Andy Level 5

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    I've never used the 3D. It makes my already-crappy eyes flip out and it's completely unnecessary anyway. I just look at it as the next gen DS with better graphics and more comprehensive games.

    As for the XL, I'm glad it's at least an improvement! The portability means nothing to me because it's been years since I've had a reason to take a console out with me :P. I might buy one eventually, if the price comes down a bit.
     
  8. TRIFORCE89

    TRIFORCE89 Sage

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    I view 3D as much as a necessity or as much as a gimmick as HD. So, I have it at full blast all the time.
     
  9. Cherrim

    Cherrim Resident KH Fangirl

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    But the difference between HD and SD for me is phenomenal. It's really hard to go back to gaming in SD once you've been playing games in HD, at least for me. (It's not so bad when you're comparing PS2 or something to PS3 but playing a 360/PS3 on an HDTV and then switching down to SD is undoable.)

    3D doesn't hit me the same way at all. I find it really annoying on the 3DS to have to keep the console at such a perfect viewing angle in order to play at all. I don't play handheld consoles to keep them a perfect 20 cm from my face and angled correctly--I play them because I can be lazy and lie on my bed. Handhelds shouldn't be so restricted and that totally ruins the 3DS's 3D for me. I don't use it at all, ever.
     
  10. Geoff

    Geoff Administrator
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    If I can be bothered to keep the 3DS positioned correctly, then I will. If I just want to lie down and play my 3DS without really bothering with positioning it properly, then I'll cut the 3D off. With most games, it adds very little - a nice touch, but hardly groundbreaking. The only game I've really thought benefited tremendously from the 3D was Super Mario 3D Land - and that was one of the few standout points of that game.
     

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