Nintendo's Big-Screen 3DS XL Meets Lukewarm Reception

MojoKid writes "Nintendo took the wraps off its new, super-sized 3DS XL handheld on Friday, but reactions have been anything but enthusiastic. The new DS offers a larger set of screens (4.88 inches top / 4.18" bottom), better battery life, and will ship with a copy of New Super Marios 2 but it's launching into a very different market than what the original DS XL faced in 2009. The 3DS XL's battery improvements aren't just icing on the cake — they're seen as remedying a critical problem with the current handheld. It also won't support the second circle pad added by the Circle Pad Pro, which implies Nintendo is ready to kill that peripheral altogether. The other major problem is that a larger screen isn't really what the 3DS needed in order to be more successful."

Re:What the3DS needed...

[davester666]

Don't you mean Surface. Because that is going to totally steamroll the iPad.

Well, once they ship it.

Might take until they ship the second rev of the hardware, and the first service pack. But then, it's game over. Everything else will just be gone. PlayStations. Recycling bin. Wii's just wee in the corner. iPads (only the new ones) will be torn apart so their screen can be reused as an external monitor for the Surface. iPhones will be skipping rocks. Hell, desktops and laptops are done too, because the Surface can do it all. No compromises. Except for the small screen, no cellular wireless, keyboard you may have some issues typing with. But you'll still be able to run your DOS apps!

Re:What the3DS needed...

[Anonymous Coward]

You mean wall candy?

Re:Um, New Super Mario? Yes it is "new"!

[hackula]

An edgy Mario would be too disgusting for most markets. Can you imagine a 60 year old midget plumber-- who has subsisted on nothing but magic mushrooms laced with human growth hormone for decades-- stalking down a nasty old stripper named "Princess Peach", as he and his brother go on a quest to see who can curb stomp the most endangered sea turtles and who can accumulate the most concussions by brutally breaking bricks with their shattered skulls over and over and over again. We can leave the gritty reimagining to 007 or MGS; let's keep mario safely in cartoony goofy form where he belongs.