The New Nintendo 3DS: It’s just that. It is a new Nintendo 3DS. I was super excited to get mine, and as I opened the box that was sealed beneath Japanese runes of legend and seals of tape labeled, “FedEx” I at long last held in my hands the latest Nintendo system…or did I?
In many ways the New Nintendo 3DS is improved. The buttons and circle pad feel more durable and responsive, the screen on the smaller unit is a bit bigger but still very clear, and overall the system feels more solid. My Fire Emblem collector’s edition 3DS actually creaks when I hold it, but the New 3DS seems strong enough to support my mighty grip. Another new feature is the wider 3D frame of view. Using the camera, the New 3DS can see where your eyes are coming from and make sure the 3D effect will work for you at wider angles than the previous incarnation of the hardware. I’ve never been big on the 3D effect in the first place, but, much to my surprise, this helps. I’ve been leaving the 3D on more than I used to.
On the down side, the system also uses the camera to determine how bright your surroundings are and adjusts the screen’s brightness accordingly to help you save on power. The idea is novel, but in my experience it did not work at all. Upon the initial boot of the system, I noticed immediately that the screen kept hopping between maximum and minimum brightness. I assume the camera saw my dimly-lit face and thought the lights were out, but then got confused when it caught the white wall behind me and decided I had turned the lights on. Either way, I needed to turn that particular option off and opted to control brightness manually, as before. I’m also not yet in love with the C nub. The added LZ and RZ buttons make perfect sense, but the makeshift C-stick confuses me. It doesn’t give in when you push it. So much so that I believed something was wrong when I began experimenting with the feel of all the buttons. However, after using it to navigate the menu, I can say it works. It simply lacks the feedback a normal stick offers, so I don’t really want to rely on it for any gameplay input beyond simple camera movement.
Look at this. Doesn’t this look like fun? Game’s not even running and it’s fun!
You might be asking yourself, “So what’s the big deal? Is this an upgrade or not?” Well, make no mistake about it: This is a Nintendo 3DS. I have read some interesting speculation online suggesting the New model would be so drastically more powerful that the original would be phased out of existence, but don’t believe the gloom and doom crowd. It is true the New 3DS is a little more powerful, but from the games I have played on it, I can surely say the system is still not going to graphically surpass the Vita. The average consumer may not even notice some of the improvements.
The only game that comes to mind as problematic is Pokemon X and Y, which you may recall has some frame rate issues during certain battles and a confusing pattern of alternating between 3D and 2D capability. The New 3DS should hopefully remedy some of these problems in the future, and I will talk about that in depth in the upcoming Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire review. For now, just trust me when I say the home menu alone runs smooth and as fast as it always should have, and that gives me a great amount of hope about titles in the future.
Bottom Line
Should you buy one? I won’t urge anyone to rush out and pick one up as soon as possible. I am such a big Nintendo nut that I knew I’d want this model, and all the time I spend on my 3DS does warrant the best experience I can afford, but if you already own any 3DS units in your house, I might suggest you enjoy it as is. There will be a couple titles that require the New 3DS’s stronger RAM or added buttons, but they are few for the time being, and until it becomes the norm, I cannot say there’s a clear need to upgrade. If you are a hard core Smash Bros pro, a frame rate critic, or just a gigantic Nintendo nerd, you probably already know if you want the system or not.
The New Nintendo 3DS released October 11th in Japan, it is scheduled for release November 21st in Australia, and the European and North American versions are promised for 2015, though it this author’s believes we will see it very early in the year.
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