New 3DS

[Harmless]

Come to think of it, Nintendo has done something like this before with DSi, and it didn't sell too horribly. Personally, I'd buy it when I can considering all the upgrades it's going to get, as opposed to my last statement.

[ChaosYoshi]

The only reason I'd buy this would be if my current 3DS became unplayable, and the circle pad seems to be shorting out, so I may end up getting it somewhat soon if it gets worse. I'm glad to hear that you can transfer data from older 3DS systems, since a rumor had me worried that it might not.

[Zunar]

Oh good, you can do that. My 3DS has been giving me some issues lately so I was hoping you could transfer. Themes recently quit working and sometimes I get errors that delete my save data (thankfully there is a save backup function).

[Newgeneration]

If there's one thing that's gotten me at least a little peeved recently, it's all these upgrades to their DS/3DS lineup. I get that they're actually useful upgrades, but now that I have two 3DS consoles (the original and the XL version), I'm feeling like I'm being cheated out of money just to be left behind in the dust with the newer version.

Seriously though, "new" 3DS only titles? This is a real bummer for me, I surprisingly miss when I was always late to get new consoles.

[ChaosYoshi]

IIRC, I do believe that there were some DSi-exclusive titles, too. I can't really say for sure, since I've also heard that they were really just games with DSi extras (sort of like how Pokémon generation V had the Xtransceiver). I never bought the 3DS XL or 2DS because my current 3DS was working perfectly fine, and I had a feeling that if it ever did crap out on me that I'd just buy the latest version when it did. Que the New 3DS XL (by the way why no regular size NoA?).

[Zunar]

One thing I like about the New 3DS: they moved the start and select buttons. I dislike how they moved them right next to the Home button on the 3DS XL. To be honest, the original 3DS was fine, but the buttons just feel weird on the XL. Actually now that I think about it, the XL seems kinda shoddily made compared to the original 3DS, but the extra screen size is definitely nice.

The only thing that bugs me is that the new 3DS and MM 3D are coming out at the same day. Damn it Nintendo, you're gonna make me poor.

[Venexis]

Pretty sure the only DSi exclusives were eShop titles.

Is it confirmed this abomination is going to have exclusives, then? Can't see why anyone who did any sort of research would actually pay money for it otherwise- tech specs and games aside it's probably the biggest console failure since the VirtualBoy. What in the actual ♥♥♥♥ are you doing, Nintendo.

[Zunar]

Pretty sure Xenoblade Chronicles 3DS is gonna be exclusive. Other than that, I don't know.

Can you elaborate on why you say it's "probably the biggest console failure since the VirtualBoy"?

[Venexis]

Well, apparently the SD card is not directly accessible anymore, you've gotta take a screwdriver to the thing and remove the outer casing if you want to swap it out or copy and paste data to or from your system. Not sure how much everyone else cares about that, but I use mine pretty frequently and much prefer being able to remove it without the need for tools... considering there's like, no other reason to ever take off the cover, lawl.

The new 3DS also isn't being packaged with a charger. That's not at all convenient for newbies looking to get into the 3DS family. Now I'm pretty sure all the DS devices use the same type of charger, but the most recently released (the 2DS) came out at the end of 2013, over a year ago now. A lot can happen in a year, and there's always new kids requesting the latest system- not sure how attempting to sell those people a system without any way to charge it is beneficial at all, since that demographic is likely not going to be aware of what to look for when buying a charger separately.

With that in mind I'd hazard a guess that the new 3DS is marketed toward people who are already longtime fans of Nintendo, people who have owned a DS system in the past and keep up with Directs and stuff like that. But wait- NNIDs can't be registered to more than one system at a time... sounds like a little bit of a problem, since most of those fans have probably registered their NNID to their original 3DS in order to access the eShop.

Yes, these are all things that could be fixed. The NNID thing is especially damning if Nintendo hopes to become a serious modern gaming competitor. But a February release is extremely close now, and I think it's going to be too little too late. The new 3DS is not marketed where it needs to be to bring in any new interest, and it doesn't appeal to many of their long term fans either, it's just a piece of fancy tech that doesn't really give any reasons to upgrade on its own- in fact, it's given me reasons NOT to upgrade.

There's a sizable amount of smaller things too, for example, Nintendo currently has no plans to release the regular sized new 3DS model in America, which means no customizable casings. Just another hit to the already dwindling number of potentially interested customers, I guess. If Nintendo's actually got a plan here, it's extremely well hidden... and given their questionable choices over the last year, I'm not entirely sure they do at all.

Maybe it won't be a disaster. Maybe they will manage to coast through without sweetening the pot a little. Can't see it unless there's a lot more exclusives though.

[Raz]

I'll wait until Nintendo may (!) eventually be forced to release New 3DS' here instead of New 3DS XLs for me to get one.