My New Toy (Experience with the Nintendo New 3DS XL)

I know I'm late to the game (as usual) but, I got a New Nintendo 3DS XL. And in order to express my love for my new toy and so that I can try and help anyone considering to buy one and make a definitive decision on whether or not to get it I have written up this blog post discussing several of its features and aspects of the console which I both love and hate. Heads up, there isn't much to hate about the New 3DS. I'll be commenting on the backwards compatibility, the 3D graphics, its physical design, as well as the camera quality. If you have any queries about any of these topics then feel free to read on my fellow gamer.

Backwards Compatibility and Online Store.

Being a minimalist I try to make sure that everything that comes into my life has a purpose and adds value into my life, therefore every time I consider buying something I research it thoroughly before I take the step and splurge. My favourite thing about multi-purpose, backwards compatible consoles is that I can play multiple different softwares on one system. For example, I upgraded my PSP to a PS Vita 2 years ago because I could play, not only PS Vita games but also PSP, PS1, PS3 and PS4 games on one console. It saves space on my entertainment system as I only have two consoles and it allows for me to only carry around one handheld instead of 2 or 3. The same goes for the 3DS as soon as I found out it had backwards compatibility I knew I had to make the switch as I knew there were several 3DS games I had researched I wanted. I realised that I had a DS for its Gameboy compatibility but only really have one Gameboy game; Pokemon Fire Red. Which, despite loving I didn't think it was a good enough excuse to own two consoles just so I could play one Gameboy game. Instead, I found out that through the Online Nintendo Store I could purchase and install different classic Pokemon games whilst keeping and playing both DS and 3DS games on one console. Furthermore, it's also amazing because if I also want to save on shelf space I can hope on to the Nintendo online shop and purchase all the games I want without worrying about having physical clutter in my surroundings. It's a win-win.

3-Dimensional Gaming

When it comes to the 3-dimensional aspect and one of the core purposes of a 3DS, I find that at times I do use the 3D technology, even if only for a little while before it begins to hurt my eyes. It is so cool how far science has come in order to even create a 3-dimensional gaming screen, where glasses are not required. It makes me extremely excited about the future of gaming. We even have Virtual Reality headsets now, which I am yet to try, but I can only imagine how much more incredible VR must be for gaming. I have found however that there are some games where the 3D technology does not work very well, for example, Lego: Pirates of the Caribbean. The 3 Dimension became far too trippy, even on the lower settings, and it made my eyes sore a lot faster than other games. Unlike Yoshi's New Island which worked incredibly in 3D, and became my favourite way which to play the game all the way to the end. So far, it has seemed to also work charmingly on Pokemon Moon, which I am yet to complete, but I have made it to the second island and the graphics have been beautiful thus far. I am not too technologically educated to make scientific analyses on the 3D gaming aspect of the 3DS but, my experience so far has been that it works great on some games, but falls short on others. Furthermore, it does sometimes require you to turn the 3D feature off after a while before it starts to give you a headache, so keep that in mind. I also really like the fact that you can choose the intensity of the 3D feature, which comes in really handy when you want to play a game in 3D but need to find the perfect intensity to get the feature to work properly.

Physical Design and Larger Screen

The shell of the New 3DS XL is absolutely beautiful with its glossy finish which makes it almost impossible to leave any unwanted fingerprints on its exterior which tends to drive me nuts on all other handhelds being the OCD being that I am. I personally purchased the charcoal coloured console and I am extremely happy that I did, the colour is phenomenal as well as aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I'm not quite sure how I feel about the different coloured B, A, X, Y buttons, but everything else looks fantastic. I'm also really glad that I chose to go with the XL as the screen is much larger to the standard DS which I was previously used to which means it's a lot easier on the eyes as well as the fact that it means that I can play games on bigger screens, in other words, there's more of the game for me to see (even if just for a few cm's).

Cameras, All of the Cameras

When it comes to the cameras I haven't had a chance to experience it on many games, however, I have been able to trial out some of the built-in apps like the one where you capture a picture of yourself and you have to fly around and retrieve your own face which had been kidnapped and copied on several different airships, yeah, that weird thing. And, it was pretty fun, despite being slightly pixelated (probably because I used the front-facing camera) but, I'm not too hopeful about the 2 back cameras being in much higher quality. But, then again, I haven't tried them. Saying that though the game itself was fun and it had definitely an interesting idea to it, and I liked the way that it included the use of your own face rather than a standardised animated character. But, the quality could have been a little better, but it is definitely not the worst I have seen on a handheld gaming device.

Personal Thoughts

I love my new, New 3Ds XL and I am very happy to have added it to my family of gaming devices, which gives me an opportunity to play a large variety of new games, and I mean large, like 1,346 new opportunities large. All of which can be played with or without the 3D feature with just a simple scroll of a slider. I still haven't attempted to play my DS games on it as I've been far too excited to finish my new 3DS games, so I can't really comment there, however, when I was researching the console for my own use I saw several DS game playthroughs on the New 3DS and the graphics still seemed really good. So I doubt I'll have much to worry about there (fingers crossed). I will now write a short list of the 3DS games I purchased and express whether or not I thought they were any good with the 3D feature, just for research purposes of whether the reader of this post is considering which games to get.

Yoshi's New Island - yes.

Pokemon Moon- yes.

Lego: Pirates of the Caribbean - no.

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate - no.

Luigi's Mansion 2 - yes.

Sonic Generations - yes.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 - yes.

Conclusion

The backwards compatibility is great for those who don't enjoy have multiple consoles laying around but would really like to keep on playing their old DS games but also play a wide range of new games on the 3DS. The 3-dimensional graphics are okay and work well with several of the games which I have experienced but does require regular breaks as after a while it can cause you to have minor headaches. The exterior shell of the New 3DS XL is beautiful and is perfect for fellow OCD sufferers which hate constantly having to wipe off fingerprints or smudges off of their devices. The front-facing camera lacks high-quality definition but does work pretty well when used with the built-in game apps that the 3DS come with. Comments on the back cameras cannot be made at this time as I have not yet had a chance to try them. There are 1,346 games to choose from varying over several different categories of games. And the 3D functionality is very easy to adjust and adapt to thanks to the right-hand slider. Overall, the New Nintendo 3DS is an amazing console and well worth the upgrade from any of its previous systems.