Were you just aching to have me type more words about the New 3DS? Then you’re in luck!
If you weren’t… Well, I’m sorry. It’s just not your day.
Firstly, I just want to say how much I love the fancy Monster Hunter 4 edition that I was able to snag. The silvery colour is perfect, and I honestly think it wouldn’t look as nice without the fur pattern. The focal point, the monster emblem, is also really cool. I think it’s a pretty nice cover design all around, since it manages to be flashy and simple at the same time.
I’ll admit, I’m a little puzzled why the emblem is of Najarala, of all monsters. But I won’t complain since it still looks neat.
To speak about the system in general, it’s got a ton of little improvements here and there, most of which I never imagined that I’d appreciate so much. The one downgrade to the system is that it only fits a MicroSD card now, so that was an extra expense for me. Also the SD slot is on the back of the system, hidden underneath the outer shell. You have to have a teeny-tiny screwdriver to access it, which is inconvenient if you’ve been using multiple SD cards for some reason. I only had to open it once, and I don’t anticipate ever having to do it again.
The button layout has changed yet again, relocating the start and select buttons to the side of the system, instead of below the touchscreen. Now it’s set up more like the DSi. This is a great change, because I always felt that it was weird to reach over to push those buttons. Also they’ve added ZL and ZR buttons, which I (and probably most people) have no use for at this point. I guess some game might eventually come along that needs four shoulder buttons, but I haven’t met one yet.
The big addition as far as control options go is the C-stick. Though it’s more like a C-nub. It’s about the size of a pencil eraser, and feels pretty similar. It’s really odd at first because it doesn’t really move at all, but it’s perfectly receptive to how you’re pushing on it. I didn’t give a flip about it at first, but I’ve really come to love it. It makes playing Monster Hunter 4 a lot more convenient, and it’s nice to have free camera control in Majora’s Mask 3D as well.
New 3DS has a few more horses under its hood than its cousins, though that added power won’t be noticeable at all until early April, when Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is released. It’s currently the only game on the horizon that requires New 3DS’ extra power, though it’s still visually inferior to the Wii version. Rumours abound that MH4 looks a little better on New 3DS, but I haven’t really dug deep enough to see if there’s any hard evidence to support that. Final verdict: at the moment, the New 3DS’ power-up is insignificant. We’ll have to see how many desirable exclusives end up existing.
What makes the New 3DS truly amazing is the super-stable 3D technology. On the old 3DS, I almost never played with the 3D effect turned on, because it had a very narrow viewing angle, and shifting even a bit would break the illusion. It just didn’t look very good, so I didn’t make use of it. New 3DS has some sort of spooky face-tracking camera (it’s watching you) built in that keeps track of where your eyes are in relation to the screen and adjusts the 3D accordingly, keeping the effect solid even if you’re moving around a bit.
Super-stable 3D works really well. I spend about half of my time with Monster Hunter 4 in 3D, and to this point, I haven’t played Majora’s Mask in 2D at all. Since it’s built into the hardware, it works just fine with older games too, so games like Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse and Kirby Triple Deluxe can be played in their full 3D glory without having to worry about the effect constantly mucking up.
Keep in mind of course, it’s built for normal usage. If you’re wobbling around like a madman and/or trying to break the illusion, it’s still going to break. It’s not perfect, but it’s more than good enough to make playing with 3D on a real joy.
I guess there are maybe some other things about the New 3DS to mention. The stylus is different. Fatter and shorter. People seem to hate it, but I don’t much care. I don’t like that it’s tucked into the bottom edge of the system. It’s much harder to slide out from there than it was when it was on the side or top. Also, in North America, the New 3DS only comes in the XL variety. Again, I don’t care. I was rocking a 3DS XL anyway, so it’s NBD to me.
In conclusion, I’d have to say that while the New 3DS is a worthy upgrade, it’s not a totally necessary one. But then again, when has an incremental hardware revision ever been necessary? Never, that’s when. But New 3DS has been great for me, and if you’re in the market for a 3DS, there’s really no reason not to go with the fancy New one. If you already own a 3DS and don’t care about the 3D effect or Xenoblade, I can’t really recommend it. Still, it’s a nice machine, and it’s only further solidifying the 3DS as my preferred gaming system.