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Community 3DS xl System overview

By Daisymare — September 2, 2012
Tags: 3ds-xl blog hardware

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90% bigger screen, nicer design, better feel in hand but what's not perfect with this new version of the 3DS? Well there are a couple issues I've noticed but I'm not sure if they matter to the hardcore gamer.

Pros

• Bigger screens
• Nice feel in the hands
• Awesome for playing DS games
• Quick and responsive
• Price is good
• Controls are good and touch screen is nice.

Cons

• 3D isn't as good as I'd like on the bigger screen
• 3D video recording is blurry and hard to look at
• 3D photos are hit and miss
• Built in games suck 
• Size and weight wears on the wrists.
• Doesn't come with any 3DS games
• Wi-Fi doesn't seem to connect with the net.

If you don't have a DS or a 3DS then I recommend this system but I don't think it's that much better than the others.

Buy It.

Below is a detailed editorial of my impressions of the system. Yes most of this is known on the standard 3DS so you may not get much insight on the system other than the physical layout and feel in the hand.

Physical body of the system:

First off, the system design and shape is pretty good with rounded corners that fit nice in the hand though the size and weight of it can be fatiguing to your wrists.

 

 

The color choices are okay, sort of like an homage to the old pokemon blue and red. It sort of makes me think of a male female color palette though.

Once you open the system you are treated to a nice layout with direction tab, analog nub, X,Y,B,A buttons and Select, Home, Start buttons at the bottom of the touch screen. The power button and lights in the lower Right corner of the control face. The R and L buttons are where they should be, volume on the left and Wi-Fi & SD card slot on the right.

On the display screen panel you have two weak speakers which I feel are not useful unless you’re in a very quiet place on the right is the 3D slider switch and the two cameras are on the back. 

They changed the charger plug again making it look more like a large compact USB port. I’m wondering if they are planning to do other things with it.

 

 

The new stylus is nice and easy to use and fits nicely in the system.

It has a mic on the lower right of the touch screen and possibly one on the back of the display screen next to the two cameras

 

Firmware OS & built in Apps:

 

The OS boots up nice and quick and all the controls from the touch screen to the directional pad and buttons respond nicely.

Everything in the OS and the built in Apps run in 3D as expected and has the same Apps as in the normal 3DS. That said there are a few issues I’m having with this version of the 3DS that I didn’t see in the regular one.

The display screen is beautiful in 2D but the 3D is a little off. I think the larger the display the harder it is for your eyes to adjust. You have to hold the system farther away to get a similar 3D effect to the standard 3DS thus making the screen look smaller anyway. In 2D mode however, this system is a joy. I’m playing Chrono Trigger right now and having a blast.

The Camera App is fun and the camera itself takes okay pictures though in 3D it’s really hit or miss as to how 3D it will look. 3D video is pretty useless and hurts my eyes. You can do some fun things with it though. Running the video backwards and changing the audio pitch. All of which I believe is in the original version.

The Sound App has a few fun little Bird mimicking functions and lets you record hours of audio on your SD card. You can edit the audio by slowing it down speeding it up and changing pitch. It also has a couple of effects settings for parakeet and others.

There’s the Mii Maker, Mii Plaza for StreetPass, the eShop and other crap.

It comes with a video sample called Dinosaur Office that is cool to watch but is short and pointless.

I couldn’t get it to connect to my Wi-Fi so I couldn’t use Nintendo Zone or Download Play. I don’t know why it wont connect either. It says that it connects but then just gives errors.

The AR games look cool but like with the camera App the 3D is spotty especially when you’re moving the system around.

Face Raiders and the same issues as above.

I find it funny that the 3DS xl Operations manual is heavier than the system itself. At 314 pages long it’s a freaking novel of an instruction manual.

 

 

I haven’t yet had a chance to try an actual 3DS game on it because it doesn’t come with any.

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