By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
Aside from a few new technical upgrades that I think ergonomic experts may find not as comfortable, the big issue is the fact this company still has not upgraded the picture resolution of its external cameras! Some users, especially me when I go travelling, want an ideal all-in-one unit to browse the Internet, take a photo to share online (what it can do now is too small and often grainy) and play music or games with.
The machine sounds more like a stone mason’s brick than a pot of gold. The only real praise-worthy feature is the face-tracking technology to improve perceiving a 3D world buried in this hand-held. Instead of finding that sweet spot, the image sensors will detect where my face is and optimize the game in real-time to allow for better spacial imagery to happen. I really like to see this demonstrated with a shelf display unit before committing any dollars to with pre-orders. At the time of writing, all the limited editions are sold out and that can be frustrating to some who did not learn of this news in time to pre-order.
Now wouldn’t it be funny if Nintendo sold a similar looking face-plate later so customers can upgrade the updated regular 3DS to resemble the Majora’s Mask? That’s one great selling feature of this new standard edition handheld. A secondary market may evolve where fans can make unique face-plates and sell through websites like Etsy. Sadly, the XL model does not offer this interchangeability, so the question of whether or not buying this upgraded model is worth it depends on how often Nintendo fans on a budget are willing to bow down to technical obsolescence.
The prolonged lifespan of these hand-held consoles of any sort sometimes depends on how popular a specific device is for the easy backwards compatibility it offers. For the Nintendo 3DS XL, waiting three years for this redesign is almost worth it. I bought my 3DS XL only a year and a half ago and to hear about this announcement is a touch upsetting. Plus, the added analogue controller does not offer any immediate benefit for current games where it does not work. Only new releases, like Xenoblade Chronicles 3D (due late 2015), will take advantage of it.
When compared to Sony’s Vita née PSP, this rival device had a new model coming out nearly every year before its leap to becoming a PSPGo and immediately afterwards, a Vita. The 3DS and the 3DS XL(2) may well be experiencing the same growing pains, because Nintendo is not willing to commit to a complete redesign or revamp. Sadly, 3D gaming is on its way out. There’s no real innovation happening by video game programmers in how this display technology is currently used. True holography in games has yet to appear. To see true spatial representations, especially in platform games, will have players wondering if leaping that distance is possible from a table-top projected perspective. On a screen, all 3D offers is just eye-candy. Hopefully, that will mean an updated Nintendo 2DS will be in stores in the future too.