One thing I'd like to know about is the new analog nibblet. My first impressions of it is that it seems too small to feel comfortable, and its positioning in relation to the other buttons looks pretty awkward. Since you've got some hands-on time with it, what's your opinion?
It works fine in Smash Bros. It's not like a second analogue slider, it doesn't really move when you push it, it just squishes in slightly. Very hard to explain. But it's very accurate and does work. It's not uncomfortable but I wonder how it'd perform with a twin-stick FPS. It's difficult to press the face buttons accidentally. The 4 shoulder buttons are all within reach too, that part is actually really neat. It's very easy to press all 4 at once or any individually, and with that in mind I think it's going to be great for games like Monster Hunter.
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As far as I understood yesterday, the XL
doesn't have interchangeable faceplates, it doesn't come with an AC adapter, and it only comes in metallic colours as opposed to the nice white and black of the normal size model. I'll never understand why Nintendo make decisions like that but I guess that's the way it is and, sadly, will probably always be. The last DS I've had is a DS Lite and I was going to get a New 3DS XL but with this information I'm pretty sure I'll be going for a white New 3DS, a charging dock, and a set of faceplates. I can't wait!
Which model are you all considering?
Correct, only the regular New 3DS has interchangeable faceplates. Neither system comes with a charger, the old XL didn't have a charger either. I can see why they do it, it lets them save on packaging and I'm willing to bet most New 3DS owners will be upgrading from an older model. Plus then there's also the option of getting a USB charge lead rather than the standard AC one or one more fitting to yourself.
Even if the Ambassador programme included the XL, I'd still go for the normal one. I find the resolution is too low for such a big screen on the XL, and the regular New screen is bigger than the regular Old screen without much increase in device size. The faceplates... something I never thought I'd jump on, are actually quite the draw for me. I've already ordered a few from importers
I mod old consoles so it's nice to be able to not void my warranty getting the look I'm after!
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More discoveries;
- I'm trying to break the headtracking and work out its flaws. Moving your head is the best way to cause it to "rescan" (where the screen flickers once or twice), keeping your head still and moving the device causes no flicker, the 3D adjusts perfectly. So those 3D+Gyro games work really well on this.
- The battery is just a bit better than the old one. I got 4 hours out of mine yesterday. It's supposed to last 8 hours for DS/DSi games.
- There is no menu loading, even playing Smash Bros and going into the web browser has the same delay as just loading up the web browser with no game on.
- Charge dock is a bit tight. You can't just drop it on like with the old 3DS. You have to push it down until the light comes on.
