By: Justin
    The New Nintendo 3DS XL is the latest handheld console from Nintendo. It was released on February 13, last month. There are some new features that were added to it that were an improvement from the original 3DS XL. The first noticible difference is the new C stick on the right side of the device above the A, B, Y, and X buttons. Another thing you might notice is that the letters on the buttons that I just mentioned have been added a color instead of just being white. The A button is red, the B button yellow, the Y button green, and the X button blue. Now, there is a normal New 3DS, but it is not being sold in America. This was a bit of a dissapointment because with the New 3DS, and the New 3DS only, you are able to take the back plates off and change them with ones that have designs on them. The standard New 3DS XL comes in 2 colors, red and black, although there are 2 special editions, which are the Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate limited edition and the Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D limited edition.


    The New 3DS XL costs $200. This is less expensive than the original 3DS XL. The reason is because the New 3DS XL doesn't come with an AC adapter (charging cable). The New 3DS is bigger than the 3DS XL, but only by a few millimeters. Another feature is that there is no wireless slider. To turn wireless on and off, you have to go into the home settings, and there is a switch. Nintendo moved the game card slot to the bottom left of the device, and it is sunk in a bit, so you don't accidentaly eject the card. The headphone jack has been moved to the bottom middle of the console. The stylus slot has been moved to the bottom right, and has been redesigned so it is easier to hold in the hand. The ZR and ZL buttons featured on the Wii U gamepad have been added to the New 3DS XL.


    There were two games that were released on the day of the New 3DS XL, and those were Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and the Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D. Both of these games take advantage of the new C stick. I was lucky enough to obtain a copy of the Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D the day of release without a preorder. Although these games were released on the same day as the New 3DS XL, they are for both the 3DS. There are no games so far that take advantage of the New 3DS XL's faster processing speeds. A new feature to this console is the Super Stable 3D. On the previous 3DS and 3DS XL, to see the 3D properly, you would have to be a certain distance away from the screen and you would have to be staring down the direct center. We call this the sweet spot. This caused a lot of people to play with the 3D off. What Nintendo did was add facial recognition to the front facing camera on the device and a UV light to light up your face for the camera if you are in a dark place. So wherever you move, the camera adjusts the 3D to follow your eyes. Because of this, I have never turned the 3D off.

    Amiibo and NFC support was built in to the New 3DS XL. This means you can use Amiibo's and other things that the 3DS can scan. For people without the New 3DS XL, there will be an Amiibo scanner for the 3DS and 3DS XL that will connect to the device via infred connection.

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