NEW 3DS / XL

[Jarrad]

It was recently confirmed that New zealand and Australia would be the first English speaking countries to receive the new 3DS / XL. Many European gamers are deciding to buy and import their own AU/NZ NEW 3DS' in an attempt to merely receive the console earlier than usual, as there has not yet been a release date announced for the console in the UK/EU. This would work, as although region locking still exists on the new generation of hand-helds, the EU, AU and NZ are all considered one "region" so there would be full compatibility between EU and NZ/AU games.

I'm contemplating doing it myself, as I can't wait any longer for a release date in the UK. However, I can only assume that there would be some minor complications when it comes to playing a console manufactured towards a NZ/AU demographic in the UK. Does anybody know whether certain features of the new 3DS would be restricted due to this? i.e would it still be able to access the internet and e-shop online despite it not being in AU/NZ?

 

[unravel]

Planning to buy one IF the game is exclusive only for N3DS

 

[Jarrad]

There's only one confirmed exclusive for the new 3ds, which is the new xenoblade game, right? I might be wrong, as I don't really have any interest in the franchise.

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Slightly off topic:
It's infuriating that people from Nintendo make such bad market decisions. We all remember the confusion around the Wii U, misleading people to believe that it was an upgrade of the Wii as opposed to a completely next generation console. Now there's the "New 3DS". WHY? Why not just call it the 3DSi or something simple? It's almost as though Nintendo enjoy confusing their target demographic...

 

[DoctorGallifrey]

I still don't understand the need for a "New" 3DS to be made. Is it going to be drastically different from the originals? From what I saw initially the specs for it were slightly better, but not really good enough for a new system.

 

[Jarrad]

The specs are just a bonus. Personally, I'm only going to get one for the option to customize it with the plates. I've always wanted something like this from Nintendo!

 

[HeyPatience]

There's only one confirmed exclusive for the new 3ds, which is the new xenoblade game, right? I might be wrong, as I don't really have any interest in the franchise.

- - - Post Merge - - -

Slightly off topic:
It's infuriating that people from Nintendo make such bad market decisions. We all remember the confusion around the Wii U, misleading people to believe that it was an upgrade of the Wii as opposed to a completely next generation console. Now there's the "New 3DS". WHY? Why not just call it the 3DSi or something simple? It's almost as though Nintendo enjoy confusing their target demographic...

Going off on the little off topic bit at the end of your post I completely agree. As a Marketing major in college, I have talked about Nintendo in some of my classes. Even my teachers cringe at some of the things they do! While its great to keep some things a secret so that people get more curious about it and may want to buy it even more, they always seem to leave out the most important information or they dont clarify things to ease the confusion about the product. Which in turn is very off putting for consumers. I also agree that they should've called it something different than the "new 3DS".

 

[Reindeer]

I still don't understand the need for a "New" 3DS to be made. Is it going to be drastically different from the originals? From what I saw initially the specs for it were slightly better, but not really good enough for a new system.

The CPU and GPU power have been doubled. Loading times on Miiverse, download times in the eShop, loading times on the system menu, etc., have all been more than halved. Apart from that, it actually seems to help with loading times on normal 3DS games as well, and slowdown in current 3DS titles (Pokemon X/Y being a very good example) may disappear entirely. There's also the fact that the New 3DS totally eliminates the need for peripherals (Circle Pad Pro/XL, Amiibo Adapter) due to their functionalities being built-in.

If I had more money I would have imported the Australian New 3DS, seeing as it all uses the same charger anyway. But I don't, so tough luck. I'll just have to wait for it to release here, even if that's April or whatever Nintendo will decide upon.

 

[DoctorGallifrey]

The CPU and GPU power have been doubled. Loading times on Miiverse, download times in the eShop, loading times on the system menu, etc., have all been more than halved. Apart from that, it actually seems to help with loading times on normal 3DS games as well, and slowdown in current 3DS titles (Pokemon X/Y being a very good example) may disappear entirely. There's also the fact that the New 3DS totally eliminates the need for peripherals (Circle Pad Pro/XL, Amiibo Adapter) due to their functionalities being built-in.

If I had more money I would have imported the Australian New 3DS, seeing as it all uses the same charger anyway. But I don't, so tough luck. I'll just have to wait for it to release here, even if that's April or whatever Nintendo will decide upon.

Thanks for clearing that up. Hopefully a good majority of the games for the "New" 3DS will work on the standard one, considering I just got a 3DS XL last November and I don't want to get an upgraded version for quite some time.

 

[Reindeer]

Thanks for clearing that up. Hopefully a good majority of the games for the "New" 3DS will work on the standard one, considering I just got a 3DS XL last November and I don't want to get an upgraded version for quite some time.

So far the only known exclusive is Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, which is still in development. There will be some titles that are N3DS-enhanced (like how some DS games were DSi-enhanced), with Codename S.T.E.A.M. being one of them. That means they'll run on the normal 3DS, but there'll be some extra features when it's played on the N3DS.

They did say there are more exclusives on the way, so we'll just have to wait and see what those are. Ultimately I think it's those games that will sell the system to people, since not many would buy it for the upgraded system specs.

 

[DoctorGallifrey]

So far the only known exclusive is Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, which is still in development. There will be some titles that are N3DS-enhanced (like how some DS games were DSi-enhanced), with Codename S.T.E.A.M. being one of them. That means they'll run on the normal 3DS, but there'll be some extra features when it's played on the N3DS.

They did say there are more exclusives on the way, so we'll just have to wait and see what those are. Ultimately I think it's those games that will sell the system to people, since not many would buy it for the upgraded system specs.

Well I'm just glad that the 3DS still has somewhat of a long life left. It just that I have the worst luck when buying gaming systems, I always end up getting them at least year before the next version is announced.

 

[Jarrad]

Well I'm just glad that the 3DS still has somewhat of a long life left. It just that I have the worst luck when buying gaming systems, I always end up getting them at least year before the next version is announced.

That has never happened to me, and that's honestly all because I just buy consoles near to their release date. I know that I would save money if I had bought the console at a later date, but hey, look at the 3ds ambassador thing! Free & Exclusive games!

 

[Cress]

So what you're saying is that the NA is still completely ignored. I kinda knew that already, but okay.

 

[DoctorGallifrey]

That has never happened to me, and that's honestly all because I just buy consoles near to their release date. I know that I would save money if I had bought the console at a later date, but hey, look at the 3ds ambassador thing! Free & Exclusive games!

It's just that I never really have the money when the consoles initially release. It's not until later that I can actually afford it. It's also the fact that if I do have the money, there really aren't that many games that are released for a console at the time of release that really appeal to me, so I wait a while.

So what you're saying is that the NA is still completely ignored. I kinda knew that already, but okay.

We're more than likely going to be the last regions to get it.

 

[Reindeer]

So what you're saying is that the NA is still completely ignored. I kinda knew that already, but okay.

Technically. It's not officially released in Europe either, even though the exact systems that would release here are releasing in Oceania.

 

[Goth]

There's only one confirmed exclusive for the new 3ds, which is the new xenoblade game, right? I might be wrong, as I don't really have any interest in the franchise.

- - - Post Merge - - -

Slightly off topic:
It's infuriating that people from Nintendo make such bad market decisions. We all remember the confusion around the Wii U, misleading people to believe that it was an upgrade of the Wii as opposed to a completely next generation console. Now there's the "New 3DS". WHY? Why not just call it the 3DSi or something simple? It's almost as though Nintendo enjoy confusing their target demographic...

The wii u was actually going to be a controller for the wii at the beginning so theres that

 

[LambdaDelta]

The specs are just a bonus. Personally, I'm only going to get one for the option to customize it with the plates. I've always wanted something like this from Nintendo!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy_Micro

 

[nekosync]

It was recently confirmed that New zealand and Australia would be the first English speaking countries to receive the new 3DS / XL. Many European gamers are deciding to buy and import their own AU/NZ NEW 3DS' in an attempt to merely receive the console earlier than usual, as there has not yet been a release date announced for the console in the UK/EU. This would work, as although region locking still exists on the new generation of hand-helds, the EU, AU and NZ are all considered one "region" so there would be full compatibility between EU and NZ/AU games.

Are you sure? I'd want to try getting a NZ/AU 3DS but I don't want to end up screwing this up for myself.

 

[Reindeer]

Are you sure? I'd want to try getting a NZ/AU 3DS but I don't want to end up screwing this up for myself.

It's the PAL region which Australia and New Zealand belong to. You could import games from Oceania to play them on a European PS2 for example. The same regions are still being used today, so the N3DS being released there is the same as the one that'll release in Europe.