New Nintendo 3DS XL is full-featured fun for gamers

Nintendo has been creating popular handheld gaming devices since the original GameBoy back in 1989. The New Nintendo 3DS XL—yes, that's the official name, confusingly enough—is its most full-featured offering to date, with numerous improvements over the previous-generation 3DS XL. We bought one to try it out, and to help you decide whether it's a worthwhile purchase, as a new device or as an upgrade.

How is it different from the "old" 3DS XL?

At first glance, the New Nintendo 3DS XL ($200, in red or black) looks very much like the previous-generation device. But this is not simply a redesign of the 3DS: It's a brand new piece of hardware. Among the many new features are a faster processor, a second thumbstick (also called a C stick, it's above the four directional buttons; see photo above) for more precise control of in-game movements, and additional shoulder buttons.

The most promising improvement is the implementation of head tracking, which vastly improves the 3D performance of the screen. In the previous versions of the 3DS, if your eyes weren't centered on the screen, it would become blurry and essentially unusable. In the New 3DS XL, the camera detects your head's position, which lets you view the 3D screen from slightly different angles. This makes the 3D feature much more usable.
 
The New 3DS XL can also deliver better graphics than any of the previous models. But this won't be apparent until some exclusive New 3DS games that can take advantage of the improved graphics are available (the New 3DS XL is backward-compatible with existing 3DS games). The first exclusive title will be Xenoblade Chronicles, coming on April 10. The resolution of the screen hasn't changed, though, so any improvements to the visuals still run up against those limitations.

Finally, the product's name is just misleading. Slapping the word "New" on the box doesn't differentiate the device enough from its predecessors. When games become available for the new device, we predict a lot of consumers will be confused about whether they are buying the right game for their version of the 3DS. For more clarification on the differences between 3DS models, check out Nintendo's comparison tool.

Here's our overall impression.

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Pros

• Games and applications load faster than on older 3DS models.
• New buttons work with current games. For example, the C stick controls the camera in the Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
• You can play the full library of 3DS and DS games, and the New 3DS XL will also offer exclusive titles.
• There's built-in NFC support, which is used to connect to Nintendo's Amiibo action figures.
• The face-tracking feature greatly improves the 3D experience.

Cons

• Very small screws in the back panel must be removed to access the microSD card slot.
• The C stick is not as comfortable to use as a slider pad or analog stick.
• No power adapter is provided.
• The New 3DS lags behind the Sony PlayStation Vita in terms of graphics and processing power.
• The name of the device could cause confusion when buying games.
  

Bottom line

The New Nintendo 3DS XL is undoubtedly the best version of the 3DS currently available.  If you are in the market to purchase a 3DS for the first time, this is the one to buy.

If you already own a 3DS, though, you might want to hold off on upgrading. Nintendo hasn't yet announced how many exclusive titles it will offer for the new device, and while the new features are a huge plus, they aren't necessary.  

Nintendo's handheld game consoles aren't your only option, either. They face competition from the Sony PlayStation Vita. Even though Nintendo has made improvements in all the right areas and the latest 3DS XL offer some advantages over the Vita, the Vita still holds the edge in terms of processing power and graphics.

—Matt Ferretti