The New 3DS: One Week On

One week of ownership after purchase and I’m still finding that I enjoy the new 3DS even more everyday. Before purchase I didn’t know what the advantage of owning this version of the 3DS range was over the older 2011 model, but now I don’t think I could ever go back, and this article is where I’ll discuss why.

After owning the original 3DS, 2DS and 3DS XL I was familiar with what the 3DS could achieve, what I didn’t expect though was how blown away I’d be by the new edition. A few negatives I had about the 3DS over the years had all left my mind the first time I started up the newest 3DS.

3D View: The 3D has been vastly improved upon, with the camera actually doing very well to track where the 3DS was in proportion to my sight. Achieved via the use of the inner camera I found it always matching my head movements, even when walking around (although it can’t correct distances) that it would try to get me that sweet spot that looks oh so impressive.

Button Layout: The start and select next to the home button on the bottom screen has been placed in a more logical, comfortable, Nintendo nostalgic position to where your right thumb can reach them comfortably now. Sitting just underneath the A, B, X, Y buttons the buttons seem much easier to hit when you can’t look away from the game your playing. I haven’t had need yet to use the C stick, and can’t imagine I will for a while, and in my opinion isn’t the most comfortable nor useful addition to the 3DS. The LZ and RZ buttons are a similar issue but they are positioned well on the shoulders and are easy enough to push in and reach even with my medium sized hands.
I also found the new location of the volume slider to be nice, mirroring the location of the 3D slider, making it easier to access at times. Although sound doesn’t really seem to change until about 40% movement above mute which is a little odd, a little more even spacing of the sound function would have been nice.

Wi-Fi Speed: Testing against my 2DS the new 3DS blitzed the older device, downloading the newest pokemon update it was easily noticeable and play Super Smash Bros online is now slightly more enjoyable with a more constant faster connection.

New Hardware: Playing Super Smash Bros I noticed it runs a little smoother, with what appeared to be a more constant frame rate, Pokemon on the other hand still suffers from the drop of frame rate during battles which I thought Nintendo and Game Freak would of patched by now.

Auto- Brightness: What a great feature, it does well to match the lighting condition no matter where I am in the house, save for in direct sunlight, but I wouldn’t expect the screen to ever produce enough light for that.

Face Plates: Another great feature, although at current I’m still using my white faceplate that came with the console I will purchase a new one when I next see them. With something like over 40 different types there is sure to be a design for everybody.

That for now is what I’ve taken notice of after the first week and I might yet post up after two weeks what else I’ve found to be impressive.