Upgraded: The New 3DS and New 3DS XL has more memory, automatic brightness adjustment, face-tracking for better 3D and improved battery.
The New Nintendo 3DS, an upgraded version of the company's popular 3DS, will be made available in North America from Sept 25 to celebrate the launch of Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer.
The New Nintendo 3DS, with its customisable outer shell, is at last being made available in North America as part of a US$219 (RM925) bundle that includes the handheld console, a copy of Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, and two cover plates.
After the larger New Nintendo 3DS XL (16cm x 9cm x 21cm) launched in February 2015, this marginally more pocketable, standard-size version (14cm x 8cm x 21cm) is making its debut alongside another new product inside the Happy Home Designer bundle.
The package also contains the very first Amiibo card, a spin-off from Nintendo's line of NFC-enabled figurines that can interact with Wii U and 3DS consoles, unlocking extra content such as costumes, items or even game levels.
Those cards can interact directly with both types of the New Nintendo 3DS which, like the Wii U's GamePad, have NFC readers built in (a separate reader will be sold for legacy models).
A separate NFC reader will be made available from Sept 25 as well, for older models of the 3DS.
But compatibility with the sought-after Amiibo collectibles isn't all that the New Nintendo 3DS handhelds can do.
Announced in Aug 2014 and rolled out in tandem internationally over the following months, the New 3DS and New 3DS XL have more memory, automatic brightness adjustment, face-tracking for better 3D, an improved battery, and four shoulder buttons instead of two in comparison to their predecessors.
They also have a second control stick that replaces the less wieldy Circle Pad Pro add-on, enhancing games like Monster Hunter 3G and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D.
Perhaps most persuasively for those that want to keep up with the latest titles is that a select few are playable only on the New 3DS – the very highly rated Xenoblade Chronicles 3D among them.
But setting it apart from its XL sibling, aside from that reduced size, is the New 3DS's ability to offer cosmetic customisation thanks to those swappable face plates. In that way it's a clever decision to make it part of launch plans for Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, a game centered on aesthetic experimentation and personal expression.
The Animal Crossing bundle, announced as a GameStop exclusive, mirrors those being made available in other territories, including Japan and Europe, which were announced in May and July respectively. All that remains for Nintendo of America to do is to release the New 3DS on its own in non-bundled form. — AFP Relaxnews
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