3DS XL First Impressions/Previews

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Jo Shishido's Cheeks said:
My favourite thing about the XL hands-down is how older titles look on it.
DS and all VC titles in 1:1 mode look amazing!
I'm seriously going to replay my entire collection :)
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I imagine it hasn't changed at all but just to be sure - do the GBA games still have minor ghosting problems? I think they were doing a 2-frame interpolation or something before that made it look strange in motion. Is it apparent?
 
Does anyone here know some reliable Europe-based online store where it's possible to order a Japanese 3DSLL at a reasonable price?
 
The crappy thing about these threads after a release is that while we want to har impressions and get pics, it eventually devolves into a massive friend code sharing exercise.
 
My silver 3DS Xl came today from Tesco, I paid £153 with the discount posted a couple of months ago.

The system looks & feels great,

All of the buttons feel bigger and no longer cramped together,
the D-pad feels a lot better in size & position, it has more of a click when pressing in directions & it stays in place & doesn't wobble at all.

The top screen also has no wobble staying perfectly still in both positions.
The screens colour temperature is more 6500k than 9300k looking warmer and less blue than before,which is perfect imho.

The 3D is the same as ever but appears more pronounced thanks to screen size.



With headphones connected to the system there is just about enough room for it to not feel awkward but its not the ideal place for the socket.

The only real big negative I have for my 3DS Xl is the dead pixel near the centre of the top screen that I cannot unsee.

I will have to send it to Nintendo at some point to sort it which is annoying but at least I believe they will be willing to fix it.
 
I just picked mine up, and it's quite underwhelming. The low ppi and the warmer screen makes it look way worse than my 3DS right next to it. I'm going to try and play some games, but so far I'm not feeling these screens at all.

Also, I feel that the 3D sweet spot is way worse than before. Not that I care about 3D, but I don't get the people saying it would be better with the bigger screen.

EDIT: I just compared the 3D, and I guess it's the same on both screens.
 
Aaaaw man, dead pixels, disappointing upper post.

Hype going down. I really hope I'll get a perfect unit, I don't want any factory flaws. =_=
 
AndyMoogle said:
I just picked mine up, and it's quite underwhelming. The low ppi and the warmer screen makes it look way worse than my 3DS right next to it. I'm going to try and play some games, but so far I'm not feeling these screens at all.

Also, I feel that the 3D sweet spot is way worse than before. Not that I care about 3D, but I don't get the people saying it would be better with the bigger screen.
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Crap man. Im sorry you feel that way but I
certainly hope that's not a common opinion.
 
Seik said:
Aaaaw man, dead pixels, disappointing upper post.

Hype going down. I really hope I'll get a perfect unit, I don't want any factory flaws. =_=
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Well, I have no dead pixels, all buttons feel great, and no marks or scratches on the screens.

Oh, and another thing, I really like that the 3D slider kind of clicks into the off position now. And no more green 3D letters is great.
 
Seik said:
Aaaaw man, dead pixels, disappointing upper post.

Hype going down. I really hope I'll get a perfect unit, I don't want any factory flaws. =_=
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I seen you and I are very alike. Things sound good but one flaw droping your hype... Still so mixed as what to do... If I should buy or not.
 
AndyMoogle said:
I just picked mine up, and it's quite underwhelming. The low ppi and the warmer screen makes it look way worse than my 3DS right next to it. I'm going to try and play some games, but so far I'm not feeling these screens at all.

Also, I feel that the 3D sweet spot is way worse than before. Not that I care about 3D, but I don't get the people saying it would be better with the bigger screen.

EDIT: I just compared the 3D, and I guess it's the same on both screens.
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Not good to hear. :(
 
I take back what I said about no wobble, slightly misleading. My 3DS XL definitely has wobble on its hinge axis. It clicks into place just fine but there is still movement, though no way near as bad as my 3DS. As the top screen of the 3DS XL is rather heavy it just seems like it's stuck in place, but if you hold the top screen you can rock it back and forth slightly, and likewise if you tip the device towards you.

I've also noticed a slightly iffy paint job on the top screen, nothing major though.

Basically these are minor niggles to an almost perfect device, it's a keeper. (unless I get a flood of 'But mine does not wobble in the slightest!') :p
 
Yazuka said:
I seen you and I are very alike. Things sound good but one flaw droping your hype... Still so mixed as what to do... If I should buy or not.
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Well, when I pay for something new I expect it to be new. Dead pixels is something real bad imo, it would be impossible for me not paying attention to this after seeing it the first time.

This and those dots/lines we commented on a few pages ago both are exchange worthy.

The more I hear from people the more I think about maybe waiting a month or two before buying...but I'm 90% sure I won't handle the wait and I'll jump in. Whatever, if my unit have any flaws I'll return it, I'll buy it at best buy/future shop or whatever to be sure to get another one quickly.
 
ksimm said:
I take back what I said about no wobble, slightly misleading. My 3DS XL definitely has wobble on its hinge axis. It clicks into place just fine but there is still movement, though no way near as bad as my 3DS. As the top screen of the 3DS XL is rather heavy it just seems like it's stuck in place, but if you hold the top screen you can rock it back and forth slightly, and likewise if you tip the device towards you.

I've also noticed a slightly iffy paint job on the top screen, nothing major though.

Basically these are minor niggles to an almost perfect device, it's a keeper. (unless I get a flood of 'But mine does not wobble in the slightest!') :p
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I can wiggle my screen too if I grab it.
 
ksimm said:
I take back what I said about no wobble, slightly misleading. My 3DS XL definitely has wobble on its hinge axis. It clicks into place just fine but there is still movement, though no way near as bad as my 3DS. As the top screen of the 3DS XL is rather heavy it just seems like it's stuck in place, but if you hold the top screen you can rock it back and forth slightly, and likewise if you tip the device towards you.

I've also noticed a slightly iffy paint job on the top screen, nothing major though.

Basically these are minor niggles to an almost perfect device, it's a keeper. (unless I get a flood of 'But mine does not wobble in the slightest!') :p
Click to expand...

You can wobble it with your fingers, it's normal.
 
Fortune has smiled upon me, no scratching/dead pixels/excess screen wobble here from what I can tell.
The screen has made a world of difference, much easier on the eyes.

I've noticed the speakers have a ever so slightly lower volume when compared to the original model? But maybe that's all in my head.
 
Fabthegnome said:
Fortune has smiled upon me, no scratching/dead pixels/excess screen wobble here from what I can tell.
The screen has made a world of difference, much easier on the eyes.

I've noticed the speakers have a ever so slightly lower volume when compared to the original model? But maybe that's all in my head.
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Nope, the speakers ARE quieter. They are actually rectangular, which is pretty unique.

They vibrate a hell of a lot too, I've noticed whilst playing Mario Kart on it.
 
I'm such a sucker, picked mine up a bit earlier :p
Traded my 3DS & old 360 then only had to pony up a fiver in cash, nice.

The console is a thing of beauty. Zelda, DOA and Resi look amazing on it. Tales of Abyss doesnt look as bad as many here had earlier said. I prefer it on the bigger screen.

Sound is lower for sure and The top screen does have wobble due to it's weight, but I'm kinda in love at the moment, so they're not bothering me too much. haha.
The clicking when moving the screen is annoying though, feels like i'm tearing it to bits everytime I open it up.

The guy said they had dozens earlier and only a few left. It was an elderly couple in front of me buying a red XL, Art Academy and Bubble Bobble :p
 
i got this with kingdom hearts 3D, the 3D effect hasnt floored me for kh yet, but then again im in the beginning.

glad i never finished Zelda or fully starred mario 3dsland D:
 
JasoNsider said:
I imagine it hasn't changed at all but just to be sure - do the GBA games still have minor ghosting problems? I think they were doing a 2-frame interpolation or something before that made it look strange in motion. Is it apparent?
Click to expand...

It hasn't changed unfortunately. GBA games, despite being nicer to play by default on account of the size increase, are still muted/dull and ghosting is apparent on occasion.
Still hoping that Nintendo fixes that whenever final versions appear on the eShop.....
 
Here are my early impression after playing some games for only ~10 minutes each.

I played Tales of the Abyss, Dragon Quest V (native mode), Resident Evil: Revelations, Theatrhythm and Ocarina of Time. I've played all of these games before on my regular 3DS. Some of them was a long time ago, but others are more recent. I'll try and make some comparisons.

I don't use 3D at all, so I have no impressions about that. Also, I'll refer to the regular 3DS as "3DS" and the 3DS XL as "XL".

First, I played some Tales of the Abyss and I felt that the screens seem a bit darker than on the 3DS, so I had to raise the brightness from my usual 3 to 4. The game looks pretty good, and I can't say that I have any major complaints about how it looks on the XL.

After a few minutes I decided to try the game on my 3DS and I could tell right away that it clearly looked better on the smaller screen. If you've never seen the game on a 3DS, or at least haven't played it on a 3DS in a long time (like me), then you'll think that the game looks just fine on the XL. The intro is clearly pixelated, but other than that I had no problems.

After that I decided to try Dragon Quest V in native mode. I guess it looks just like it would on a DS Lite or DSi. The new dpad is waaaaaay better than on the 3DS. It's not the best dpad I've ever used, but it's a big improvement over the one on the 3DS. In fact, all buttons are improved on the XL.

Resident Evil: Revelations looks ok I guess. It's nice to play a game like this on a bigger screen, but at the same time it's really going to show the flaws. It's just one of those games that won't look great on a bigger screen.

Next up was Theatrhythm, and this game looks really nice. The colors definitely pop more on this screen. The game plays pretty much the same as on a 3DS. I had some worries about being forced to make bigger movements for the slide triggers, but they registered perfectly with the same amount of movement as I did on the 3DS. The hold triggers feel a bit weird at first, but I quickly got used to them.

Ocarina of Time was probably the game I felt benefited the most from the bigger screens; at least out of the 3D games. Some of the 2D assets are very pixelated, like the map, but overall it looks good. A game like this was really meant for a bigger screen than what the 3DS has to offer. It's a shame about the low resolution we got, but it still looks pretty crisp and I immediately felt that I wanted to start up a new file and go through the game once again.

So, overall it's a mixed bag. The games will obviously look crisper and less pixelated on the 3DS than on the XL, but they still look pretty good and some games feel really nice on the bigger screen. Some things, like the home screen, looks pretty damn bad with the low ppi.

I love the new buttons and dpad, and the new position for the stylus is a million times better.

I haven't yet decided if I'm going to keep this and sell my 3DS or the other way around. I'm a bit worried that the XL might be a tad too big for my small hands, and I'm going to really test it out once I charge it. I'm going to play Mario Kart 7 for an hour or two and see how my hands feel after that.
 
Got it!

jdKAF.jpg
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I finally decided on red. Pikmins are currently transferring my system.
 
Got a silver one at Saturn in Germany. Really digging the feel of the unit. Currently transferring everything.

They had SM3DL, OOT3D and MK7 on display there on the XL. They all looked better to me on the big screen, SM3DL shows it jagginess but it was less apparent then what I was expecting and pretty much in line with the regular 3DS (they had both on simultaneous display). They also had an aisle presence with New Art Academy but I will wait for a DD version.
 
Ive been playing on this lovely beast for some hours now, and man, I love it so much! Im glad I am not a american right now.
 
I just realised, the XL's casing reminds me of those brightly coloured rotating block platforms from Mario 3D Land, the ones that make that really nice noise when you walk over them. <3

Picking up a red one tomorrow, I'm too weak to wait for a specific colour later on!
 
Ally1987 said:
Ive been playing on this lovely beast for some hours now, and man, I love it so much! Im glad I am not a american right now.
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Sucks. We Americans will be waiting a few more weeks, we don't even have demo units to see/try in person in our stores. I will have have no what the blue/red really look/feel like, in person until I've bought the thing and am stuck with the purchase....so.....

Speaking of, we need more pics and video - seems every one is getting red or silver (we aren't getting silver) - show me your blue guys :p

I don't want to be stuck with an assy color :(
 
eighty(one) said:
Sucks. We Americans will be waiting a few more weeks, we don't even have demo units to see/try in person in our stores. I will have have no what the blue/red really look/feel like, in person until I've bought the thing and am stuck with the purchase....so.....

Speaking of, we need more pics and video - seems every one is getting red or silver (we aren't getting silver) - show me your blue guys :p

I don't want to be stuck with an assy color :(
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In the store I went to, they run out of blue very quickly, it was the most seeked out by far.
 
Some North American outlets have started to get their XLs and copies of NSMB2 it looks like.

Edit: Media outlets. Sorry, should have specified, but I imagine if places like Nintendo Go and Destructioid have copies, then retailers must be getting them soon.
 
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