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3DS XL First Impressions/Previews

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Okay, so I'm in the US and finally jumping on the 3DS bandwagon. I was waiting for a redesign to jump in and the XL is exactly what I was looking for. I've got two games already purchased and waiting for the console.

What does any 3DS owner need? I know next to nothing about the system other than "it has games I would like to play". Do I need to get an SD card or something? I have a vague recollection that those come in handy for the system. Are screen protectors a must or can I get away without having one? Are there any must-have accessories for the system?
 
Haliela said:
My copy is eagerly awaiting my XL. It's sitting ever so patiently in its game case just begging to be played. This week is going to be awful.... a whole work week separates me from XL goodness.

/firstworldproblems
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I picked up Kingdom Hearts from a gaffer, and already have Theatrythm ready to go.
 
keeblerdrow said:
Okay, so I'm in the US and finally jumping on the 3DS bandwagon. I was waiting for a redesign to jump in and the XL is exactly what I was looking for. I've got two games already purchased and waiting for the console.

What does any 3DS owner need? I know next to nothing about the system other than "it has games I would like to play". Do I need to get an SD card or something? I have a vague recollection that those come in handy for the system. Are screen protectors a must or can I get away without having one? Are there any must-have accessories for the system?
Click to expand...

The XL comes with a 4GB SD card, so that should be enough for quite a while.
 
keeblerdrow said:
Okay, so I'm in the US and finally jumping on the 3DS bandwagon. I was waiting for a redesign to jump in and the XL is exactly what I was looking for. I've got two games already purchased and waiting for the console.

What does any 3DS owner need? I know next to nothing about the system other than "it has games I would like to play". Do I need to get an SD card or something? I have a vague recollection that those come in handy for the system. Are screen protectors a must or can I get away without having one? Are there any must-have accessories for the system?
Click to expand...

The XL comes with a 4GB card. And unless you to start buying the retail games in DD, that should be good enough. There's no screen tearing game like Ouendan or Trauma Center so I don't think a screen protector is needed.
 
A pic I took today at Five Below of the 'chopper' cases...I snagged a second one for my future 3DS XL. ;) Had picked one up for my DSi XL a few months ago and I'm glad to see they still had a bunch.

CBplTl.jpg




EDIT: Sorry, resized pic. Sent it from the phone originally and didn't realize how big it was going to be.
 
Boney said:
The XL comes with a 4GB card. And unless you to start buying the retail games in DD, that should be good enough. There's no screen tearing game like Ouendan or Trauma Center so I don't think a screen protector is needed.
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What? That's not what screen protectors are for.
 
keeblerdrow said:
Okay, so I'm in the US and finally jumping on the 3DS bandwagon. I was waiting for a redesign to jump in and the XL is exactly what I was looking for. I've got two games already purchased and waiting for the console.

What does any 3DS owner need? I know next to nothing about the system other than "it has games I would like to play". Do I need to get an SD card or something? I have a vague recollection that those come in handy for the system. Are screen protectors a must or can I get away without having one? Are there any must-have accessories for the system?
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First of all, you need Resident Evil Revelations.

Other than that, the 3DS XL comes with a 4GB SD Card, so no need to buy another one unless you want more space (supports up to 32GB). Screen protectors are highly recommended.
 
Daydream Sequence said:
The DSi XL had 76ppi while the 3DS XL is 95ppi. For reference the original 3DS is 132ppi. So yeah, the 3DS XL is going to be noticeably blurrier and the black lines between pixels will stand out more, which I imagine will make the images appear darker.
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Where did you get these numbers from? I'm trying to find an official source.

Thank you.
 
dallow_bg said:
You guys keep saying "blurrier" because of the decrease in PPI, but don't you mean "pixelated"?

EDIT: wow, beaten
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I have never used a 3DS XL but the image should look blurry when upscaling DS games. Have you ever run an LCD monitor at a resolution below it's native resolution? If the resolution of the display is not a perfect multiple of the resolution of the original artwork it will appear blurry as the display attempts to estimate pixels that fall somewhere between the actual pixels of the display. Imagine trying to split a grid of 3x3 into 4 differently colored quarters, it has to do some tricky estimation to pull it off because 4 doesn't go evenly into 9. This is what is happening on the 3DS display which causes the blurriness.
 
optimiss said:
I have never used a 3DS XL but the image should look blurry when upscaling DS games. Have you ever run an LCD monitor at a resolution below it's native resolution? If the resolution of the display is not a perfect multiple of the resolution of the original artwork it will appear blurry as the display attempts to estimate pixels that fall somewhere between the actual pixels of the display. Imagine trying to split a grid of 3x3 into 4 differently colored quarters, it has to do some tricky estimation to pull it off because 4 doesn't go evenly into 9. This is what is happening on the 3DS display which causes the blurriness.
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Well that's obvious.
But they (and I) were talking about 3DS games looking blurrier on XL vs non-XL.
Not DS games.
 
womp said:
A pic I took today at Five Below of the 'chopper' cases...I snagged a second one for my future 3DS XL. ;) Had picked one up for my DSi XL a few months ago and I'm glad to see they still had a bunch.
Click to expand...

I went to the Nintendo World Store yesterday hoping to score one of these and a pack of the Kid Icarus series 2 cards. They had an awful selection of cases and the cards were only available to those competing in the Kid Icarus tournement. Since I won't have a 3DS till August 19th I was SOL. Does anyone know how long they will be giving out the cards?

I did however pick up an awesome Goomba hat, a Turtwig plush for my girlfriend, Mario coinblock candy, and a Mario Galaxy 2 keychain. Score!
 
Hmm, as psyched as I was for a 3DS XL, I think I'm going to have to pass on it for now. I'm hoping there will be an awesome special edition around November or so and I'll buy one for myself as an early Christmas present. A sweet Paper Mario or Luigi's Mansion XL would be amazing.

Plus, all I have for my 3DS now is DS games and Kingdom Hearts.
 
Ken Masters said:
if I don't use a screen protector I will scratch the screen? the screen quality is THAT poor? I never bought a screen protector for my DS Lite and never scratched it
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No. There is 0% risk of scratching the screen by closing it. It's only when you put pressure on the top screen that it can touch the bottom screen. Or rather the border around the bottom screen.

I've never gotten any major scratches on my DS or 3DS handhelds. My DS and DSL had some minor scratches that could only be seen under direct light and when the system was off.
 
Ken Masters said:
if I don't use a screen protector I will scratch the screen? the screen quality is THAT poor? I never bought a screen protector for my DS Lite and never scratched it
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Well, for the touch screen I seemed to always get specks of whatever getting on it and I end up scratching it, but for the top screen... yeah, due to the different aspect ratios the bottom one can scratch the top one, and it seems the problem may exist (albeit milder) with the 3DS XL still.

EDIT: Admittedly he's probably right that it's due to pressure as I only had the scratching happen (though to my screen protectors) from a prolonged trip from home.
 
Used one lately, it looks very cheaply made especially in comparison with the original model 3DS. It's clear Nintendo are out to improve their profit margins with this thing.
 
Since Fire Emblem will be coming out in 2013 in Europe, I hope they will bring a special edtion 3DS XL as well, just like the blue japanese Fire Emblem 3DS, which is fucking awesome!
 
If you play the XL and then go back to the original 3DS you definitely see the increase in quality because of the smaller screen

Conor 419 said:
Used one lately, it looks very cheaply made especially in comparison with the original model 3DS. It's clear Nintendo are out to improve their profit margins with this thing.
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The build quality definitely feels and looks a cheaper but for play it's still good enough
 
Teetris said:
If you play the XL and then go back to the original 3DS you definitely see the increase in quality because of the smaller screen

The build quality definitely feels and looks a cheaper but for play it's still good enough
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Can't really blame them. Their original plan of selling the 3DS at 250 flopped big time. I'm sure that had to eat into whatever profits they projected. It's just a guess, but I'd wager the only reason the XL exists at this point is because they feared the Vita. Little did they know way back when they designed the XL that the Vita wasn't going to be anything to fear.
 
I'm not taking a chance, specially since one of the first games I'm playing is theatrythum. I'm only putting a screen protector on the bottom screen though. I'm getting them from Amazon. They already have the XL ones. Funny thing you can buy the XL protectors but not the system itself.
 
Daydream Sequence said:
Can't really blame them. Their original plan of selling the 3DS at 250 flopped big time. I'm sure that had to eat into whatever profits they projected. It's just a guess, but I'd wager the only reason the XL exists at this point is because they feared the Vita. Little did they know way back when they designed the XL that the Vita wasn't going to be anything to fear.
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Doubt it. Nintendo always releases variants on their handhelds, regardless.
 
Daydream Sequence said:
Can't really blame them. Their original plan of selling the 3DS at 250 flopped big time. I'm sure that had to eat into whatever profits they projected. It's just a guess, but I'd wager the only reason the XL exists at this point is because they feared the Vita. Little did they know way back when they designed the XL that the Vita wasn't going to be anything to fear.
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Yet.

I took until 2nd G for Monster Hunter to become a system-selling phenomenon, but it still happened. Every system on the market is one killer app away from the top of the charts.
 
Teetris said:
The build quality definitely feels and looks a cheaper but for play it's still good enough
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Really? I've heard the opposite. I heard it not only feels better in your hands, but there is a bit more weight to it making the system feel more solid overall. The matte improves the look substantially imo.

I guess it all comes down to opinion.
 
Here's a question:

Why are we going in circles about yellow screens/Pre-usage scratches/screen scuffing?

I can't be the only person who buys a handheld at GameStop, unboxes the damn thing in store, turns it on and makes sure its acceptable? If it has a screen issue or is really yellow, just exchange it as defective.

I bought my Purple and looked it over at GameStop in May, making sure it was acceptable to me.

When I bought my 3DS in August of last year from Walmart, the first one had a really loose hinge. I took it back to Walmart and told customer service I wanted an exchange. They had me bring one from electronics and they exchanged it. No questions asked. Problem solved...

Just check it before performing a system transfer, if it's an issue. If an issue develops, Nintendo should have it taken care of in 2 weeks (if needs repair). Or you can use their advance repair service: they send you a new unit, you send yours in return.
 
abasm said:
Yet.

I took until 2nd G for Monster Hunter to become a system-selling phenomenon, but it still happened. Every system on the market is one killer app away from the top of the charts.
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There's not a single game in their arsenal or one of their third parties that will move Vita's in the west without a huge price drop and the inclusion of a memory card. Even then maybe not.
 
eighty(one) said:
I can't be the only person who buys a handheld at GameStop, unboxes the damn thing in store, turns it on and makes sure its acceptable? If it has a screen issue or is really yellow, just exchange it as defective.
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I've never had a problem with Nintendo hardware, so this never occured to me. I'll do it when I pick up my own system.
 
Man oh man, Revelations is so beautiful. It gives me good hope for the future of this thing. Scary as shit tho, need to stop playing it in bed at night T_T

Haliela said:
Really? I've heard the opposite. I heard it not only feels better in your hands, but there is a bit more weight to it making the system feel more solid overall. The matte improves the look substantially imo.

I guess it all comes down to opinion.
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The extra weight is definitely nice but for my hands the original 3DS has a slightly better grip (except for the triggers which are more comfortable to reach on the XL). If the outside had the same matte finish as the DSi I would agree with it being a lot better. But I can definitely see some kind of cheaper exterior on the XL. Maybe it is really just opinion. It definitely feels like it could break easier, but might just be the size :p

kurahador said:
So GAF, how does DS games look on this 3DS XL screen?
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1:1 looks good but there's so much black space around it it kinda defeats the purpose. I guess if you don't care too much about the scaling you can play DS games on it, but I wouldn't recommend getting it for playing DS games. Original DS should be kept for this purpose!
 
abasm said:
I've never had a problem with Nintendo hardware, so this never occured to me. I'll do it when I pick up my own system.
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Same with me. Nintendo hardware is almost always built well. I'm going to be getting my system at midnight on Sat/Sun, so I won't be able to return it until the following day if I get a bad one. Customer service at this store isn't open until the morning.
 
Haliela said:
Same with me. Nintendo hardware is almost always built well. I'm going to be getting my system at midnight on Sat/Sun, so I won't be able to return it until the following day if I get a bad one. Customer service at this store isn't open until the morning.
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There's gonna be a midnight launch for this @ GS? I may go if so
 
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