First Impressions of New Nintendo 3DS

The day the New Nintendo 3DS launched, Japanese gamers ran out to purchase the new console. Now that the console has been out for a few days, let's hear some thoughts and impressions from the owners of the new portable.

Thoughts on the new C-stick

• “The C-stick is actually pretty good!”
• “It’s much better than I’d imagined.”
• “I thought the C-stick would be useful, but it really is totally different to what I’d imagined. The rubber feels very hard on the tip of my thumb.”
• “The C-stick is pretty much as I expected it would be. Those of you who have used a Thinkpad laptop’s red button can probably imagine how it feels.

The larger, improved screens

• “The new anti-blur screen far exceeded my expectations.”
• “The 3-D screen is superb! It’s so much easier to see.”
• “I was surprised at how much better the new 3-D screen works.”
• “Colours on the New LL’s screen are deeper than the old model.”
• “The whites are a kind of pee-yellow…”
• “The New 3DS’ screens seem yellower than the old 3DS’.”
• “Yup, Nintennyo [nyo means urine in Japanese] 3DS.”

The wood effect

• “A lot of people are saying good things about the wood-effect [cover].”
• “[Nintendo] should just launch the New 3DS in wood as standard.”
• “I changed my covers from standard black to wood-effect–it’s really cool. I like the way, when [the 3DS is closed], it almost doesn’t look like a portable games console.”

More thoughts

• “Moving to the Home menu is super fast”
• “Overall, the console is much speedier than the old one.”
• “Launching and closing applications, opening the browser etc is much faster.”
• “It doesn’t feel as good [to touch] as the old one.”
• “The New 3DS feels cheaper than the old model to me. It’s more toy-like.”
• “How does the slide pad feel compared to those on previous models?”
  > “The same.”
  > “The slide pad’s surround is now shallower, so it looks easier to clean. The pad itself hasn’t really changed.”
• “The Start and Select buttons are now much more accessible.”
• “The speakers seem a bit more powerful now.”
• “I’m seriously impressed at how the sound quality has improved between the LL and New LL.”
• “I tried loading the Niconico Douga app. Compared to the Vita version it’s pretty bad, but I guess it can’t be helped.”
• “Monster Hunter on the New 3DS is just too good.”
• “I have no regrets about upgrading.”

Game Informer Gives A Link Between Worlds a Perfect Score of 10

Game Informer has just reviewed the upcoming Nintendo 3DS game, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and has given it a score of 10/10. Being the follow-up title to A Link to the Past, high expectations are very common for A Link Between Worlds. Game Informer listed the following about the game:

• Game Informer was impressed with the rental system and how it makes death a scary prospect.

• Heart piece puzzles are clever.

• Loved how drawing mechanic causes you to look at the game from a whole different perspective.

• The game has some of the best dungeons and boss battles Link has ever experienced.

• Some bosses are old, most are new.

• The dungeons can be done in any order and there is no hand holding.

• All items are available from the outset, leaving you free to explore at your convenience.

• While the world map layout is highly similar to A Link to the Past, there are still a lot of tweaks and it’s not a simple copy and paste job.

“I want to let the experience roll around in my brain for a while before I decide where it ranks among the best entries in the franchise, but I can say with confidence that it should be spoken in the same breath as A Link to the Past. In every way, A Link Between Worlds is exactly what you want out of a Zelda game.”