Once a month (or more, if these threads become successful), I shall be taking the month's biggest gaming story/event and putting it up for debate, as well as posting my view on the issue. I shall be asking other people on the site to post their opinion and vote either for or against the thread title, and, after 3 weeks, will be selecting the winning side.
This month, after the 'shock' announcement of the 3DSXL, I'll be considering whether or not bigger is better, and if more is, infact, less.
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Nintendo doesn't seem to be able to catch a break at the moment. At E3, they tried to demonstrate a selection of new games, and to 'cater for the hardcore', yet, for many, it fell flat. Specs still weren't revealed, nor was a price or launch date, and much is still unknown about their new home console. What was missing for me, though, was 3DS news. Where was my Fire Emblem? My Layton? My Luigi's Mansion? These came the following day (mostly), but one thing didn't: The much rumoured 3DSLite.
Well, this morning (or last night...I suppose....), Nintendo have spilt the beans on their bigger iteration of the 3DS, the 3DSXL. As you can see above, it's much, much bigger than the 3DS, 90% so in terms of the screen size, has a much better battery life (around 6.5hours), a 4GB SD card, and a matte finish. So, everything seems good, no?
Wrong. For some people, one small, circular thing was missing...
Now, I'm all for variety, but the second analogue stick which so many people have demanded just doesn't make sense to me. Of course, had the second nub been used more, or included in the first place, then everything would be fine. But that's not the case. Because of that, asking for a second analogue nub is both nonsensical and unneccessary.
Why? Read on...
The sales
According to VGC, the 3DS has sold just under 18mil, which it may well be over now. I believe that's the fastest selling console of all time, though I'm not certain. So, if a second analogue nub were to be included in the 3DSXL, what would happen to the current 3DS owners? You would have to assume one of two things: either devs would develop most games with the second nub, or most games without it. If most games were to be used with the second nub in mind, then the current 3DS owners would have to either play using an inferior control style, get the horrific nub add-on, or not play the game at all. Is it right to alienate 20million 3DS owners so a few games would 'feel' better? I don't think so.
Of course, the opposite is also possible. If devs choose not to alienate the current 3DS owners, then the second analogue nub would be, for the most part, unused, making it an unneeded extra which is barely used, and only added to the price of the system. It's understandable that this wouldn't be an issue, but what's the point of having something if you never use it?
The games
As things stand, only 2 games make good use of the second nub; Monster Hunter 3G, and Resident Evil: Revelations. And one of those isn't even out in the west yet! So, there's over 100 games at retail for the 3DS in the US, and only 1 game makes good use of the second nub, and it works perfectly fine without it (I play it, and KI:Uprising, without the nub, like many people, and have suffered no issues). Is it worth all of these complaints if very few games use it, fewer make good use of it, and none require it? I don't believe so.
As far as I'm aware, the only games that would really benefit would be FPS', which traditionally aren't big on handhelds, so there's no loss there, and RPG's. But the DS was the 'king' of the RPG, and that didn't have any analogue controls at all! So, would the second nub really add anything? I don't think so.
The conclusion
As I mentioned towards the start of this thread, I'm not against variety or opinion. Far from it. It would be nice if the 3DSXL had a second analogue nub, obviously. It gives you more control options, and more freedom. But, by not launching with a second nub, the 3DS has a problem. Do you add this second nub if you're Nintendo? If you do, do you develop games for it and forget about the 20,000,000 3DS owners currently? Or do you stick with the single nub, making the owners of the new 3DS with very few games to use the second nub with? And none of the current games require it, and very few make good use of it, so is there a point?
The 3DS has a few problems. The battery life is low, the screens get mucky quickly, the hinges are quite stiff, but these are very small, unimportant problems, which the 3DSXL is fixing (which is what you'd expect). What the 3DS certainly didn't need is a second nub. And anyone who seriously expected a second nub to be announced should think whether or not they'd be a justifiable benefit, and they'd quickly come to the conclusion there wouldn't be.
Nintendo just doesn't seem to be able to catch a break at the moment...
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What about you? Do you agree? Do you think the 3DSXL should have included a second analogue nub? Will you be getting a 3DSXL? Or is your current 3DS perfectly fine? Post below your opinions, and vote in the polls!
