i purchased a 3DS around Christmas, and i was utterly dissapointed by the Device.

Not because of the games or anything, but because of the fucking cheap manufacturing. i had like 3 3DS' ('ses..?) in a very short period, all of them had a problem or two... but while i'd actually oil squeaky buttons that rub against the case while pressing, the thing that really pissed me off was the fact that 2 of those 3 had a loose hinge...

...and not just a little loose, but extremely loose. i thought that i might just be FUCKING unlucky, but i've let the guys in multiple Stores show me the 3DSses that were there unboxed, sitting behind glas - and around 50-60% had those awful hinges. and while you could probably beat into my mind that those need to wobble a bit to not allow them to break at one point, i dont understand the damn inconsistency that exists here. (plus, hinges will get even more loose once youve had the system for 2-3 years, meaning that, while the hinge probably wont break, you wont be able to lock the upperscreen into place anymore, meaning that you'd need to glue it into one position or something..)... plusplus the hinges from my notebook are insanely small, and they still do their job perfectly, carrying much more weight than the 3ds.

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but long story short, the 3DS XL seems to have only one, huge hinge or some shit, and it appears to look pretty healthy to me... and if they dont fuck the device up somehow (i'll definetly let employee's in store show me their promotional devices in order to look for any miss-manufacturing..).. i might just give the company i gave up on a final chance, for they make awesome games.

edit: oh and just FYI, i sold the third 3DS in order to buy a PSP or some shit with some shitty games... and i am pretty shocked by the fact that its just so much more High-Quality.. (though most of the games suck, ... except for the insane amount of RPGs.. lucky me that i am so much into said genre.. )

I intentionally waited for their revised version because of battery life. 3ds XL looks sweet. I might finally upgrade. I still have to see what the "pleasant surprise" wiiu price is though.

i dont agree, the 3DS has actually a higher quality manufacturing than the DSlite and DSi, so its an improvement, and an improvement is good.

I was going to buy a 3DS this holiday season, now I don't know which version to purchase

I also learned the hard way after the DS phat.

Once you try an XL you never go b... wait, I can explain that!!!!

I already have a 3DS and I plan to get the XL sometime. I'd get it at launch if it weren't for Wii U, so I'll probably pick it up sometime early next year.. Nintendo is going to rape my wallet this holiday season.

Also my 3DS has held up better than my DSi did, I had to get that thing repaired twice.

What? My grey ds phat has been perfect. The battery life is unbelievable, it works after being dropped so many times, and its hinges are phenomonal. My dslite broke though. It sort of works but the bottom screen glitches when I play games. It's really noticeable when I play Castlevania though for some reason.

I gotta see one in person. I was never really sold on the DSi XL despite owning every other version of that console. If the 3DS XL feels better in my hands or has a sharper screen, I may end up springing for one. But then, my leather case, Circle Pad Pro, and CTA grip would be rendered useless!

On second thought, I may just have to pass on this one.

My 3DS hinge is perfect, and the slide pad doesn't rub against the top screen- I guess I'm lucky