Nintendo Announcing ‘New 3DS’ Model with Faster Processor, Hopefully Less Headache

A new Nintendo 3DS is on the horizon, and we sincerely hope it’s not really called “New 3DS,” as today’s Nintendo Direct suggests. Surely, the venerable game maker can come up with a better name than that for the latest version of its handheld – but a lame name is going to be the least of Nintedo’s concerns: the upcoming Xenoblade Chronicles game will only play on the New 3DS models, thanks to a new processor. So far, Xenoblade is the only game that will be limited to the New 3DS, but it seems to be a fair bet that there will be similarly-restricted games down the line.


The New 3DS and New 3DS LL (probably XL when it hits the U.S.) have some additional shoulder buttons and are expected to have an improved 3D experience. The current 3DS model has caught flak from some users for giving them headaches. We hope that the new model resolves that, but it seems like Nintendo is trading a problem for a problem by letting games be dependent on the updated CPU in the New 3DS.

Will gamers revolt, or will they make the leap to the New 3DS? We’ll know soon: the Nintendo New 3DS and New DS3 LL hits store shelves in Japan October 11. A U.S. launch in time for the holidays would make sense.