Despite the success of the Switch, Nintendo isn’t giving up on the 3DS range just yet. Here’s the New Nintendo 2DS XL.
Nintendo has announced that the New Nintendo 2DS XL will be released on July 28, 2017. The new console eschews the slate-like form factor of the original 2DS, and takes on the traditional clamshell-design used by every other DS iteration dating back to 2004.
The New Nintendo 2DS XL will come in two different flavours at launch, black+turquoise, and white+orange. The console features a 4.88 inch top screen, and weighs around 260 grams. Each version will come with an AC adapter – they really are spoiling us – and a 4GB memory card. You can get a closer look in our gallery.
As the name implies, the 2DS XL doesn’t include stereoscopic 3D functionality, but it does have built-in NFC support for scanning amiibo cards and figures. The system arrives in Europe on the same day as three new games that were highlighted on Nintendo’s most recent Direct broadcast: Hey! PIKMIN, Miitopia and Dr Kawashima’s Devilish Brain Training: Can you stay focused?
Taken on face value it looks like a curious move from Nintendo – they are selling Switch’s as fast as they can be manufactured, after all – but the Japanese game maker is evidently keen to retain a strong foothold with the younger market, a demographic the Switch is not currently pitched towards. In that context, a cheaper, kid friendly device, backed by a terrific library of games, looks like being a smart move.
Until the Switch Mini comes along, anyway.
