The Nintendo Switch may be the latest in portable console tech, but the company isn't giving up on the cherished 3DS line, announcing a new $149 USD revision called the 2DS XL and set for a July retail debut in North America and Japan.
As its name indicates, the 2DS XL harmonizes elements from three existing 3DS lines. The original Nintendo 3DS, a successor to the quirky, massively successful DS, launched in 2011 and romped to 15 million sales worldwide over its first year, temporarily outstripping its predecessor, 2004's Nintendo DS.
Just one year later and Nintendo was introducing 2012's 3DS XL, which offered 90% more screen space and better battery life.
Effectively conceding that the 3D visual effect of the original model was not, after all, necessarily an essential component of the 3DS experience, Nintendo issued a 3D-less 2DS, which also disposed of the 3DS's clamshell design in favor of a wedge-shaped format.
By late 2014, the New Nintendo 3DS and 3DS XL had arrived. Design tweaks were in evidence on the outside and, crucially, also internally, making the New models a notch more powerful than their predecessor and therefore better able to accommodate the latest games.
All three lines are now converging in the New Nintendo 2DS XL, which will be priced at $199 in Canada and ¥14,980 in Japan; as a guide, the US price of $149 cuts the New 3DS XL's original tag by a quarter, and is half that of the more powerful home and portable hybrid, the Switch.
New games are being announced in support of the revision, a move which further encourages existing owners of standard 3DS or 2DS consoles to upgrade to the "New" designation in one way or another.
Franchise spin-off "Hey! Pikmin," and "Miitopia," an extension of the "Miitomo" smartphone app and "Tomodachi" franchise were named for North America, while "100% Pascal Sensei: Kanpeki Paint Bombers," "The Snack World: Trejarers," and "Ever Oasis" have been announced for Japan.
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