I have to admit that I'm pretty satisfied by this iteration of the 3DS, which I deem the best of the whole 3DS line-up. (For the record, I own the regular New 3DS.) It is both considerably lighter than the 3DS XL and pleasantly rounder than the regular 3DS, which makes it quite comfortable to play. The screen is sharper and crisper than ever and easily beats the display of all the other 3DS models, with colours being especially bright and vivid. The size of the screen is also quite perfect: it's notably larger than in the regular 3DS while not being large to the point of generating pixelisation. In a nutshell, it's a great console; and should I purchase more backups for the 3DS line, they will definitely be New 3DS.
Alas, as the title of this post hints, not everything is perfect. The New 3DS may be an excellent system overall, yet it suffers from a couple of hardly accountable design flaws that spoil the pleasure one can take in playing that ultimate 3DS iteration. I'm quite surprised that Nintendo gave the green light to the New 3DS without addressing these aggravating details:
—The Power button is ridiculously tiny and hard to press. I understand Nintendo wanted to preserve players from switching off the system by mistake, but they went a tad too far in their quest for safety. That button is painfully uncomfortable to reach and press, and I've already grown sick of it after just a couple of days playing the console.
—The stylus is not ergonomic enough. It's much too short and can thus quickly become uncomfortable to hold, and I really regret the retractable stylus of the regular 3DS. The tip is also too hard and too thin, which makes interactions with the touch screen rather unpleasant—not to mention that I'm constantly afraid of scratching it, something that didn't even cross my mind when wielding the DS stylus and its comfily soft tip.
—The left analog stick manages to be both slippery and stiff, a deadly combination that can transform extended playing sessions in bouts of exquisite physical torture faster than you can say "ouch, my poor thumb!" As a matter of fact, I've developped some persistent thumb pain after playing the system for a few days, so I'm trying to avoid using that cursed analog stick and to make do with the D-pad instead. Such symptoms never occurred with my Vita or even with the regular 3DS model, so I'm pretty confident that the New 3DS is to blame and suffers from a bad case of crappy analog stick.
—Last but not least, the battery life is pitifully short. I was playing the DS a short time ago and the differences between the two machines in that regard are staggering. Even with the 3D feature totally disabled, I hardly manage to squeeze more than 4-or-so hours of play out of my New 3DS before it begs to be recharged yet again. This is a really poor performance, especially for a console that's supposed to be portable. Dealing with the pathetic battery life of that thing is already galling enough when playing exclusively at home, but it must be ten times more of a hassle when playing on the go. Which I'm glad I never do.
Maybe I'm the only New 3DS owner bothered by these defects—but then again, maybe not. It find quite troubling that Nintendo managed to nail near-perfect designs with the DS Lite and the DSi yet somehow failed to reproduce that feat with the 3DS line-up. All 3DS iterations suffer from blatant flaws, from the excessive weight of the 3DS XL to the low-quality screen of the 2DS to the uncomfortable angular shape and propension to screen-scratching of the regular 3DS—and the New 3DS, which should have been the ultimate and most perfect incarnation of the console, is just as rife with shortcomings as its elders. I'm not going to scream doom&decadence and prophesy the upcoming death of Ninty, but I can honestly say that their newfound unability to come up with stellar designs douses my already very moderate enthusiam for the NX. Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!
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