The 3DS XL getting Its own Circle Pad Pro

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Nintendo’s soon to be released 3DS XL, as its name implies, is a supersized 3DS. It doesn’t, however, have that anticipated, built-in second analogue pad that the 3DS received as a pointless accessory. It’s a mindbogglingly stupid faux pas on Nintendo’s part – that’s about to be compounded by another stupid decision.

Yes, the large, oversized 3DS XL will be getting its own large oversized circle pad pro accessory – making for the most ludicrously unwieldy handheld gaming device since…well since the Nintendo Virtual Boy. I love Nintendo…but this is just silly.

The plus side of it all is that very, very few games to date actually use the second analogue nub; to date I’ve only used it with Resident Evil Revelations and Kid Icarus: Uprising. I’ll probably only use it again for Kingdom Hearts. Nintendo’s reasoning is that they don’t want to alienate early adopters (which they’ve already done) and split the player base in to two (which they’ve already done). Instead they’re going to charge you an extra $20 for something that really should be built in.

Those who’ve gone hand-on with the 3DS XL report that the screen is crisper and clearer – and that the 3D effect is greater thanks to the enlarged screen. The 3DS XL will go on sale in Japan later this year – but no Western date has been announced just yet.