When Nintendo officially announced the New 3DS XL this morning, fans across North America had one big question: where’s the smaller one?
In Japan, where the New 3DS launched last year, there were two versions of the system: regular and XL. The regular one, a smaller model that’s around the same size as the original 3DS and has customisable faceplates, went on sale alongside the XL in the east. Europe is also getting both models when they launch there in February.
But in North America, only the XL is for sale. We asked the folks at Nintendo of America for an explanation, and here’s the (non-)statement they sent over:
Different territories make their own business decisions regarding individual products and timing. We think New Nintendo 3DS XL makes the most sense for our market. Nintendo makes different systems at different price points for a whole range of consumers, and New Nintendo 3DS XL simply expands those choices even further.
So Nintendo, is it ever going to come out here in North America?
We have nothing to announce at this time.
Oh. OK.
Comments
9 responses to “Nintendo (Sorta) Explains Why The Smaller New 3DS Is MIA”
Sah relevant. Thanks guyz.
Well I don’t know about you, but I enjoyed reading this.
It’s bizarre that the US wouldn’t get the smaller version.
You know, maybe we live in a global world today where some things are interesting to learn about outside our home country. Would you have learnt that the US wasn’t getting a smaller version if Kotaku hadn’t reported it?
Everyone who complains about the localisation of articles needs to take a break. Some of us want to know about things that are happening in the US, not because it affects us, but because it’s interesting.
So… I’m confused. I bought a metallic black 3DS XL for my girlfriend on boxing day. Is there another one coming already? Or did we just get it first/early???
We got it early, second only to Japan.
The Nintendo Direct last night was for the US/EU announcement, but it also means two new special editions for us!
Ahh sweet. Thanks 🙂
Which is awesome – I just pre-orded the Monster Hunter 4 Edition. Man that thing is niiiiiiiiiice 😀
They’ve probably found that the consoles were too small for American hands 😛
Seriously though, it didn’t really make much sense to me to release two versions.
That’s a shame. I love my New 3DS mostly because of the customisable face plates, which the XL doesn’t have.
How does the release of a new version of a console “expands choices” when it also marks the removal of the previous version? That’s a really poorly worded piece of PR.