Nintendo announces the 3DS XL

Nintendo held another Nintendo Direct presentation last night and they came out strong officially announcing the upcoming release of the Nintendo 3DS XL.

This updated model to the 3DS will boast a 4.88 inch main screen and a 4.18 inch lower touch screen. This makes the screen space about 90% larger than the 3DS' 3.53/3.01 inch screens. Other notable changes to the 3DS XL are the Home/Start/Select buttons at the bottom have been changed to actual buttons (thank you!) and the battery life is said to outperform the current 3DS' battery.

The 3DS XL will come packaged with a 4GB SD card and will cost gamers $199.99 (compared to the price of a 3DS at $169.99). It is being reported that European models will ship without a power adapter but US consumers will not need to worry about this as it will be packaged as usual. (That's pretty rough for European consumers though!)

Nintendo 3DS next to a 3DS XL

The 3DS XL will hit store shelves on August 19th in the US and on July 28 in Europe.


Source: Nintendo
Source: Nintendo of America - Twitpic
Source: Twitter - Jim Reilly