The $200 3DS XL is a very good gaming machine, possibly the best portable gaming device ever, which, yeah, maybe we said about February's PlayStation Vita, but back then we'd have only been talking about a piece of hardware and its gaming potential. The 3DS XL isn't just full of potential. It's a well-designed machine that plays an absurdly rich array of excellent video games.
The 3DS XL, set for release on August 19 in North America, is Nintendo's latest incremental upgrade. The company has been doing this kind of thing since before the iPod upgraded from the model with with the select wheel that moved to the one that didn't. Nintendo put out a Game Boy and then squeezed it down as a Game Boy Pocket (Game Boy Color, too, of course). They released a Game Boy Advance that was so ridiculously dim that, at gaming conventions, they'd put these silly miniature desk lamps over each one so you actually see the games on their screen. Then, a couple of years later, there were like, "oh, yeah, now we'll sell you a GBA that doesn't suck. It's called the GBA SP." They'd put out a hunk of plastic and call it a Nintendo DS and then, a couple of years later, kind of say, "whoops, here's a DS Lite that isn't hideous" and then, a couple of years after that put out a DSi (now with cameras and some storage so you can download games to it!) and then make a DSi XL because, hey, maybe someone wants their portable gaming system super-sized.
There is a 3DS in my left pocket; a 3DS XL in my right pocket. This really is the best way to show you this comparison, I think. Bonus fact: I sat down with a 3DS XL in my back pocket on a New York City subway and the console didn't break. In fact, I forgot it was there, much as I might forget that I have a wallet in my back pocket. But this is not ideal and I tend to carry the 3DS XL in a pouch in my bag.
