By Nintendo gave me an early look at the Nintendo 3DS XL and, yes, the XL has a much larger screen. Here’s a side by side comparison of Heroes of Ruin running on a standard 3DS and a 3DS XL.
While the 3DS XL is larger, it didn’t feel that much heavier than the 3DS I already have. Graphics, at least for games with polygonal graphics, look a bit crisper and the 3D effects appear more pronounced. I think the bigger screen helps with the 3D effect and when I played Luigi’s Mansion 2 with the depth slider at the highest snow particles popped out everywhere. I’m curious to see how Pushmo and 2D games work on an XL. The 3D camera is the same resolution so even though photos are blown up, they’re the same muddy images as you would get from a regular 3DS.
The Nintendo 3DS XL has a metallic matte finish. Here’s a look at the red x black and blue x black units.
One other feature is the 3DS XL’s top screen can lock into place in three positions (a regular 3DS only has two). You can have it close to a L position which might make playing Kid Icarus: Uprising more comfortable if you sit the 3DS XL on a table. Since the 3DS XL is probably too big for most pockets, it feels more like one of Nintendo’s old tabletop arcade games than a portable system.
