I had been meaning to upgrade to the XL anyway, and the problems I was experiencing with my original 3DS gave me the perfect excuse to make the switch. It’s a shame too because I have kept all of the original boxes (and inserts) of my consoles.ģDS XL (Pikachu) – Imported from the UK. I might bin this one eventually as it wouldn’t be worth the cost to fix it. The rubber casing of the Circle Pad also come loose and split. Furthermore, due to the brightness on the top screen being so high, the battery life is very poor when not being charged. When the console is partially folded, the brightness level on the top screen return to normal, however, it is unreliable. The console is still usable, but 3D must be turned off and brightness must be set to 1. Was experiencing what is known as the “pop” glitch after about two years of use, where the top screen’s brightness exceeds the maximum for reasons unknown, and if the brightness is set to anything higher than 1, the console seems to short-circuit as turn off instantly.
Originally released with one model and just two colours, the 3DS family grew to feature six unique hardware variations and literally hundreds of different designs via special edition runs and custom faceplates. Whether as a way to entice customers looking to buy into the family of consoles, or to win over an existing customer unable to resist the allure of shiny new variation of a console they already own, new versions of hardware have been a successful way for Nintendo to keep the momentum for hardware sales. Since the days of the GameBoy, Nintendo has always released updated models and special edition variants of their handheld gaming systems.