Feeling a ping of disappointment with it. :\ I'm currently playing link between worlds, the reason I got the hand held and while it's a great game, the hardware itself seems less impressive. Surprisingly enough, I find I actually like the glasses free 3D. Maybe it's because it just feels fresh to me as I'm only now getting a 3DS, but I enjoy it despite the small annoyance of the picture going crazy the instant my eyeballs are not in perfect sync with the screen.
The dual screen however feels pretty pointless. Between Star Fox and Link Between Worlds all I'm seeing it do is fill the role of a map or a place for a text box. That's alright, I guess. But probably not worth doubling the size of the portable for. I find there are also a lot of things on menus I wish I could just select with the face buttons and analog stick/dpad that apparently can only be selected on the touch screen. It becomes very tiresome having to pull out the stylus to select Yes or No or to drag and drop a piece of gear to links roster every time I want to swap or change something. I've resorted to loosing my grip on the portable long enough to just tab these occasional annoyances with my finger instead, but that leaves smudges all over the screen. So unnecessary.
Then you have the weight. Oh my gosh! Maybe in hindsight I should have made do with a regular 3DS instead of the XL. (it seemed pointless to at the time now that XL units can be had for the same price of regular variants) But this thing is just plain tiresome to hold after a while. Holding it in one hand especially to use the stylus is even more tiring. Did Nintendo really design these things for kids? Judging by how pointless the bottom screen is, it seems like they could have almost halved the weight by ditching the other screen.
The whole necessity to put out the stylus to select a quick option on the touch screen once every few minutes feels like Nintendo is overthinking the problem more than they needed to. I miss when hitting the pause button and quickly moving a cursor over things with the d pad was so simple and effective, all without requiring me to reposition all my fingers front and back. Even shutting the thing off seems like more of a chore compared to my old DS Lite; before you just pushed up on a switch on the side. Now that switch toggles on/off the internet connectivity. To turn it off you have to hit the power button, pull out the stylus and confirm your intention on the touch screen. The whole thing feels bloated rationalization to justify the bottom screen.
The dual screen however feels pretty pointless. Between Star Fox and Link Between Worlds all I'm seeing it do is fill the role of a map or a place for a text box. That's alright, I guess. But probably not worth doubling the size of the portable for. I find there are also a lot of things on menus I wish I could just select with the face buttons and analog stick/dpad that apparently can only be selected on the touch screen. It becomes very tiresome having to pull out the stylus to select Yes or No or to drag and drop a piece of gear to links roster every time I want to swap or change something. I've resorted to loosing my grip on the portable long enough to just tab these occasional annoyances with my finger instead, but that leaves smudges all over the screen. So unnecessary.
Then you have the weight. Oh my gosh! Maybe in hindsight I should have made do with a regular 3DS instead of the XL. (it seemed pointless to at the time now that XL units can be had for the same price of regular variants) But this thing is just plain tiresome to hold after a while. Holding it in one hand especially to use the stylus is even more tiring. Did Nintendo really design these things for kids? Judging by how pointless the bottom screen is, it seems like they could have almost halved the weight by ditching the other screen.
The whole necessity to put out the stylus to select a quick option on the touch screen once every few minutes feels like Nintendo is overthinking the problem more than they needed to. I miss when hitting the pause button and quickly moving a cursor over things with the d pad was so simple and effective, all without requiring me to reposition all my fingers front and back. Even shutting the thing off seems like more of a chore compared to my old DS Lite; before you just pushed up on a switch on the side. Now that switch toggles on/off the internet connectivity. To turn it off you have to hit the power button, pull out the stylus and confirm your intention on the touch screen. The whole thing feels bloated rationalization to justify the bottom screen.