Topic: Would you purchase a higher resolution 3DSXL?

I know some folks dislike the fact that the 3DS XL is just a bigger screen, rather then being a slightly faster machine that could handle a higher resolution to match the larger screen. With that said, would you be willing to purchase a 3DSXL with a higher resolution for a premium? and if so, how much more?

For the sake of this conversation lets call this imaginary system a 3DSXL+

Note- This is a hypothetical question, please treat as such.

I wrote this concerning the 2DS, and I feel the same way towards the 3DS XL:

What would be the point? All games are already made in the current resolution, so they'd look the same either way.

Yeah, the games aren't designed for a higher resolution so there would be no point

I would, because if they release one that would mean it's a new console and they will ditch the previous 3DS models.

Crisper Image, much like how a PC game has resolutions you can change this would be the same. Gamecube games were designed a certain way, but when you run dolphin and put them at a higher resolution they still look better because there is less stretching. Just this higher model will be able to go one step up higher in terms of resolution to match the bigger screen (right now its the same size image being stretched).

I think either way playing games at whatever resolution doesn't make really any difference, I think I heard somewhere that high res can end up hurting your eyes.

I don't think we'll see a higher resolution model until they release a successor to the 3DS.

Is the 3DS XL stretching the image?

I don't think it stretches the image - it is just at a lower resolution because it is the same resolution on a bigger screen. In other words there are the same number of pixels, but they are bigger - I hope I am making sense. The image is not stretched because the proportions are identical.

Nintendo rightly wants 100% software compatibility among all iterations of the 3DS/2DS family so it will never do things like introduce new buttons (or an extra stick) or make a higher resolution machine.

No.
I'm actually fine with what they're offering with the XLs now.

No. Simply because the games do not need a highr resolution screen that what is currently on the 3DS, 3DSXL and 2DS. When the next iteration of the DS family comes along (if they stick with DS) then, yes, a higher resolution will probably be necessary.

But at the moment, no.

I think it would be cool if the next interation of the DS family was called the HDS with high def resolution.

The problem is that the games would have to be programmed to take advantage of the higher resolution. Take for example the 3DS' backwards compatibility with DS games. The 3DS has higher resolution screens than the DS did, so hypothetically, DS games should look better on the 3DS. Problem is, the DS' games are programmed for the DS' screen resolution and as a result most DS games tend to look blurrier, more washed out, more pixelated on 3DS than they did on the DS. The PC comparison doesn't quite apply to the 3DS, because PC games are designed to support different resolutions; 3DS games are not.

Not going to happen. It would require a major revision of both the hardware and system software with associated costs and only sell to a very small minority of customers due to the higher price vs. a small improvement. We won't get a higher resolution before their next-gen handheld.

By the time this happens, it will be the next generation of the DS line and 3DS games will be BC content. That's what I think, anyway.

I play in 3D, regardless, so it's always 480p. That's fine on a small screen, IMO.

@CureDolly It doesn't distort the image,I believe was what you were looking for. But when it has the same amount of pixels for a larger screen it makes objects less defined because it has to fill in the larger screen now(thats why i used the term stretching, perhaps blowing the picture up is more accurate)

@Mk_II Its a hypothetical question.

@Kodeen Thank you for better explaining that point.

The problem is if you ran a higher resolution screen and even if you managed to render it at a higher resolution with a beefier processor behind it it'd still look average. The textures would be the same resolution and all of the sprites would look muddy in comparison to the now crisply rendered polygons. So you'd basically throw away the only advantage. That's why I'd only ever want higher resolutions if it came with a full console revision.

Now better battery life and a generally better screen? Yeah, I wouldn't mind that. I don't know if I'd actually buy one personally but if I didn't have a 3DS I'd probably go for that one instead.

@Skywake to quote someone else, this imaginary 3DS would function as such

A lot of people getting hung up on technical aspects for a hypothetical question.

Its actually important to address the technical aspects for this question though.
Of course everybody wants a better everything, I don't think anyone is saying they wouldn't like to have higher res screens, but it just doesn't make sense to do so unless its the successor of the 3DS. Because for this to work properly it would be a different machine on the inside even if it looked the same.

The hardware inside this higher res 3DS xl would have to be beefier in order to keep frame rates the same at a higher resolution. This means that it would potentially have more graphics prowess. (Thus segregating it from the rest of the 3DS line)
On the flip side they could keep the hardware the same on the inside and just change the screen, this would have the horrible disadvantage of games on the higher res 3DS running slower.
And every existing game for the 3ds library would have be patched to have the UI re-coded. Its just a nightmare plain and simple.

Theoretically if it was magically possible and it all just worked then sure id happily have like a 1080p 3DS.