Even in Pieces, the 3DS is a Sexy Piece of Hardware

how dare you break a 3DS

GAH! THE HORROR!! Rinses eyes with clorox

It looks like it will be a pain to replace the battery. I always have loved how easy Nintendo has made it to replace them. You usually only had to remove one screw,

I like how simple it is. I have fixed almost every Nintendo system multiple times and this looks like it will be very easy to disassemble!

Well...there seems to be a lot of metal gear in that small system.

Please stop using words like sexy.

@portista Please stop using words like sexy?
_{don't edit the insult back in plz -- TBD}

On topic, it's pretty interesting but whats inside isn't that surprising.

@Mikau94 they made the entire bottom of the case the battery cover.
I'm somewhat eager to get my hands on it and check out that resin case. It's supposed to be a pretty high-tech process for a machine produced in mass quantities to create the cosmetic effect.

@portista- no.

That is one sexy piece of plastic and buttons

I partly agree with Portista, not on the grounds of prudishness--my avatar is Wario after all--but on the grounds that I've always found the "gadget pr0n" way of speaking about devices to be obnoxious.

I don't believe a well-designed device should be "sexy" so much as it should be intelligently suited to its function, intuitive, and built to neatly and cleanly bring all of its components together in such a manner that nothing feels like an afterthought or tacked-on feature.

Also, if someone is going to take a new device apart, they'd best be someone with the knowledge and expertise necessary to tell us something new and interesting about the equipment they've uncovered. I'm tired of seeing teardowns that result in nothing worth knowing, just a gallery of images. There's no point to dismantling unless the little serial codes and details mean something to you that you can report.

Good, I was waiting for someone to do this. Of course, I really didn't expect it to happen so soon, considering that it's not even out yet.

By the way, is that battery the same size as a DSi(physical size, not capacity) battery?

EDIT: Bah, it's not like you were the one to rip it open. Never mind.

@Portista
What other words are fitting to describe a machine so...sexy?
The 3DS is sexy sexy sexy, man!

Awesome!

Do any of you realize how large that battery is?
http://nintendo3ds.davidturnbull.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/TGBus-Hardware-59.jpg
Nintendo did make an effort in that regard.

Also, for more pictures: http://nintendo3dsblog.com/disassembled-a-very-detailed-inside-look-at-the-guts-of-a-nintendo-3ds

Oh come on, guys. Portista asked a simple question/made a simple suggestion. There's no need to flame him for it.

@shinesprite Ah, thank you for posting that. At first, I figured that I'd just be able to swap my 1800 Mah DSi battery with the 3DS's 1300(if I remember correctly) Mah battery, but it looks like that won't be the case.

Love how efficient the design is, just like the Cube!

Yeah I agree "sexy" gets used to much these days. I always preferred to refer to such gadgets as a "wank-fest".

@madgear....I'll stick with 'sexy', thanks :3

Yeah, I'm backing warioswoods up here. Calling hardware things like "sexy" and "naked" seems like a cheap way of increasing page hits. This is the kind of article I'd expect to see on IGN.

It's nice getting a close look at the shoulder buttons though. They look a little bit sturdier than the DS lite's. Hope they hold up -- that's my main concern with Nintendo's handhelds lately.

Portista-san has a point. Even if I was not a prude, such words seem out of place with hardware.

haha it gets alot of hits from those two words i remember one article had a woman in a bathing suit and it had lots of comments XD

@Portista, et al.: we've got enough problems with profanities, insults, and slurs, haha. Use of the word 'sexy' is a non-issue for us at Nintendo Life in terms of censorship.

I want to see it in lingerie, then I'll decide if it's sexy or not. Assuming it's a girl 3DS, of course. If it were a guy 3DS, that'd just be weird (and decidedly non-sexy)!

Man the Internet is fast at tearing things down!

I want to do bad things to that machine ..

OMG this is a crime!!!!!!!!!!

@warnerdan..... like push it's buttons? you naughty person

Nice break-down of components. I agree w/ Warioswoods on the terming hardware "sexy", or@ least doing so consistently.

"B-But those girls don't wear cases! You can see their bare circuits!"

I need to get a tri-wing screwdriver sometime, not that I'd disassemble my 3DS, but perhaps my busted DS Lite...

@6 couldnt have said it better my self

Ummm.... why are people having an issue with him calling it sexy?? Wasn't as if he said it was h*ng like a horse. _{That's right....I went there.}

I wonder if that 3DS is any good at waterpolo.

It's amazing that the 3DS is already going to be available in Japan. It's been a really long wait. Even longer for NA!

The button placement on the left side still seems strange to me. Can't wait to try it out though!

Bwahh! It's naked! Teh horror! So...much metal in one piece of hardware..XD

If it's easy to disassemble, then I may invest in a battery pack that lasts longer

TBD already covered this, but I'd just like to add that "sexy" is not only not offensive, but perfectly appropriate to the intended definition.

@everyone who has a problem with the word "sexy" From Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Definition of SEXY
1: sexually suggestive or stimulating : erotic
2: generally attractive or interesting : appealing <a sexy stock>

I'd say the second definition fits, wouldn't you?

@Warioswoods "I don't believe a well-designed device should be "sexy" so much as it should be intelligently suited to its function, intuitive, and built to neatly and cleanly bring all of its components together in such a manner that nothing feels like an afterthought or tacked-on feature."

Try fitting that into a snappy headline.

NOOOO!!!! The horror!!!! The mutilation!!!! The poor 3DS!!!!

Skulks away, quietly mourning the butchered 3DS console in the above photo...

@42

Haha, fair point.

I still don't like the use of "sexy" with electronics, though. It smacks of a certain way of thinking about device horsepower and features that, to me, is actually at odds with Nintendo's more subdued design philosophy (it's more in line with the way Sony fans talked about that gargantuan black PS3).

@pikelman

Im going to have to disagree about this being somthing you would see on IGN. Maybe its has a little bit of trying to get hits, but I think that the 3DS news has been so dry as of late, this was somthing to report on. If this was an IGN article it would have been a 2 page, heavily opinionated write-up of how the 3DS isnt as "sexy" as the NGP.

@ James
Excactly. Apple are experts at that, but Nintendo have done very well lately. The last un-sexy Nintendo console I can think of is the original DS... It was blocky and didn't feel as uniformed as the Wii or DS Lite. Nintendo quickly realised that though, and replaced it with the Lite. Good move.

On the topic itself, the analogue stick truly IS analogue! The two cross-pads remind me of the Virtual Boy (even though they are just the cross-pad and the button-cross.)

I wanted to see the bottom of the circle Pad and the picture is a bit blurry but thats TGBus's falt.

Nice title!