We suspect that a good number of you reading this are preparing to pick up a New Nintendo 3DS later this year (Japan, Australia and New Zealand) or in 2015 (everywhere else), but you'll need more than just a higher-capacity micro SD card — you'll need a screwdriver and a willingness to mess around with small screws.
Nintendo's Japanese YouTube channel has gone positively New 3DS crazy, while also showing off videos for each and every HOME menu theme — hats off to the unfortunate employee / intern that uploaded each individually. Some videos promoting the new model have been posted to show basic instructions, such as completing settings, setting up parental controls and so on, yet videos for inserting micro SD cards and 'Kisekae' faceplates have caught our attention. While we quietly judged Nintendo's hardware designers — during the system's reveal — for exchanging the convenience of popping in an SD card for removing the back of the system to insert micro variants in the New models, it's now clear just how much fiddling around is needed for switching out that memory. The faceplates are no different, with some unscrewing needed to place one of these on the back of a system; at least the stylus has been designed to help manoeuvre loosened sections off.
So, make sure you acquire a stylish little screwdriver and watch Nintendo's videos closely; the days of whacking in an SD card in seconds are over.
Comments 73
... Faffing? What is "faffing?"
Cool stylus feature! Was wondering how the front plates came off!
I've been thinking it would be pretty sweet to make yourself some custom wooden plates (Preferably a wood that doesn't expand much and it bendy enough) and then etching or burning on a custom motif!
@WingedSnagret 'Faffing about' means 'messing around'.
I like being able to have the faceplates on snug and securely. Don't think this is a big deal.
@ WingedSnagret Faffing is english term for messing about and keep messing on with something like not leaving it alone.
Do they have any videos comparing the dimensions and screen sizes of the new and old models?
Nice porn music.
Too much work for a micro SD card. Were people complaining about them being lost or stolen from an external slot? Maybe people w/ a new 3DS will be changing the faceplates occasionally, but surely the new faceplate free 3DS LL has enough space to keep the slot external? I wonder if it will at least come installed? If that's the case probably half the people won't change it out anyway so not a big deal.
So do all new 3DS come w/ a screwdriver in the box?
Hopefully the screws are good enough to not trash the thread. (With lots of changes). Even Nintendo themselves with mine didn't manage to do a perfect job when they went inside mine. (Screws are slightly looser).
Fine with me. The 3DS and especially the 3DS have the SD card eject right on the palm of my right hand. Moving my hand up has opened the little door, and moving my hand down or squeezing has ejected the SD card on more than one occasions. In 3 years of daily use with the 3DS, I've only taken the SD card out maybe 4 times. There better be an easy way to upload photos from Smash Bros, though. Now that I'm really getting into it, I want to do daily photo uploads...
Those face plates are so beautiful ;n; I'm getting the N3DS XL, so I guess I'm missing out.
...What scares me is that it hasn't even been mentioned outside of Japan. We better get this very soon Nintendo. >.>
@Tops What's bothering me even more is how the system transfer thing will work? I too am not a big fan of the SD slot at the back. I mean, there's barely anything at the sides so why not there?
I'm gonna go with this one instead of the XL but idk, Both really look good to me!
To whoever wrote the article - those screws won't be easy to lose. Look at 0:47 in first video and 1:33 in the second. There are small plates that stop the screw from being removed completely. Therefore, the new faceplates should come with their own screws.
Yeah! I noticed the little screws in a photo of the New 3DS viewed from behind. Those screws secured my purchase of a New 3DS XL as having to unscrew & rescrew those little screws whenever I want to change covers on the New 3DS is a little inconvenient & I'd be afraid of losing them so I'll pass on the screen size downgrade for sure now. November can't come soon enough!
What screwdriver will work on them? Can't Nintendo bundle a screwdriver with the faceplates or atleast make a screwdriver exclusive to the new 3DS?
I thought they'd slide off or come off like the Game Boy Micro plates.
YOU BETTER GIVE US A RELEASE DATE FOR IT NINTENDO
@PewnyPL Fair enough! I'm not very handy, so didn't quite figure that out...
I have a set of mini screwdrivers somewhere. Don't know where, but I do own them.
@Artwark Small Screwdriver
So do the new 3ds's only take micro sd cards?
If so that means when we do a system transfer we'll have to copy all our data from our old sd's to a new micro sd...
@SanderEvers Thanks man... I got a 32 gig one that I can use and my current sd is 32 gig too, and have plenty of space left so should be cool
@rjejr mmm dat jam is smooth as butter
Well, at least the faceplates will be held in securely.
I'm actually happy with this. My 2 year old recently figured how to remove my sd card, took it out, and jammed it in the wrong side in. Took an hour with tweezers to take it out.
Is this really an issue? The only time I've ever messed with the SD card is when I replaced the original card with a bigger card. I haven't touched it in years. I imagine it will be the same for the face plates.
Is the maximum 32GB?
Oh man, NA is never going to even see the N3DS.
And if somehow I'm wrong, then some like holographic Tharja-butt in a mecha kisekae plates are going to show up in Club Rewards in JP. NA gets glamour shots of Mario instead.
Wasn't there some kind of Wi-fi Transfer feature to PC for pics, sound, video, etc. that the New 3DS was supposed to sport? If this is the case, the only real reason you'd need to access the slot is to upgrade the card. A lot of cellphones have this now where you have to slide off the back cover. Inconvenient, sure, but when you have a way of pulling files off and backing them up without the need of removing the card (ie. Wi-fi), I don't think this is a deal-breaker.
Just stick with a regular one
Quite a lot of technology, including mobiles, have a micro sd slot inside in a fairly inconvenient place. It's something to do with the speed of data transfer/read/write and the extra component minerals it would take to create a pathway to an external slot, I believe (so, cost). There's precious minerals in them there contraptions!
Agree with Crillan, I put a 32gb card in my 3ds years ago and haven't touched it since.
Once (if) there's a Wario plate that'll go on and never come off.
oh god... this design and the white 3ds together... it loooks so horrible i think xD Im still not sure if i buy the xl or the normal but when the designs will al look like this... i think i go with the xl^^
but i will keep my old 3ds as my main system because of the mini sd card the new 3ds needs... i really hate it that they changed this -,- i bought such a big sd card for my 3ds and now i cant use it for the new 3ds... <,<
It's not like I change the SD card very often at all, and this will hopefully eliminate almost completely the "SD Card has been removed" messages I get every once in a while when I bump the slot.
Wow I was gonna comment about making up words like "faffing" but apparently that's an actual word. It's like you guys speak another language across the pond.
I would worry about stripping the screws.
I love that not only you used the word "Faffing" in the article, but you used it in the tags too! Thanks for showing me a new word, @ThomasBW84!
@KodyDawg I think it is micro SD only. It is actually the kind I have in my 3DS now because it was all Besy Buy had when I needed a new card.
@SanderEvers Nintendo has a recommended conversion program, too. I had to use it on my new SD card.
The screws finally look to be normal four-pronged screws, rather than those three-pronged ones. I have screw drivers for both, the three-pronged ones are just cheap ones I got off of ebay to replace my old Emerald's battery.
So you don't get a little screwdriver in the box with the console? I'm not the only one thinking this is a massive oversight, am I? I know it's not difficult to find one, but you'd think they would just give you one of the correct size especially since you need to be able get the SD card out.
Anyway, I'm excited for this to come out in the UK. I'm just wondering how many of those faceplates we will even get. I'd rather not be forced to buy all the cool ones from overseas. I remember the promise of purchasable faceplates for the GB Micro. I don't think I ever saw one on sale.
I want the New 3DS NAO!
@eaglebob345
You don't have a link do you?
@SanderEvers Thanks, I didn't know that. I used it on my 16GB SD card, so I thought it worked for all.
@Sakura Sorry, I can't find it. It's been a while since I have seen it, though. All I remember is that the program was for sdxc cards.
@KodyDawg Yeah. It's supposed to have some sort of wireless transfer with computers, but I haven't heard anything more about that feature since the New 3DS reveal.
@eaglebob345 @SanderEvers
Noted for future reference. Many thanks!
@SanderEvers Thanks!
exactly what i predicticted
Need this for XL.
No normal SD card support is a bummer.
Freakin' 32 GB sd card!? Wow! I hope that is included in the box!
Honestly, the only things I dislike about the outer appearance on the New 3DS, are the positions of the stylus and game card slot.
The GC should not be on the bottom, as it could get bumped out too easily. and we all know how the styli tend to wear down after continuous sliding in and out of the system right? Well, if it's on the bottom of the system, don't you think it would be prone to falling out, once it's grip has worn down??
Simple aesthetics really do make a difference.
@Baker1000 Does every toy you buy that needs batteries and has a screw holding the cover shut come with a screwdriver? Of course not. It's a common house tool.
@Steven1094 Yeah, Nintendo is good at naming their systems poorly. I can see that kind of confusion happening. I think "3DS+" or "3DS Plus" would be more clear — it's the 3DS, PLUS some new functionality. I'm sure there are plenty other good names that would work, but Nintendo went straight for the one that could cause the most confusion. Good job.
One step forward, two steps back. Nintendo, if you're gonna make it an absolute bear to remove the Micro SD card, then at least give us the option to plug the 3DS into a computer via MicroUSB so we can transfer files. Better yet, replace the proprietary adapter with a microUSB port, so we can charge it off any generic cell phone adapter and access the files from a PC without tampering off the backplate. But no, Nintendo will never be that progressive...
Still though, can't wait to get the LL model. I'm so glad Nintendo is releasing the large and normal models together so I don't have to wait. One last thing: We know now the LL faceplates come off, so why offer replacement plates for the small model only?
I was genuinely surprised by how few people knew the word faffing.
Who cares about the placement of the SD cards? It's not like you'll be swapping it all the time. Jeez. It's sad to think that's a dealbreaker for anyone.
Mario is on the job!
So the 3DS XL does have a removable back faceplate, but it won't be customisable? That's kind of annoying. I will get an XL for obvious reasons, but I would love to customise it.
P.S. Did the music in these videos remind anyone else of NiGHTS?
It's a real pity they've designed it so that you need a screwdriver for one of the face plates. Not very intuitive for younger kids and a bit of a hassle for most people imo. Still, it's very cool that there are a whole load of changeable face plates to be sure.
Maybe you can just take out the those little screws and do without them...
Or maybe someone can come up with a little nub you can insert in their place that sort of does a similar job, so you can remove the screws entirely and use the little nubs to cover up the holes for a more pleasing aesthetic finish...
OR...maybe someone could even come up with a stylus variation that has a little screwdriver head build into it...
Maybe I should try to invent and sell that solution (one or both of those)...
If only I could be bothered and had the resources to do just that.
I'm not sure people would need to watch this video in order to swap faceplates or micro SD cards without doing a fatal mistake.
Are there any other color options for the new 3ds?
Kind of annoying with the SD card placement, as you might sometimes want to remove the card to transfer images and whatnot to a PC or other device.
The upside is that you will never accidentally eject and lose the positively tiny SDmicro cards.
Hmm. That isn't great, given how easily those screws strip. I need to fix one of the screws on my sister's 3DS sometime. I'll probably need some super glue and another screw, because I took it to a glasses store and even they couldn't get it out, and they pretty much do that for a living.
The SD placement looks very inconvenient but it's honestly not a issue for me. In the year I've had my 3DS I've only taken my SD card out once and that was to copy it's contents to the new one I bought to replace it.
I'm more worried about the screws but I guess the faceplates had to be secured somehow.
Love it
Seriously, the New 3DS XL better have SD Card compatibility—due to its increased size—or I will punch a poor innocent plumber in the face. Either way, I'd still get an XL.
@Pod The new Wifi support should be ok for that.
I'M SO GLAD NINTENDO LIFE IS SPREADING THE GLORY OF THE WORD FAFFING
I've always wanted to see it used more...
@Hero-of-WiiU Finding normal SD(HC) cards is already a pain. You have to stick with adapters to turn MicroSD into SD so you can put it in a 3DS, because nobody sells 16-32GB regular SD anymore. And honestly, the 3DS is basically one of a few mobile devices around that still uses regular SD cards, all other phones/tablets are already using MicroSD.
@unrandomsam
Sounds handy!
Managing sd-cards...made more cumbersome. Its all easy on my regular 3DS though!
@StarDust4Ever You can wirelessly transfer files to your PC! You go to the system settings data management to do it then click Micro SD Management. Follow the on-screen prompts then on Windows 7 or 8 click Documents then click Network. You'll see the name of your 3ds, click it and you can access files.
@123akis Nice bump! I've got my American 3DS xL on preorder as of yesterday.
Just leaving this on the table here, I've built arcade controllers for NES, SNES, Atari from scratch; I think I can handle a bit of disassembly to extract the micro SD card for my system transfer.

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