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The New Nintendo 3DS XL is a sleek piece of kit that streamlines many of its predecessor's quirks. Be it changed button placement or new features altogether, it's evident that Nintendo has put a lot of thought into alleviating pain points both obvious and subtle. While we aren't fans of every minor tweak or detail, on the whole this redesign is a pleasant upgrade.

The 3DS' implementation of stereoscopic 3D has caught a lot of flak for being too demanding. The "sweet spot" on original models for viewing required players to position the device in a very specific, head-on way; any viewing angle outside of that spot would make the screen appear ghost-like, dithered and unstable.

Well, no more. The major new features of this model include improved 3D support, which Nintendo dubs "super stable." According to the system setup process, the inside camera tracks your eyes and adjusts the screen accordingly. It works surprisingly well — the 3D effect is preserved when gyrating the handheld, which makes subtle motion in games like Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon or The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D far more tolerable. Public-transit players will be pleased to see that the effect holds up on bumpy rides just fine, too. While 3D is far more durable on the new unit, though, it still can break: exceed a 45-degree angle and the camera loses track of your eyes. We also noticed that when looking away for a moment and then returning your eyes to the console, the 3D will take an ugly split-second to figure itself out and resume its usual beauty. The screens themselves, meanwhile, are identical in resolution to every previous 3DS, and appear identical to the old 3DS XL.

Automatic brightness adjustment is another new feature that uses the inside camera. When enabled, the console will try to match its screen brightness to the light level of your location. The screen goes bright in well-lit environments, and darker when playing in dimmer spots. The transition is largely invisible — the brightness scale is not as varied as, say, an iPhone — and pleasant on the eyes.

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And, yes, the New Nintendo 3DS has additional control inputs. The nub-like C-stick sits to the top-right of the X button and acts as a second circle pad; it's worth noting that games compatible with the Circle Pad Pro will have inherent C-stick functionality, essentially baking in the clunky accessory to the hardware. The C-stick is more responsive than its modest appearance lets on - we had no trouble using it for camera control in Majora's Mask or for quick smash attacks in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, and feels essential for helping Code Name: S.T.E.A.M and IronFall feel like proper third-person titles. We're excited at the possibilities this will bring to the table now that it's a standardized input, and we hope that developers put it to good use.

Two new buttons, ZL and ZR, sit on the inside of the shoulder buttons. This brings the handheld's button count closer to modern console controllers, and are essential for enabling games like Xenoblade Chronicles 3D to feel uncompromised on the handheld. These buttons feel tiny, though, and their position requires a new way to hold the console lest you mash both the Z- and shoulder-button at the same time. We find ourselves doing that quite a bit.

NFC support also makes an appearance in the New Nintendo 3DS XL, bringing amiibo support along with it. The sensor is located underneath the bottom screen and behaves just like on the Wii U GamePad — namely, a game activates the sensor and you tap an amiibo against it, and the handheld retains the information until later de-synced with another tap. It's a more deliberate application than the console portals of Skylanders or Disney Infinity, but is in line with the portable Skylanders portal. We are so far unable to test its application in a game since no game in our mitts has the functionality enabled (Smash Bros. will receive an update in February) but we don't expect much of a radical departure from Wii U-style support.

Rounding out the New Nintendo 3DS are relocations of key buttons and inputs. The card slot now sits on the left of the bottom-front of the hardware, in the corner below the D-Pad. Time will tell whether this discourages or enables accidental card ejects, but there it is. The power button has moved from the bottom face to the right-front side, and the Start and Select buttons now occupy its former location — similar to a DSi. Again, it remains to be seen whether exposing the power button like this will lead to accidental presses, which hasn't been a problem for a Nintendo handheld in quite some time. The sides of the top screen now have a slider on each side — one for audio, the other for 3D. The wi-fi switch is noticeably no more, now relegated to a soft switch on the Home screen's quick-settings menu, adding a few extra steps to what was a convenient process.

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New 3DS XL does away with standard SD cards in favour of microSD, accepting microSDHC cards up to 32gb. The card slot is now in a less convenient location, requiring you to unscrew the plate on the bottom of the unit. Our attempt to swap cards led to us accidentally hitting the power button, which is a less-than-ideal situation. If you regularly swap smaller-sized SD cards on your current 3DS, we recommend investing in a larger microSDHC card to avoid having to keep fiddling with this.

Under-the-hood updates make New 3DS XL a quicker machine than before, significantly reducing load times for games like Smash Bros; system menus move quicker, and overall the system feels zippier than older models. Developers can put this extra power to use, and it's largely why Xenoblade Chronicles 3D can exist as a New 3DS-exclusive title. This isn't the first time that Nintendo has upgraded its portable hardware during its lifespan — Game Boy Color says hi — and it remains to be seen what type of split this power bump may lead to. Considering there are already millions and millions of old 3DS units sold, we don't anticipate developers abandoning the greater user base any time soon.

It makes sense for Nintendo to offer a new, upgraded unit like this because the original 3DS is creaking under how many new features have been bolted on since it launched in 2011. At the time Miiverse didn't exist, amiibo wasn't a factor, and one Circle Pad seemed sufficient (well, not really, but Nintendo apparently thought so). And when flagship software like Smash Bros. pushes the hardware to its limits, imagine what could be done with a little extra boost? From this perspective, New 3DS XL is a huge success. It's slick, robust, and ready to ride out the rest of the platform's lifespan with rejuvenated energy.

For Nintendo, the reasons to upgrade are clear. But for players who are perfectly happy with how their current system works, the decision to throw down another $200 (in the US) isn't quite so clear. Whether you choose to upgrade to New 3DS XL or not will ultimately depend on how much you feel the need to keep up with features that have been bolted on to the 3DS. Is amiibo support important to you now? Are you getting tired of an increasingly sluggish system? Really want to take advantage of the new inputs when games inevitably start supporting them? Do you want more stable 3D? All valid reasons to consider jumping in. The choice is yours.

These impressions are from attending a media event in San Francisco, travel costs were provided by Nintendo of America.