At its best, the second Circle Pad attachment for the 3DS will be an absolute disaster that is quickly forgotten. At its worst, it will overtake the Virtual Boy as the new benchmark in failed hardware.
I don’t see any way the attachment, which has been leaked by a scan of an upcoming issue of Famitsu, will be successful. When we first got wind of an attachment analog nub, we were dubious as to how it would work in conjunction with existing hardware. Early images suggest it will be much worse than the failure we were expecting.
Just look at it; it’s an absolutely minga. It’s an ugly, chunky piece of retro-looking hardware that defies the laws of portable gaming. As if the 3DS wasn’t struggling enough to be portable with its horrendous battery life, this all but confirms that it’s becoming a stay-at-home handheld. There’s no way that will fit in your pocket, and it’ll be a lopsided ordeal to use the gyroscopic motion sensor. It at least has to include an improved battery to warrant its obese size and fix a second gaping flaw in the original design.
The 3DS is failing to live up to Nintendo’s standards. While it’s not actually doing that badly, considering its lack of software, Nintendo is clearly panicking with the impending release of the PlayStation Vita. Four months after its release, Nintendo cut the price in Australia by $100. That’s unheard of, unless you’re exiting the hardware market HP TouchPad style.
A further two months later, Nintendo is hosting a “new product line” conference – happening next week. Some say it’s just a new game and that Nintendo will continue to support the current model of the 3DS. All we know is that they’re releasing a rubbish attachment.
It’s far more likely that it’s a revised console. Nintendo has a knack for releasing updated handhelds, which might explain why some gamers are waiting, but barely making the 6 months milestone is a disgrace.
If there is a new handheld it will have the second Circle Pad built in. The obvious position is below the face buttons, which give it a similar control scheme to the PS Vita. That’s interesting. That could work reasonably well, but it needed to be there from the start.
T
his ghastly attachment is another kick in the teeth for early adopters. Not only did we pay $100 too much, we are stuck with an atrociously out-dated piece of hardware with a pitiful battery life and slapdash fix to a problem that should never have existed. If the dual analog stick/nub situation takes off on handhelds, including the 3DS, existing owners will need to upgrade.
I can’t see this attachment being remotely comfortable to use. Next to the face buttons is a terrible location, as it essentially renders them useless, and you can forget about hitting the touch screen quickly with your thumb. The chunky dimensions and stupid positioning of this attachment will make the controls much worse. It needs to be below the face buttons, but that would be seemingly impossible with an add-on, unless you don’t want to be able to close your 3DS.
Even if two Circle Pads on the 3DS takes off, the attachment won’t. It looks painful to use, and will heavily limit the control options due to its awkward location. Rather than improve the fledgling 3DS, it will make it much worse.
A revised model will better employ the control scheme. However, that will essentially force loyal early buyers to unwilling upgrade and waste several hundred dollars. At least we get some old games we already own for our troubles.
Besser hätte es nie kommen können.
Das kann niemals ein Add On blieben, das ist viel zu essenziell. Ganze Spiele werden nur damit spielbar sein und das werden sicher nicht so wenige sein oder so optional wie für einen Guitar Hero Aufsatz oder ein Rumble Pad, was man ja nicht unbedingt benötigt um das Spiel steuern zu können.
