Nintendo do it again - 3DS XL incoming!

Shigeru Miyamoto was posed the question in an interview dated the 12th of June if Nintendo plan on releasing another remodel of the 3DS console. Miyamoto claimed that he believes the 3DS is "the best for this generation", and he is happy at where the 3DS is in terms of quality, and believes there is no need for any further upgrades - stating that any new handheld would be a next generation unit.

Caught red handed -  Shigsy hold his hands up

Fast forward to June 22nd, and Nintendo unveil the 3DS XL. Sporting 90% larger screens, better battery life, and a slightly remodeled shell. So why is this being done? Nintendo have already suffered such an angry backlash regarding the original launch of the 3DS, when they infamously slashed prices on the consoles no longer than five months after the initial release - causing outrage among the Nintendo faithful.

The console in question

They are no strangers to such practices however. The original DS unit was released in 2004 which saw a remodeled effort appear in 2006 in the form of the DS Lite, offering a new redesigned casing and reduced size. Two years later Nintendo pull another ace by releasing the DSi, which featured front and rear facing cameras, expandable memory, improved processing power and RAM. A year later an "XL" edition was released. 

A similar thing happened with the original Game Boy and the Game Boy Advance, seeing no less than four models of the original Game Boy being released (One could argue the Gameboy Colour was a backwards compatible "semi next gen unit however), and three different models of the Game Boy Advance.

Quite a few no?

Thats a lot of handhelds released, which is why it feels like a further kick to the consumer that they plan to release a revised 3DS console, especially seen as it is no longer than a year and a few months since it has been out. Maybe this was to be expected at any rate, looking at previous company behaviour, but with Mr Miyamoto's claims ringing untrue - its going to leave a bitter taste in the mouth of most fans - It certainly has for this one.

What are your thoughts on this? Are you chuffed about it? Indifferent? Enraged? Leave a message in the comments below!