Famitsu Confirms Circle Pad Pro XL
In what has to be the most bizarre announcement in history, Weekly Famitsu (via Andriasang), the extremely popular Japanese gaming magazine, has revealed Nintendo will release a Circle Pad Pro that works with the newly announced 3DS XL. Yet again, I’m left asking why Nintendo didn’t just release this built into the device itself. Imagine how bulky this new adapter will be.
For all those that said Nintendo didn’t need to release a second analog on the system, please chime in here because now I’m completely lost. Nintendo had the perfect opportunity to remodel the 3DS so this accessory wouldn’t have been necessary. This seems extremely redundant to me, but everyone else didn’t have a problem with it before, so I can’t wait to hear what you all have to say about this story.
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I’m honestly not all that bothered. Not saying I didn’t want it to be built in, don’t assume that. I just don’t mind so much.
Here’s the way I see it: the 3DS XL is not a full re-design, just an alternative to the model. I do know people who were holding out for a larger system. Two of my siblings are buying a 3DS XL because they really liked the DSi XL–and they didn’t want to get the 3DS at its current size. If they released the 3DSXL with a second stick, then everyone with the current 3DS would be faced with immediate pressure to upgrade. Like Enhas implied, then developers would be struck with the problem: do you develop with the second stick in mind or not? This way they at least keep the basic SKU the same–you develop with one stick. Now they at least have the option available for the second analog stick, regardless of model.
Few games take advantage of the CPP so far, so I don’t miss it so much. Now, you could easily argue that if it was there, then developers could take advantage of it and there would be more dual stick designed games. Even then, without the second stick, you can still have a diverse and great lineup of games. You don’t *need* a second stick to make the library any better. The SNES has an amazing lineup of games. So the NES, Genesis, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and Nintendo DS. Dual-stick controls are great for some games but you can still have a lot of great games without it. I don’t need a second stick to play Professor Layton, NSMB2, and Castlevania. Even the games that “needed” the second stick, like Resident Evil Revelations, still are highly playable and great fun regardless.
So yeah. That’s my two cents. I think a built-in stick would be cool. But I’m not losing sleep over it. The 3DS still has a lot of games I’m excited about and I take it around with me a lot–lately I’ve been playing Pushmo on mine and I adore it.
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#4 written by Steven 10 months ago
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Played the demo on eShop. Still not all that concerned.
I’m not trying to be contrary or rude or anything. I’m just not as up in arms about it I suppose. It’d be neat to have the second stick built in, but if I want the second stick, I’m ok with getting the peripheral. I get that if it was built in, it would be more convenient and developers would probably have more incentive to experiment with dual-stick controls. I’m just not as sad about that, I guess. So far the system has demonstrated there are a lot of games I like without it and there are more coming that don’t need it. The main genres I could think that would benefit are twin-stick shooters (which there certainly isn’t a shortage of), but I don’t think we’re really going to suffer without it.
Heck, I even loved my PSP, even without the second stick. Even on the Vita, some of the games I want the most don’t need a second-stick–Persona 4 The Golden and Ys, for example. Maybe that’s just me and what genres I like though.
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I’m just perplexed by Nintendo’s logic is all. I don’t understand why they wouldn’t incorporate the second stick into the design when they had the perfect opportunity. Now we’re going to get another cumbersome add-on which won’t be adopted by the masses, and therefore limit some of the genres we could potentially receive. The 3DS has proven to be an excellent handheld, I just want Nintendo to do all it can to give us, the players, the best possible gameplay experience out there and yet it seems no one shares my concerns.
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I think it’s because Nintendo wants to keep it optional so you’re not forced to use it (as would have been the eventual case if it was included with the XL, meaning the original 3DS wouldn’t be able to play some newer games without the attachment). Chances are that the Circle Pad Pro for the regular 3DS will be discontinued or harder to find now though, to make you get the XL if you want those controls.