#Nintendo 2ds portable#
Still, the bright side colors and stark seams make the unit look a bit toy-like next to the kind of high-end portable electronics you might be used to carrying around. The lack of a hinge makes the 2DS feel a bit more solid than previous 3DS systems, and the matte plastic finish (carried over from the 3DS XL) is a nice, smudge-proof improvement over the original 3DS' metallic surface. Strong design and build qualityįor a system that's serving as the "cheap" Nintendo portable, the 2DS has an impressively tight build quality to it. There aren't all that many DS or 3DS games that make use of this kind of hybrid control model, but for the ones that do, be warned. Titles like Kid Icarus: Uprising were never all that comfortable to play on folding 3DS units, but on the 2DS, trying to support the system and manipulate buttons with a single hand is downright painful. The only times the 2DS' odd design really gets uncomfortable is when playing games that try to combine touchscreen stylus tapping on one hand with face and shoulder button manipulation on the other. The redesigned volume slider has a nice textured grip and is a bit harder to slide accidentally. This is surprisingly comfortable when playing traditional games where your fingers are on the buttons and touchpad all or most of the time, especially if you hold the system down around your waist (rather than holding it perfectly vertically in front of your face). Luckily, this problem is primarily limited to some experimental games released around the launch of the original DS back in 2004.Īs a result, I found myself tending to hold the 2DS a little more loosely, pressing the tops of my palms inward to support the system and using my back fingers to hold it up from behind. The reduced space can slightly mess up the timing and angle of this kind of movement, an effect that ranges from disconcerting to actively disruptive to gameplay. This is actually a practical concern for games that allow objects to travel unseen in the "dead space" between the screens as they move from one display to the other. Less dead spaceOne small wrinkle in the 2DS design that you might not even notice is the reduced space between the top and bottom screens compared to previous DS and 3DS models.
#Nintendo 2ds software#
Everything from the system menu to the software compatibility, screen size, and 3D camera (yes, the system takes 3D pictures, even though it can't display them natively) is exactly the same as it was in the standard 3DS, so we're not going to rehash that here. Mostly comfortableĪs far as the internal hardware is concerned, the 2DS is identical to the 3DS that came before it, right down to the same size battery pack. All in all, the 2DS is a passable entry-level device for price-conscious consumers, but the standard 3DS or 3DS XL are worth the extra money. But this handheld also comes with a few annoyances that detract from the gaming experience.
The redesign reportedly brings with it significant cost savings on Nintendo's part, which helps drive the 2DS' price down to a very attractive $129 (compared to $169 for the 3DS and $199 for the 3DS XL).
Not only is Nintendo saying goodbye to the 3D gimmick that started out as one of the 3DS' main selling points, but it's also throwing out the folding hinge design that has served its portable line so well ever since the Game Boy Advance SP.
That said, the August announcement of the Nintendo 2DS was still surprising simply due to the sheer scale of Nintendo's proposed redesign. At this point, we're used to Nintendo releasing slightly tweaked cosmetic refinements to its portable systems pretty frequently (the latest example of the trend, the 3DS XL, came just last year).
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