Nintendo 3DS gets more stick
Pad pushing performance enhancer
Nintendo is touting an attachment to the 3DS, which plonks an additional slide pad to the right of the button set and readies the handheld machine for dual-stick gaming action. This extra functionality puts it on a par with more conventional console controllers.
Whispers of such a device have been around a while now, but the attachment has gone official, through Nintendo's Japanese page, where it is listed as being available this December for ¥1500 (£12).
The "Extended Slide Pad" runs on a single AAA battery, so it wont draw any further power from the 3DS and its already low juice capacity. As well as incorporating a new joystick, the pad also packs R1, R2 and L2 buttons.
As fugly as the darn thing is, the Slide Pad should come in handy for certain titles. Games to utilise the dual-stick functionality include Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil and Monster Hunter 3D.
Meanwhile, over at the pre-Tokyo Game Show, Ninty was busy officially talking up changes to the 3DS from including a 3D video capture feature, and upgrades to the eShop, to bringing out a new pink coloured model for, er, those who like pink gaming kit.
It also discussed handfuls of upcoming games from Paper Mario to Kid Icarus Uprising. ®
COMMENTS
As an avid Nintendo fan, and life-time supporter in the "fan-wars" I'd just like to say, "aaah ha ha ha haa, this looks so dumb".
That is all.
If I don't have a 3DS, will there be the same peripheral for my DS, my DS Lite, my DS XL, my DSi or my... Ah fuck it. I think I've played Mario enough.
I forget, did uDraw for the Wii require optional hardware? Likewise, there are Kinect exclusives on the 360. I get what you're saying, but with the latest batch of consoles "must have" accessories are becoming a standard theme. And if they're selling the consoles at a loss, I can hardly blame them.
Aghhhh - bodge
What a stupid idea in the first place.
Now Nintendo should have looked around and thought. Fit two to begin with.
Unfortunately this will hurt the 3DS as people will wait for a built in version on the next 3DS variant.
Not a nice idea but it adds the twin analogue stick. Now how much work would it have been to have designed it in originally!.
I know the DS has none and PSP 1.
so..
Can we all agree now that the 3DS is a disaster so far (still hardly any decent software) , the people who bought V1.0 will be shafted when (not if) the new dual stick version is launched, and the software base has just been fractured between single and dual stick users.
The only thing keeping this alive is the inability of Sony to ship the NGP (sorry, Vita) any sooner.
