New Nintendo 3DS XL

Nintendo unveils 3DS XL with 90% bigger screens

A restyled 3DS will be released next month with larger screens and twice the battery life, as Nintendo also approve release dates for Professor Layton, Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem.

A new kind of the 3DS portable console is to be released in Europe next month, with the 3DS XL publicised during a new Nintendo Direct Conference last night. The new hardware will be released on July 28 and though there's no established UK price as yet it'll be sold for $199.99 in the US. 

That's about a $30 increase on the normal 3DS, so you're possibly looking at a price of around £170 in the UK. 

The 3DS XL (LL in Japan) will see the size of the screens increase from 2.02 inches on the original 3DS to a considerably larger 4.88 inches on the new model - the largest ever for a Nintendo transportable. The maximum resolution of the graphics though will remain the same. 

The battery life for the 3DS XL will also see a noteworthy increase, going from a unsatisfactory 3.6 to 6.5 hrs for the original 3DS to 6 to 10 hrs for the XL. 

A 4GB SD memory card will also be shoved with the 3DS XL, twice as big as the 2GB card that comes with the 3DS. Strangely though the XL will not come bundled with an AC adapter or cradle charger - you'll have to buy those individually, although it will be harmonious with the adaptors for the 3DS and DSi. 

The 3DS XL will lift-off in three colours: red, blue, and silver. Despite fan conjecture the 3DS XL does not feature a additional analogue slider. In fact Nintendo will have to release a new type of the Circle Pad Pro to fit the XL, but they haven't publicized one yet.