Heaven forefend! Has Nintendo's 3DS announcement killed the DSi XL?

John Biggs

Biggs is the East Coast Editor of TechCrunch. Biggs has written for the New York Times, InSync, USA Weekend, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Money and a number of other outlets on technology and wristwatches. He is the former editor-in-chief of Gizmodo.com and lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. You can Tweet him here and G+ him here. Email him directly at... → Learn More

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010


NOT FOR KIDS!

In all honesty, I don’t think the DSi XL is part of Nintendo’s standard line-up. It’s a reaction to the popularity of the Wii in retirement centers and is aimed at a much older – and much different audience – than the new 3D DS, aptly named the 3DS. Older folks who may have been put off by the DSi’s small size and “kiddie” features will be able to handle the XL just fine.
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CNBC is hand-wringing a little about the launch of the DSi XL being hampered by the announcement of the 3DS. This is a lot like worrying that bocce ball sales will go down because a new soccer ball has been announced – the two items are so different, and aimed at such different audiences – that the connection is dubious at best and ludicrous at worst.

Then you have this line: “The larger screen size will also let people see the games, rather than just the device.” I don’t have any idea what that means.

Anyway, as Dave noted in his review, this is a Nintendo for Moms and Dads, not kids. The obsessives who have to have the latest and greatest will pick up a 3DS. The old-timers will keep picking up the DSi XL for years to come.

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