Several French gaming sites have published the first hands-on impressions. Thanks to Google Translate and friendly NeoGAF Posters, it would appear that the French demonstrators are quite impressed with the new, bigger handheld.
From a hands-on posted to the site Puissance Nintendo come the following impressions, along with the above video and image below (Google Translated via GAF):
Huge screen
Better viewing angle
3D effect looks better/more effective/more natural
2D mode looks better than regular 3DS
Image looks better/softer (they assume there might be some filter but not sure)
The grip (round corners) fit nicely
Unit fits better in hands (they wonder if it shouldâve been the main design in first place)
Unit is lighter than they expected
Thereâs a coat in the unit (not fully matte) that gives it a âdeluxe plastic imitating metalâ look
Not sure at the sound as the room was quite noisy
A second preview at Bamar En Live has a similar takeaway, with the translation saying that, vitally, the games donât look degraded on the 3DS XLâs bigger screen. âWhile the image looked worse on a DSiXL than on a DSi, itâs not the case here. 3DSXL pixels look as defined as on 3DS.â
Sounds good to me. I really just may have to upgrade my 3DS. And by âupgradeâ I mean âreplace entirely.â Oh, wellâŠ
Jâai testĂ© la future Nintendo 3DS XL [Bamar En Live via NeoGAF]
EXCLU â On a testĂ© la 3DS XL! [Puissance Nintendo via NeoGAF]