Nintendo announces the Nintendo 3DS XL, bigger screens, better battery

So the rumours were true after all!

There is a new Nintendo 3DS model in town and its the Nintendo 3DS LL (or XL as we know it). The system as the name suggests is a bigger version of the Nintendo 3DS with new bigger screens and better battery life.

The system will come with a new 4.88″ screen, the normal Nintendo 3DS is 3.53″. The bottom screen of course is bigger too at 4.18″ instead of 3.02″ screen of before. The top screen now comes with a 90% bigger viewing area.

Battery life too is much better at 6-10 hours, more than double that of the smaller model but only for DS games. 3DS games still get a slight increase with an estimated running time of 3.5-6 hours. Unfortunately, there is no second Circle Pad on this model as previously speculated.

Some new things will be included in the box, the first won’t be an AC adapter. Nintendo says they’re removing it to keep costs down. However it does use the same adapter that the DSi and 3DS use. There is now also a 4GB SD card included in the box.

The system is out on July 28th and comes in three, two toned colours which are White, Red x Black and Silver x Black and will cost 18,900 yen (about $234 AUD).

Anyone for a larger 3DS then?

Update: American and European release dates

United States $199.99 on August 19th, same date as New Super Mario Bros. 2.

European: Opening Pricing, July 28th in Europe, available in Blue, Red and Silver.