Nintendo Handheld Console - New Nintendo 2DS XL - Black and Turquoise (Nintendo 3DS)

This is such a good console! I got it as a Christmas present for myself and as a up-grade from my Original 3DS XL which is starting to feel its age. I'm so impressed with it! The black and blue colour combo is stunning and compliments itself really well. The screens are really clear and really good quality and speed wise...its really fast! I have currently tested out Mario Kart 7, Animal Crossing New Leaf, Zelda Ocarina of Time, Nintendogs and Cats and Ultra Moon, Pokemon Platinum and Pokemon X. All of these games load up nice and quick, especially Ultra Moon (it doesn't have that stupid 'please wait' message when you close the game down anymore!). The sound is also of really good quality, even on DS games. The buttons are really responsive and I love the fact that both the game cartridge and the micro SD card are protected at the bottom of the system and easy to get to (no worries about accidentally popping out my game or dreading taking the system apart to get to the SD card anymore - should I need to). I haven't got any games that require the C-stick so I haven't been able to test that out yet. I also really like the fact that you have to switch on the internet of the system within the system itself and not on a slider. The delivery was also nice and quick. All in all, I'm really happy with my new system and have already done the system transfer from my Original 3DS XL and have made my 2DS XL my main console. Almost forgot to mention, it's really comfortable to hold. I have small hands myself and my previous console would start to feel really heavy after a few hours of gaming. The 2DS XL fits really nicely into my small hands and definitely seems to be lighter than the Original 3DS XL.

Edit - got another one for the kids!My favourite Nintendo handheld still!I like the 3DS games but I don't care for the 3D effect. If this sounds like you then this is the best console to get. I got the original 2DS as soon as it came out and I was very happy with it. Now the Big Brother has arrived and it's bigger and has all the extra controls (Bumper buttons and right hand hat stick).Feels great in the hand, build quality of the good high Nintendo standards. The XL series has a large screen without adding any resolution so be prepared to SEE the pixels, it has a nice large screen but it's not a modern mobile phone with ultra high-dpi. You see the same number of pixels... bigger. As long as you are prepared for this you will have no issues.This one has built-in Stereo speakers which actually makes is possible to play without headphones, the original 2DS has only a mono speaker which was a strange cost-cutting choice imho, ever since the original DS came out no hand-held had a mono speaker (the last one with mono speaker was GameBoy Advance SP).So all in all this is a better console than 2DS in every regard, so it's just a question of the price difference. I think it is well worth it, especially if you can find it on a sale. I have played with every single Nintendo hand-held since the original GameBoy. This one is easily my new favourite.

Update: A few months after I bought it, it stopped working. My daughter jiggled it a bit and poof! Pressing the power button did nothing. You’d hear a bop and see a flash, but that’s it. Took it apart several times to try and fix the most common causes - and boy, are there ever a lot of issues people keep reporting with this model...! Nothing. Got another one and that one was also unfixable. Repairs are very costly. Very unhappy with it. Complete waste of money. Can’t believe Nintendo would put a flawed product on the market like this.This was a 1st of June pressie for my 5yo daughter. She loves it.Got the blue version with these 2 accessories:- a carry case ORZLY® 2DS XL Case, Carry Case for New Nintendo 2DS XL - Protective Hard Shell Portable Travel Case Pouch for New 2DS XL Console with Slots for Games & Zip Pocket - BLUE on Black in matching colours;- a grip and silicone cover Hand Grips for NEW Nintendo 2DS XL with Silicone Case, AFUNTA Plastic Handle with Anti-slip Protective Cover for 2DS LL - Black.I was an avid Mario player, so I'm thrilled with the concept. This is the first DS we've had in the household.Great device, but you need to know that:- It comes blank, and you need to buy everything, unless you're satisfied with downloading the free demo versions.- Some of the games are actually quite hard, even if they're rated 3+. My daughter doesn't have the dexterity to make some of the jumps, even if she knows very well what she needs to do to level up.- It works with just about any DS game, even the newest ones, but it doesn't hurt to double-check.- You need to also buy loads of Amiibo characters if you want your kid to level up.- The stylus pen is the perfect chew toy. Within the first 5 minutes, it was chewed so badly that it won't stay in its chamber anymore.- You'll need to set privacy, payment, and security restrictions as soon as you get it, before your child gets their hands on it. Loads of games come with messaging and Mii sharing features, so do be careful if your child is little. Also set a password, so that when an app asks for permission to share info, they can't automatically do that themselves.I'm happy with the console, in principle, and I plan to get her younger brother one as soon as he reaches the minimum age to play these games. But I'm not very impressed with the sheer diversity of all these expensive extras and accessories. What happened to just giving kids a good game?