Nintendo has just briefly confirmed in a press release that the Cosmo Black 3DS XL is getting released in the US this August 11, on the same date as the release of Mario and Luigi: Dream Team. This color will now be officially available in the same range as prior colors blue, red, and pink.
Previously, Nintendo has had to explain the dearth of alternate 3DS and 3DS XL colors. Reggie Fils-Aime previously went on record to say that silver and white colored versions of their prior portables did not sell very well, so they opted for limited releases. A year later, Reggie elaborated further that they ran into problems with retailers not being able to display/present special edition 3DS SKUs, so they could not offer the full range of special editions that they do in Japan. Reggie's solution was to time these with the releases of key Nintendo titles, so Fire Emblem: Awakening, Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon all released in the US with their special edition 3DS SKUs.
Alternate color schemes are an unlikely touchy subject among 3DS fans for one particular reason: region locking. Unlike previous console generations, gamers can't import special edition 3DS and 3DS XLs from Japan and expect them to play their US edition 3DS games. While it's certainly not a dealbreaker for many 3DS fans, it's definitely one of those many little gripes the fans have with the company.
So, today's news is a little extra special for 3DS fans, although it probably also doesn't hurt that black is a pretty popular color for a games console.
Nintendo teased the 3DS XL release with their Mario and Luigi: Dream Team commercial, which you can see below:
Source: Nintendo
