As you can imagine, the 2DS has been the talk of the town in the last 24 hours. People are perplexed, curious, furious or very, very happy. More details about the console have come out, regarding its actual size, and having only one actual screen.
As revealed by USGamer, as one surprising cost cutting measure, the 2DS actually only has one screen. The top screen is covered with a protective layer of plastic, but considering the design of 3DS games, you would not actually be able to use the top screen’s 3D functionality.
If you’re wondering how this is possible, the 3DS consoles actually use resistive touchscreen technology, different from the capacitive touchscreens used in tablets and smartphones. I’m sharing a video below that explains the resistive touchscreen as used in the Wii U and 3DS.
Many gamers also had early concerns that the console would be too large and unwieldy. Here are a few screenshots putting a 2DS side-by-side with a 3DS and 3DS XL, laid flat and also with the top screens raised. As you can see, the new portable is definitely smaller than the 3DS, even if by a little bit.
The controls have also been moved around so that the triggers line up on the edges of the console, the Circle Pad is aligned towards the top screen and the d-pad and buttons have also been moved closer up. These adjustments were made so that you would be holding the console at its very center, but it also affects overall ergonomics, so it does look like it could affect gameplay. Could a game like Kid Icarus Uprising benefit from these adjustments?
Finally, if you look at the bottom right of the console, the 2DS has a new button, which is the sleep mode button. This means that 3DS games that use sleep mode will be fully playable. If you remember, Nintendo was playing around with this idea since the Game Boy Advance Days with the Super Mario Advance series, so having an open console like 2DS in sleep mode should not be a surprise. Hopefully, some of the new information here would have helped dispel some early misconception and answer some early questions you had about the console. The 2DS is releasing October 12 for $ 129.99.
