Nintendo 3DS "XL" announced for Japan, North America, European Market

Nintendo 3DS XL is on its way, with larger screens and a closer resemblance to the Wii U gamepad thanks to curved corners and redesigned menu buttons.

The 3DS XL's smaller lower screen is now greater in size than the original 3DS's larger upper screen. Nintendo says that the unit offers 90 percent more screen real estate overall.

The new upper screen measures 10.6cm wide and the lower 8.4cm wide, each with a 6.3cm height (4.1in, 3.3in x 2.4in) as opposed to the original's 7.7cm and 6.1cm by 4.6cm (3.0in, 2.4in x 1.8in).

In addition, there's to be an improved battery life, with Nintendo proclaiming 3.5 to 6.5 hours' worth of 3DS game time, an improvement of 30 to 90 minutes.

To accomodate the larger screen size, the 3DS XL necessarily gains a little weight, width and height. At 15.6cm x 9.3cm and 336g, it will be both taller and heavier than Sony's rival PlayStation Vita, though not yet quite as wide.

Price-wise, the XL will go for $199 in the United States, with European retailers given more leeway to set a selling point.afp relax news