TOKYO—Japanese game maker Nintendo Co. has upgraded its 3DS handheld to sport a screen nearly twice as big as the previous model amid hot competition against smartphones and tablets that are wooing people away from dedicated gaming machines.
The Kyoto-based maker of the Super Mario games and Wii home console said Friday the Nintendo 3DS LL, called 3DS XL in overseas markets, goes on sale in Japan and Europe July 28, and in the U.S. from Aug. 19.
It will sell in Japan for 18,900 yen (US$236) and $199.99 in the U.S. It did not give a price for Europe.
The 3DS, which has a touch panel and delivers 3-D imagery without special glasses, has two screens — one is 3.53 inches and the other is 3.02 inches.
The LL version's screens are 4.88 inches and 4.18 inches, according to the company. Screen inches refer to the diagonal measurement so LL screens are 1.9 times bigger.
The LL weighs a bit more and is slightly bigger than the previous model. But battery life was extended to up to six and a half hours for 3D games from the previous five hours, and up to 10 hours from eight hours for regular games. (AP/T05/TW)
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