As I have mentioned before in these blogs we have a Ladies&Gaming group on Facebook, a group that’s been together now for almost 4 years. Some 45 members come from all corners of the world, and have been joined together primarily because of Animal Crossing. Since then we’ve played diverse games together and chatted about gaming in general. No surprise with such avid Nintendo fans that some of them bought the New3DS upon release. I myself will wait a bit before buying mine, but I thought it would be fun to share some first hand experiences from a ladies point of view.
Though only someone who loves gaming themselves will understand the need to buy the newest device on release day, it’s just not always easy to justify spending the money on yet another device. So I asked them first what made them decide to buy the New3DS. It was a replacement buy for all or them, but the answers to the question why they bought it immediately on release-day varied. Deb simply said: “I always buy the newest system”, and I’m sure it’s an answer all of us totally understands. Nadia admitted she didn’t intend to buy one until Xenoblade (which will use the New3DS’s feature to the max) is released, but she couldn’t resist the Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate edition. The others didn’t buy a special edition, but that’s understandable when you’ve followed the news. It’s just crazy the way Nintendo limits it’s produced special editions, making it a challenge for opportunistic people to buy them up and sell them for huge prices on eBay. I’ve mentioned this before when I got the offer from Nintendo to buy the Ambassador Version: someone suggested buying it though I didn’t 
need it, and then selling it for a nice profit on eBay. It didn’t feel good to me, being marked by Nintendo as a loyal fan in getting the offer for the limited Ambassador one, and then making some money in selling it. But, maybe I’m naive.
We have all read that there are improvements in the New3DS compared to the old one, and I wondered what feature surprised them most. The first thing they all mentioned was the 3D effect. It works much better, the quality is superior as it doesn’t go fuzzy when you move your head. While most of them just used 2D while gaming, they said they would now play mostly in 3D. Paula said: “they seem to have improved that 100%, I will be playing in 3D so now I get the full value out of the 3DS XL by using the 3D the way it’s meant to be used. The New 3DS XL is also faster, games load faster, Eshop downloads are faster”.
There was some confusion in our group about the system transfer. I’d posted an article from NintendoLife (read the article here) but still, it’s not an easy procedure to make sure that you keep all your Streetpass data, system data along with all the games you’ve downloaded from the eShop. Especially when you’ve bought a special edition with Zelda or MH4 on the new device. Plus the way the New3DS uses micro-SD cards doesn’t make it easier. It makes trading in your old system difficult too, so, did they do a system transfer? Most ladies didn’t, or haven’t yet. Deb traded in her old aqua 3DS and didn’t do a transfer, Mary and Linda both mentioned that they couldn’t transfer, as GameStop (USA) didn’t facilitate a transfer 
when they traded in their old system. Paula had a better deal with Game (UK), as they were giving customers a 7 days to trade in their console as long as you kept your receipt. She had made sure that all her game saves where on the SD card, and was able to transfer them with no problem to the mini-SD card. Downloading all eShop bought games again to the new device allowed her to proceed with no problem at all.
February 13th was a special day in 3DS gaming, as Zelda’s Majora’s Mask was released, as well as Monster Hunter 4. There aren’t any games out yet that need the New3DS to play them, but I can imagine that these new titles make as much use of the new features as possible. So I asked them if they bought Zelda Majora’s Mask or Monster Hunter 4 along with the device, and if they didn’t, what game they used to test the new device.Nadia had Monster Hunter 4 on her special edition, but tried the new device with Animal Crossing, as did Mary. Deb used it with Tomodachi Life Welcome Version, and Linda used it with her Nintendogs game as she always carries that one with her using the pedometer. Paula played Zelda Majora’s Mask, as she bought it at the same time. She remarked how well the new analog stick worked, as it controls the camera, and Nadia loves the use of it too, much better then using the touchscreen on the old model.
In conclusion I asked them about their overall experiences and if there was something they didn’t like. Deb remarked that she didn’t like the new stylus. “It’s very short and the shape at the top annoys by digging into the skin.” Paula wrapped it up best: “This is what the 3DS should have been like when it first came out” The other ladies agreed that the New 3DS really adds to the gaming experience!