I have some questions about the layouts and buttons on the various new3DS and 2DS models of 3DS that I would be really grateful if people had answers to.
I own an old3DS XL, I’ve really been feeling nostalgic for (3)DS games lately and some time back decided to hack it. But after holding it and trying out some quick games to make sure everything was working right I was reminded that I’d had my 3DS in a drawer for 7 years because my 3DS just hurts to play. My hands, particularly my finger joints and especially my thumbs, are really weak. They tire and ache after an hour of the most ergonomic keyboard and gamepad usage I can manage, but the design of my old3DS XL is murder on them.
There are three aspects of this old3DS XL that aggravate my hands:
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Every single button requires considerable effort to press down, and they’re also all very low-set against the system, which requires even more finger bending and muscle effort. On my old DS Lite, all the buttons are soft and press down with the lightest touch, while buttons on the old3DS XL are much firmer. They’re on the level of Joycon button stiffness, while I’d like… I don’t know, the soft face buttons of any reasonable modern and even old controller, I truly can’t think of another controller I’ve held that has buttons as stiff as the old3DS XL and Joycons. The amount of strain required to press buttons on the old3DS XL makes button holds agonizing, and the dpad practically unusable for more than 10 minutes.
I can’t convey Touch over the internet, but here’s a subpar photo comparing the button depth between my old3DS XL (left) and DS lite (right) to demonstrate how shallow these buttons are.
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The placement of the dpad makes using it with your thumb really unnatural. This can’t really be helped with having the circle pad on the top, but the dpad being so low down in placement means I either have to shift my left hand into a really awkward uncomfortable grip in order to have my thumb outstretched while using the dpad. Or, if I hold the 3DS in the most natural grip, I have to bend my thumb to ridiculous, painful degrees to reach and press the already painful dpad.
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The circle pad, much like the buttons, requires far too much force to move around. Pressing my thumb against the circle pad feels like I constantly have a spring holding back against me trying to push my thumb back. It’s not as painful to use as the dpad, but still very quickly gets tiring and painful.
I was wondering if there is anyone here with a new3DS, new3DS XL, 2DS or 2DS XL, who could tell me if they feel the model they have doesn’t have these issues? Particularly, if there’s a 3DS model with significantly less button stiffness, I could live with the other two issues. I realize for people who don’t have sensitive hands, evaluating the ergonomics might be a bit difficult… This post is pretty wordy, I hope I’ve managed to explain the issues okay.
After putting my hacked old3DS XL back in its drawer, I started scrolling new3DS XL listings online because I just felt so frustrated, but I managed to stop myself from buying one because I really don’t know if a new3DS XL would be just as bad and if this is just a doomed endeavor and I’ll have to just live with awkward PC emulation. Unfortunately I don’t know anyone irl who owns a newer model, so I can’t try one out in person…