3DS XL - Thoughts and Impressions

I love Nintendo handhelds and have one for as long as I can remember, I have had an Aqua Blue 3DS for around two years now and over the Christmas period I finally decided to jump and get a 3DS XL, more specifically the Limited Edition Legend of Zelda 3DS XL., these are my thoughts
*Queue Law & Order noise*

Now I love my 3DS, so I was curious about what the 3DS XL improved on in terms of performance, 3D effect and various other aspects.

In the box for my 3DS XL I got 6 AR Cards, the 3DS XL itself, a Club Nintendo Code and a digital download for The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Words (Which I did not use, I got the game physically at release and I prefer physical copies rather than digital).

Now the first thing you will notice when you pull the 3DS XL out of the box it is weight difference and more notably the size difference as well. In my opinion, the 3DS XL feels very light compared to the normal 3DS and is quite a lot larger, I mean even I didn't think it was going to be *that* large compared to the 3DS.

When I first saw the 3DS XL I thought it was very cheaply made and I did not think I was going to feel sturdy at all but let me tell you, I was completely wrong. It feels very sturdy and very well made, even compared to the 3DS and the hinge connecting the two sections together feels much better with it now having two solid clicks when opening and locking the top screen in place. Changing the face buttons (i.e. the 'Start', 'Select' and 'Home' buttons) into proper buttons rather than having them all as one like on the 3DS was something which I did not think was going to look as nice as the 3DS ones and I don't think they do, however, they are a lot more practical than the 3DS ones. 
Another noticeable thing with the buttons is the 3DS XL does not come with a second analogue stick so if you want another to play games such as Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on the 3DS you will need to buy the extension which clips onto the 3DS XL (Note: The 3DS one does not fit the 3DS XL, so you will have to buy another one). The 3D slide bar now has a small clip lock if you will, so no longer will you accidentaly switch the 3D on and really hurt your eyes in the process. 
The only thing that I do not like about the buttons now is that the analogue stick can feel stiff at first and the Power button is not raised any more so sometimes it feels like you aren't holding down the power button. Also, I prefer the stylus which came with the 3DS over the 3DS XL, the stylus for the XL just feels cheap and honestly when I was first using it I felt like I was scratching the screen which made me very uncomfortable, I felt like Nintendo had made some progress with the 3DS stylus from the one which came with the original 3DS, but they have just reverted. 

Now, the 3DS XL is not shiny like the original 3DS... THANK GOD!
The 3DS is a magnet for finger prints and sometimes that could really bother me. The 3DS XL which I have purchased does get a few finger prints on it but they aren't as noticeable as they are on the 3DS. The 3D effect on the XL is also so much better, the range for what me and my friends refer to as the 'sweet spot' for the 3D is a lot bigger and doesn't require you to have the system really close to your face to get the full effect.  
Now I have read a few things where people have complained due to the stretching of pixels when playing 3DS games on the 3DS XL. Now I have not really noticed this, in fact, more recently released games actually look a lot better on the 3DS XL than the 3DS, I tired this with Bravely Default and it seems to suit the larger screen a lot more. 

Now the size difference and boy, is it a size difference. Pictures really cannot describe the size difference between the 3DS and the 3DS XL, because no matter how much you look at the pictures, the size difference is more noticable when you are actually holding the device itself... but for good measure I have inserted an image of the 3DS vs my 3DS XL. 
To put it into a measurable perspective, the touchscreen, yes the touchscreen on the 3DS XL is larger than the main screen on the 3DS... that's a huge size difference. The battery life on the console is a lot better lasting around half an hour longer when playing 3DS games and between 1 - 2 hours longer when playing DS titles. It also doesn't heat up as much, making it more comfortable for extended gameplay. 

*THE 3DS XL DOES NOT COME WITH A CHARGER SO THIS WILL HAVE TO BE PURCHASED SEPARATELY UNLESS YOU ALREADY OWN A 3DS OR 2DS!*

Final Thoughts
In my opinion, the 3DS XL is worth the price you pay for it. If you are someone how has not yet purchased a 3DS, I would strongly recommend purchasing a 3DS XL rather than a 3DS as it is worth the extra money you may pay for one. If you are a current user of the 3DS and are wondering if it worth the upgrade, I believe it is, there are a lot of good points about the 3DS XL which are worth the extra money to get one, maybe wait for a limited edition that catches your eye and drop some money on it yet. 

The 3DS XL is available at any good retailer for a variety of prices, so shop around for a deal that suits you before you buy! 

Review: Deadpool for the PS3

Deadpool is probably the funniest game I have played this year and even
this generation

I am a huge comic book fan, especially when it comes to Marvel, my favourite ever comic book character is however Deadpool and when I heard that they were making a Deadpool game I was more than excited. I was waiting for the game to go down in price but after the whole ordeal where some licensed games have been taken of the online stores on consoles and PCs, I felt now was the time to just take the dive and purchase the game and *Spoiler Alert* I am so glad I did.

Deadpool (a.k.a. Wade Wilson) is the Merc with a Mouth who has a tendency to break the fourth wall, regardless of medium and originally appeared in New Mutants issue #98. Deadpool is based on the DC Character Deathstroke (a.k.a. Slade Wilson) however, is not quite as serious as Deathstroke.

Deadpool is obsessed with Pancakes, chimichangas and boobies and has a tendency to speak his mind, but with all that being said he is still one of the most utterly entertaining, Wolverine-Hating, comic book characters ever created in the Marvel Universe or otherwise

*Warning if you do not like childish vulgar you should stay away from this game and any Deadpool comic*

Deadpool is a beat’em up shooter which has a 3^rd person camera angle. It was developed by Highmoon Studios and published by Activision and was released for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in June of 2013. So let’s begin the review…

Story

C'mon, in what other game will the main character ride
 a rocket during a important speech?!

Wow, this is the first time I have reviewed a story arc… oh well, here goes nothing.

This is one of the most insane storylines I have ever heard of in a game, Deadpool wants to be in a video game and so writes I letter to Highmoon studios asking them to make him a videogame starring himself as the lead character, when the initially turn down Deadpool’s idea he makes everyone at Highmoon into a hostage whilst they make "the most awesome game ever starring himself", he even hires Nolan North during the game to voice him!

Anyway Deadpool receives the script that Highmoon have made for his game but he doesn’t read it because there are too many words and it’s too serious, so he improvises the rest of it. The main plot starts off with Deadpool being hired to kill Chance White, however, white Is saved by Mr. Sinister (A long standing enemy of the x-men) and then killed by the very same person, this upsets Deadpool so he decides to get revenge. There are some guest appearances from the likes of Wolverine (which leads into a hilarious slapping scene) and other characters from the x-men universe throughout the game.

Overall, for a game the story is pretty much non-existent after the first 45 minutes to 1 hour of the game and the rest is pretty much a brawling beat’em up until you finish the game. However, those how are familiar with the works of Deadpool will understand the charm of this, throughout the game, Deadpool knows he is in a game and therefore keeps commanding the player and Highmoon to do things within the game. He has conversations with the voices in his head about the things he is doing and whether they are good or not and who really cares because GUNS!

I must admit, this game is not for everyone, not many people will appreciate the kind of humour that comes with this game and will probably either find it vulgar, offensive or just down right stupid. So checking out the trailer which can be found on www.deadpoolgame.com would be a good idea, if you like the trailer, you’ll love the game.

Gameplay

To quote "BANG! BANG! BANG!"

Deadpool is a beat’em up shooter which has a 3^rd person camera angle. Deadpool does move a little bit sluggishly and jumping initially does feel very weighty but this is something you get used to when playing the game. Deadpool cannot sprint nor can he dodge in combat, however, he can teleport which is a lot more helpful as you cannot get hurt when teleporting… plus, you can teleport and that’s always fun.

As a standard Deadpool comes with two swords and guns, both of which are upgradable through the course of the game. The swords have two types of attacks, light (dealt by pressing Square) and heavy (Dealt by pressing Triangle) and the guns have one, which, in case you didn’t know, is shooting. You can chain the light and heavy attacks together and sometimes you can even throw some shots in there at the same time.

As well as the two swords and guns which come as standard, there are also another two types of swords, three types of guns and 4 miscellaneous weapons ranging from bare traps to hand grenades, all of which are upgradable using ‘Deadpool  Points’ these are gained from killing enemies, level progression and kill streaks, they are pretty easy to pull off so if you play it right you'll be rolling in the points. 

The aiming system is similar to that used in Activision's major license, Call of Duty where to aim you would hold down L1 and to fire you would click R1. Ofcourse you can still fire your weapon just by using R1 but in this game aiming will do more damage which can pay off in the long run as bullets can be scarce at points in the game. Personally, I have not really played many FPS games other than Halo so it took some getting used to for me, however, if you do like FPS games then you should be very comfortable with this system. 

Visuals

Any scene in the game with Wolverine included is Hilarious

Deadpool is a pretty dark game but this just reflects the tone of the game at points, although it is funny it does have a very serious undertone and the visuals of the game really play into this. 

Deadpool himself is pretty vibrant in his bright red merc suit that he is known for wearing. 

The graphics are actually really nice in the game and do a lot of justice to the art style which is used in the comics. Visually it is not the best looking game which has come out this year but it is pretty impressive and that really should not be overlooked. 

Score

Deadpool for the PS3 is an amazing game which has been overlooked over the last year because its target market is those people who love Deadpool and his humour. Any fan of Deadpool should really pick this game up ASAP before it disappears from store shelves as well as the virtual ones. My final score for the game is:

 8.5 -  Great!

Deadpool can currently be purchased physically in any good game stores but it find it new is now very hard. If you aren't sure of you will like Deadpool, watch the game trailer at www.deadpoolgame.com, if you like the trailer, you'll love the game.