3DS XL is getting a Circle Pad Pro XL. Will probably make it the size of a laptop. First unofficial picture

Nintendo surprised everyone when it announced the 3DS XL. It surprised everyone still more when it turned out the design of the new, bigger handheld, did not incorporate the Circle Pad Pro as a second built-in analogue stick - especially as (larger battery aside) there must be plenty of hardware real estate freed up in the shell to add in the new components. But no - Nintendo has instead announced that it doesn't want to confuse customers with any more versions of the hardware, and would instead rather confuse people with two versions of the already confusing add-on. Bravo.

There aren't any official pictures of the new Circle Pad pro just yet, but we can't help but think that the new add-on will make the 3DS XL about as big as a netbook... perhaps even a full-blown laptop. So we asked Photoshop and this is what it said:

Above: An incredibly genuine picture of the new 3DS XL and add-on. Try fitting that in the back pocket of your Levi 501s

Our suspicions could be well-founded. We'll show you the actual 3DS Circle Pad Pro as soon as we can. Until then... well, regular dumbells just aren't as fun.

Source: VG247

Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.