Facepalm photo of the day: HMV drops another fail-bomb in the games aisle, advertises non-existent console

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Again, HMV? Really?

So, not long after it was spotted advertising the same game at five different prices in the same shop, game-troubled high street retailer HMV has dropped another mortification bomb in the interactive entertainment aisle. This time? Advertising a rather special edition of the 3DS XL which doesn't actually exist. With pictures of the thing that doesn't actually exist.

This poster was spotted at the chain's Cardiff store, enticing shoppers to pop in and buy one:

Righty, the three unusual things you should notice about this special edition of the 3DS XL, which is apparently a Cardiff exclusive:

1. The 3DS XL does not have a second analogue stick. The Lord knows, we're all too fully aware of that.

2. It does not come with a bigger stylus.

3. The special 3DS XL that HMV Cardiff seems to be selling actually looks exactly like a standard 3DS. Which means that it looks nothing like a 3DS XL.

It's almost as if the store staff just threw "3DS XL" into Google, downloaded the first image they found, printed it off, and made a poster. In fact it's exactly like that, as the image above is just a Photoshop made up a while back by a disgruntled gamer, and long-since circulated online as an illustration of what he thought the 3DS XL should have been. Still, you can understand HMV sorting out their advertising like this. It's not like they have a huge raft of product specifications or press releases or direct contact with the manufacturer or piles of actual stock of the actual machine in the very building they work in to refer to.

Totally understandable. Nothing to see here.

David Houghton
David Houghton
Former GamesRadar+ Features Writer

Former (and long-time) GamesRadar+ writer, Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.