The rumors were true: the New Nintendo 3DS XL is coming very soon.

On February 13th, the New 3DS XL finally makes its way to North America. The news was made official during this morning’s Nintendo Direct.

For those of you who are unaware, the New 3DS XL brings a bevy of hardware upgrades. The upgrades include a C-stick for enhanced control, two extra shoulder buttons, face tracking 3-D, built-in Amiibo and NFC support, improved web surfing, faster downloads and faster processing power.

The New 3DS XL also has opted to use Micro SD cards for its memory and the system will include a 4GB card in box. The system will be available in Red and Black at launch.

My Opinion:

It’s exciting to see the the console upgrade finally coming to North America and even more exciting seeing how soon. I am not currently a 3DS owner but all the announcements coming from today’s Direct has certainly piqued my interest in the handheld.

I wish the face buttons were colored, like its Japanese counterpart, but you can’t have everything.

Jason Patrick is an Associate Writer at MONG. His PlayStation 3 recently met the Yellow Light of Death, so please have him in your thoughts. If you’d like, follow him on Twitter.