How to Tell Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS Apart

The Nintendo 3DS family includes several models that look similar enough to be confused in marketplace photos. The most important distinction is whether a system belongs to the original 3DS generation or the later New Nintendo 3DS family.

Nintendo released six main models in the 3DS family:

• Nintendo 3DS;
• Nintendo 3DS XL;
• Nintendo 2DS;
• New Nintendo 3DS;
• New Nintendo 3DS XL;
• New Nintendo 2DS XL.

Also, the company iQue released one version: iQue 3DS XL.

If you are deciding which model to buy, see our separate Nintendo 3DS model comparison and buying guide. This page has a different purpose: identifying the hardware you already have in front of you.

Quick answer: the easiest way to identify a New Nintendo 3DS-family system is the small C-stick above the face buttons. Original 3DS, 3DS XL and 2DS systems do not have it.

Before looking at the visual differences, it helps to separate two naming questions: 3DS vs 2DS, and original 3DS vs New 3DS.

Nintendo 3DS is called so for a reason. Its games are indeed displayed in 3D. And I don't mean 3D polygons and models, but real 3D, like in cinemas. Watch this video to understand what such 3D graphics look like.

Accordingly, Nintendo 2DS is exactly the same 3DS models except for that very 3D. Just such an image is very individual: it cannot be given to children, and adults may have eye or headache.

And 3DS and NEW 3DS are two subfamilies of Nintendo 3DS consoles. First, the models 3DS, 3DS XL and 2DS were released, and then improved versions of these models with the prefix NEW were released: New 3DS, New 3DS XL, New 2DS XL.

Marketplace listings often use the names incorrectly: a New Nintendo 3DS may be listed without the word “New,” while an original 3DS may be mislabeled as a New model.

In the end, if you buy a New Nintendo 3DS instead of a Nintendo 3DS, nothing bad will happen, but if it's the other way around, it won't be very good.

Nintendo 3DS vs. New Nintendo 3DS

The fastest visual check is the C-stick.

There is one important feature that I use myself. The presence or absence of the C-stick.

The C-stick is an additional control stick that duplicates the functionality of the left stick and is needed to control the character. That is, with the left stick you move, and with the right one you turn, for example, the head. It's much more convenient.

This stick is present on all new models: New Nintendo 3DS, New Nintendo 2DS XL, New Nintendo 3DS XL.

And it is absent on old models: Nintendo 2DS, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL.

That is, to determine which version of the console is in front of you: old or New, it is enough to look at the place where the C-stick should be.

There is another feature. In addition to the C-stick, which is not on the old Nintendo 3DS, there is another noticeable feature: these are the buttons under the bottom screen. On the old 3DS (right) under the screen there is a panel with buttons: Select, Home and Start. And on the New Nintendo 3DS (left) there is only one button Home (a house is drawn).

If we talk about Nintendo 3DS XL (right) and New Nintendo 3DS XL (left), then the panels under the screen also look different.

iQue

Please note, the company iQue also released one version of the 3DS console – iQue 3DS XL. No other versions of 3DS consoles were released by iQue!