The Circle Pad Pro add-on for the Nintendo 3DS is an ugly old beast. It’s been born out of necessity due to Nintendo’s frankly ludicrous decision to omit a second joystick for the 3DS at launch. Now it seems it’s so cumbersome that it actually needs its own source of power.
The bulky add-on is designed to bring the 3DS what it so desperately needs for 3D games – a second joystick. The Circle Pad Pro also tacks on a couple of extra shoulder buttons while it’s there but… Well, just look at it. The size of the thing has ensured that it needs its own AAA battery to run.
Read the ElectricPig Nintendo 3DS review
While that AAA battery will last you 480 hours (or around 20 days) of nonstop joystick fun, it doesn’t add any power to the Nintendo 3DS’ already poor battery and it can’t take any from it if the 3DS is plugged in. It certainly adds a lot of bulk, though.
Dress it up however you like, Nintendo: this is a disaster. Ninty probably knows it should have stuck an extra circle pad onto the 3DS in the design stage, but if this is the best they can do to make up for it, then it doesn’t say much. The Circle Pad Pro will be out tomorrow in Japan and on January 27th in the UK.
Via Softpedia
