Nintendo today announced a new iteration of the Nintendo 3DS line of hardware for the Japanese market. Called the New 3DS and New 3DS XL, the consoles feature NFC technology built in so they can communicate directly with the upcoming Amiibo figures. The older 3DS models will need an adapter to communicate with Amiibos.

In addition to NFC, there are new colored buttons on the New 3DS that look like a Super Nintendo controller and a control stick that is similar to the C-stick used on the GameCube controller.

Players will also find a ZL and ZR buttons on the top of the New 3DS and New 3DS XL. To help make room for the buttons, the card slot has been moved to the bottom of the unit and the SD card slot is now replaced with a MicroSD card slot that is on the back—-in the middle of the handheld.

The New 3DS and New 3DS XL will feature a much wider 3D viewing angle that will even work when you rotate the system to the side. We have a screenshot showing the difference between the new and old 3DS systems in the screenshot collection below.

There is also a faster CPU built into the New 3DS and New 3DS XL that will allow it to download games faster and play games not playable on the older 3DS hardware. The first of these games includes the next Monster Hunter Title—-Monster Hunter 4—-and a port of the Wii game Xenoblade Chronicles.

The New 3DS and New 3DS XL will launch in Japan on October 11, 2014, for $154 and $181. No word on when we will see this unit launch in the rest of the world but we can be assured this will be coming to a store near you in the future. We do know that the New 3DS and New 3DS XL won’t be released in North America or Europe in 2014. But with this new system soon to be released, did Nintendo just cannibalize sales of the current 3DS models worldwide?

By Kaleb Rutherford – 08/29/14

Screenshots for New Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS XL Revealed