When Nintendo officially announced the New 3DS XL this morning, fans across North America had one big question: where's the smaller one?


In Japan, where the New 3DS launched last year, there were two versions of the system: regular and XL. The regular one, a smaller model that's around the same size as the original 3DS and has customizable faceplates, went on sale alongside the XL in the east. Europe is also getting both models when they launch there in February.

But in North America, only the XL is for sale. We asked the folks at Nintendo of America for an explanation, and here's the (non-)statement they sent over:

Different territories make their own business decisions regarding individual products and timing. We think New Nintendo 3DS XL makes the most sense for our market. Nintendo makes different systems at different price points for a whole range of consumers, and New Nintendo 3DS XL simply expands those choices even further.


So Nintendo, is it ever going to come out here in North America?

We have nothing to announce at this time.

Oh. OK.

You can reach the author of this post at jason@kotaku.com or on Twitter at @jasonschreier.