Nintendo: Second circle pad wouldn't fit 3DS XL

The Nintendo 3DS XL isn’t big enough to accommodate a second circle pad.

Company president Satoru Iwata said the handheld would have been even bigger if it came with an additional stick.

Iwata told The Independent: “Attaching a second analog stick is possible, but it would have made the system even bigger, and, though perhaps puts a burden on people that really want that second stick, it’s a call we had to make and these people will have to live with it.

“This isn’t my main focus when I look at the 3DS XL, it’s one point we had to cover, but for me personally I’m quite happy with the product we’re able to offer.”

Iwata explained the main priority was to make a handheld with bigger screens and better battery life.

He added: “When we looked at the design of the 3DS XL, we had to look at various factors. One was battery life. One was the overall size of the unit. And we had to make some trade-offs. The choice, if we were going to include the second analog stick, was to reduce the size of the batteries or make the unit much bigger.”

The 3DS XL will launch later this year.