3DS XL screen reduces glare

The upcoming supersized 3DS XL will boast 90 percent larger screens than the current 3DS, and those screens will also be significantly more glare-resistant. During a 3DS-focused Iwata Asks feature on Nintendo's website, company president Satoru Iwata quizzed a room of engineers about how they went about reducing glare with the larger screens.

"On a LCD screen there are basically three reflective layers, which all of them reflect and cause glare. So this time, we specially treated all the layers," research and engineering division designer Takashi Murakami explained. "Reflectivity on the Nintendo 3DS was about 12 percent, but we decreased that to about 3 percent."

Iwata went on to explain that Nintendo has been concerned over glare levels since the Game Boy Advance. He said in the past, Nintendo did not pursue glare-reduction measures because of cost concerns--a nonissue this time around thanks to advancements in technology.

The 3DS XL will make its debut in Japan on July 28 in white, red and black, and silver and black color variants. The North American version will be out on August 19 for $200 and will come in blue and red color schemes.