No, neither I nor Game Bushido are dead. We’ve been going through some hard times recently and, honestly, it certainly didn’t make me feel up to the task of writing. Anyways, let’s get to the subject at hand.

Rumours have recently been circulating that Nintendo was working on designing a second “stick” (technically an analogue Circle Pad) for the 3DS. How would it work, and what would it look like? Perhaps something that clips onto the right side of the system? Well, we now have a picture thanks to famous Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu. Let’s take a gander, shall we?

I'd compare it to the SEGA Game Gear, but that one had the benefit of being made in the 90's.

Wow… Not to put down Nintendo’s engineers–after all, I lack their abilities and I understand that adding such a crucial component onto an already built device is a difficult task–but that thing looks just plain awful. I mean, look at it! Not only does it ruin the 3DS’s otherwise beautifully sharp aesthetics, it also looks like one of those protective shells you’d buy from a third party and would make the charging cradle that came bundled with the system unusable! It also sticks out (no pun intended) quite a bit from the side and thus makes the package asymmetrical, although on the bright side, the round edges may improve comfort. All that said, it’s not entirely impossible that the picture above shows an early, unfinished model that could look very different from the retail product, so who knows.

It’s no secret that the Big N has been having trouble getting their latest portable console into people’s hands (although I hear that the massive price drop helped quite a bit), but this is just adding fuel to the fire and pretty much confirming a system redesign in the near-future. Unless it comes with some other added benefit, such as adding battery capacity, I fear it may be a hard sell in the western world. As for the east, the attachment is already being marketed as improving Monster Hunter 3G’s experience, practically assuring its success in Japan where the franchise is immensely popular. I won’t lie; if it’s compatible with Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D, I’ll probably begrudgingly get it too.

One question though: How does it even work? The 3DS lacks any kind of expansion port, as far as I can tell. How does it even connect to the console?

UPDATE: So it turns out that, as well as being compatible with Monster Hunter 3G, the adapter was indeed confirmed to also support Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D, Dynasty Warriors VS, Resident Evil: Revelations and more.