Hyrule Warriors: Legends for 3DS may still be months away, but we’ve just learned another bit of new information about the title. The game is set to launch in Japan on January 21st, and in the spring here in North America. You will be able to play the game on older 3DS and 3DS XL systems, but there are two catches. The game will feature Amiibo support, which means if you plan to use Amiibos with the game you will either have to upgrade to a New 3DS system, or get an NFC Reader accessory for your older 3DS system.

The other catch is that Hyrule Warriors: Legends pushes the processors of the older 3DS and 3DS XL systems to the limit. As a result, you will have to have a New 3DS system if you want to play Hyrule Warriors: Legends in 3D. This was stated by Producer Yosuke Hayashi when he talked with 4Gamer at the Tokyo Game Show. So in short, the older 3DS systems just don’t have enough power under the hood to run the game with the system’s stereoscopic 3D effect turned on.

Time to head back to Hyrule!

The 3D effect may not be enough to get some people to run out and buy the New 3DS, but the Amiibo support is a more significant feature to miss out on. Still, it’s nothing you can’t live without, but on the other hand you will have to upgrade sooner or later anyway as more games start to require the New 3DS. It is quite nice that a lot of games do not require it so people aren’t forced to run out and buy the new system, but you can’t stay on the same hardware forever. That’s simply the nature of the technology and gaming industries, but I for one am greatly looking forward to Hyrule Warriors: Legends early next year!

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