Xenoblade Chronicles coming exclusively to the ‘new 3DS’

Nintendo has just announced a game that will only work on the ‘New 3DS’.

Xenoblade Chronicles, a port of the Wii game for 3DS, will make use of the console’s improved CPU.

It’s not unusual for Nintendo to try and build games that only work on ‘revised’ hardware. I recall having to buy a Memory Pak upgrade for the N64 to play Perfect Dark and Donkey Kong 64.

But it’s a bit of an unusual move in today’s games market, as it automatically limits your potential consumer base. 3DS has an install base on almost 50m, the ‘new’ 3DS has an install base of 0. The Nintendo DSi, if you remember, featured camera functionality that games could use if they wanted. But very few developers bothered.

A Xenoblade game is also due to arrive on Wii U in Europe next year.