First look at the Nintendo 3DS Circle Pad Pro

The 3DS has had a very strange first 12 months.

The lack of must-have launch software and the subsequent price drop laid the ground. And when images of the Japanese giant's answer to the dual-analogue control question began to surface from dodgy scans of Eastern weeklies, it was as if the final nail in the handheld's coffin had been lined up.

As we near the portable's first anniversary, though, there's optimism in the air at Nintendo HQ. Strong software like Super Mario 3D Land is now arriving at a steady pace, and worldwide sales of Ninty's handheld are on the rise.

With things looking up for the 3D device, the question is: do we really need an attachable bit of plastic any more?

Visually, the Circle Pad Pro is something of an eyesore. A plastic beast wrapped around the 3DS with a growth on the right-hand side harbouring an extra Circle Pad.

Inside the packaging, you'll find a triple A battery for powering this 3DS peripheral. The battery compartment is hidden away under the console, and can be opened up with screwdriver. We can only hope that the Circle Pad Pro's reported 480 hours of battery life means you'll only have to use the screwdriver once.

A strap is also thrown in, which you attach to the Nintendo 3DS rather than to the accessory itself. If you're prone to dropping your system, this might save it breaking under the added 130g of the Circle Pad Pro.

The 3DS sits in its new cradle surprisingly well. The rubber pads fitted into the grooves of the add-on ensure the system doesn't have too much wriggle room. Even turning the whole monstrosity upside down won't cause the 3DS to budge.

Removing the 3DS from the plastic shell can be a little tough, mind, especially if you tend to handle your handheld with care.

The Circle Pad Pro's extra size doesn't make for a particularly pocket-friendly add-on, but the added bulk makes it fit more snugly into your hands. It's contoured in all the right places, and the distance between the extra stick and the A, B, X, and Y buttons doesn't impinge on your button-mashing abilities.

An extra right shoulder button is available, too, to save your stretching your finger, while additional shoulder buttons (labelled ZL and ZR) allow for extra control where it's needed.

There's no getting away from the fact, however, that Nintendo does seem to have overlooked the design of the Circle Pad Pro in one crucial respect.

You actually have to separate the two parts of the console in order to access the stylus's holster - not a problem for games that don't make use of the touchscreen, but a design fault, nonetheless.

The big question, of course, is whether or not you need this £15 hunk of plastic, and that all depends on the software that supports the new attachment. Only Resident Evil: Revelations makes use of the add-on at the moment, and although it's the preferred control method in Capcom's survival-horror game, you're not limited to it.

Other Circle Pad Pro-compatible games on the horizon include Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D, Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, and Monster Hunter Tri G. If any of those titles are on your radar, then an additional Circle Pad might be worth an investment if you can't find it bundled for a cheaper price.

For left-handed gamers, meanwhile, this is a mandatory purchase. As Kid Icarus: Uprising is set to prove, the Circle Pad Pro is a must-have for lefties in games that uses a mixture of the dual-analogue and stylus controls.

As a general point, though, you must take into consideration Nintendo's track record for hardware revisions.

Going by the Nintendo DS's history, a redesign of the 3DS might not be too far off, and the extra Circle Pad is bound to feature among the revised hardware specs of the 3DS version 2.0.