Hey guys. The last gameboy I owned was a GB Colour. I've played a few games on my brothers GBA and DS, but never got into either of them. But now there are a few DS games I want to play. So I decided to go into town and have a look at the prices. A new 3DS costs the same as a new DSiXL and a new DSi is 20$ less. Any reason I would want a DSi over a 3DS, especially if they are the same ( or nearly the same) price? 3DS can play DS games and if there are any 3DS games out in the future I could play those too. That said I really am not big on 3D and obviously I don't care about being up to date on the latest technology. So if I could find a cheap used DS I'd probably buy that.

I guess I am just surprised that the DSiXL and 3DS are the exact same price. Is the 3DS inferior or failing or what? I expected the price of even a new DS to be less than the newest console. What do you think of the 3DS?

The DSi has much better battery life, so unless you think you'll be interested in any 3DS games then the DSi/Lite is probably the way to go.

3DS: 3-5 hours, 5-8 for DS games
DSi XL: 13-17 hours
DSi: 9-14 hours
DS Lite: 15-19 hours

If you do got he 3DS route, there are http://nyko.com/products/product-detail/?name=PowerPak%2B that can just about double its battery life for ~$20 and a little added bulk.

I own a 3DS and I love it, the 3D works great but until you used to some of the games it can give you a nice headach. But you play any standard DS games on it and you can take 3D pictures and video with it. If the 3D isn't your thing then just just get the standard DSi unit.

You should probably get the 3DS if you want new games. I don't think they plan on making normal DS games if they haven't already quit. And you can turn the 3D off so you don't have to worry about that.

I wouldn't say that the 3D is the selling point. It's still the successor to the DS and is a regular handheld first and foremost. If there are games that someone wants to play I'd say go for it regardless of their opinion on 3D, as it's entirely optional.

I've been wondering: if you turn the 3D off on the 3DS, do you get the battery life stated for regular DS games?

3D is automatically turned off when playing DS games.

Obviously. What meant to ask was if you turned the 3D off while playing 3DS games, do you get the battery life stated for if you were playing regular DS games.

Oh, duh. No, it's still lower. It's about 6-7 hours tops for a 3DS game with 3D disabled and brightness on low.

Never thought or tried it before, the only DS game I have for it is Chrono Trigger and I got that mainly to help fill in the gaps in Chrono Cross. Not trying to change the subject but playing the DS version of CT really helps out with some of the plot fillers in CC.

I've noticed my battery life lasts much longer if I lower the 3D, or just turn it off completely.

Not yet, but I plan on getting one by the end of this year.

More versatility. You don't need to use the 3DS. If you ever intend to get some 3DS games then you need a 3DS. It can also play DS games. So is that level of versatility worth the relatively minor increase in price? That's up to you. I would probably say yes, you can't predict the future. It's another option open if you do decide to get some other games.

When Animal Crossing 3D comes out, I'll buy one then. Til that point there are no games I'd buy for it.

The remake of Ocarina of Time, Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land are good reasons to get a 3DS. I don't have one but I'd still recommend as a great handheld based on its games.

Meh. Hopefully the next model will have superior battery life. I'd like at least 8 hours between charges.

I had a 3DS for about 6 months. I thought it was Crap and Nintendo have been lazy about new releases. I finished OoT in a month and Nintendo in their eternal wisdom decided that consumers didn't need any games to play.

I traded it in around November time. It's hard to justify a ￡150 machine with no games to play.

Maybe it's better now on the game front, I haven't checked.

I love my 3DS. Then again, I wanted to get the newest handheld as the latest handheld I got was the first gen GBA. Currently I am enjoying the [censored] out of MGS3.

I'm waiting on the next iteration of the PS Vita. Too expensive for my blood as it stands.

I've been scraching my head on that unit, it looks great but right now there's not a strong line up of games for it that peek my intrest right now.

They released Super Mario 3D Land in November and Mario Kart 7 in December. Dunno if you're into Mario or not, but if yes.. bad timing.

I'm sick of Nintendo rehashing the same games over and over. I've played every mario kart since the N64, I can't justify the new ones seeing as they're all so similar. Same with them re releasing 20 year old games in 3D.

Kid Icarus looks ok.

I bought a 3DS, it was one of the few major expensive luxuries I've ever bought for myself.

it relaly depends on what you want. I got it along with OoT
to this day that is the only game I have actually bought retail for my 3DS, I rented Super Mario 3D land off of Gamefly and beat it, along with the bonus missions. I loved that game as much as I loved OoT, but I never actually bought it.

That's not to say that I've no used my 3DS. I bought it before the price drop so I got that Ambassador pass that gives me 20 free games. 10 of which will never be releaseed into the Marketplace. I, as I expected, loved Yoshi's Island as it's one of my favorite games of all time, thus was ecstatic when I found it was gonna be on the 3DS. I also really enjoyed Fire-Emblem.

I've also bought a few old Gameboy Games off the Market place as well, Alleyway, which is a great Tetris-style time killer, Kirby's Dream Land, which was great, and Super Mario Land 2: Six Gold Coins.

I've found, for me anyway, that the 3DS's online capabilties with their market place has been the biggest thing for me.
and OoT is amazing no matter what system it's on

if you like apps, old games or downloadable games, and you have internet then you'll like the 3DS as its online store is updating pretty regularly.

if you want it strictly for retail games, then no iwouldn't recommend it.

the other thing I really wish they'd do, and I don't understand why they don't, is I wish they would release SNES games onto the Virtual Console as well, they only release Gameboy games or NES games occasionally. I know damn well the 3DS could run every SNES game in existence so why they don't release them is beyond me.

That's why I don't buy my Nintendo portables for the Nintendo games. I wait until there are good third-party games released/announced.

Well, I got a Nintendo DS Lite for free. I'm at my parents for an Easter dinner. Was talking with my mom and mentioned that I went looking at handhelds when she says "Oh do you want one of mine?" Turns out she has a DS Lite and a DSi