PTE60: Nintendo 3DS - Three Years On

[Neon Ignition]

Feb 26th marks the 3 years of age mark since the 3DS was released upon the world. It's potentially a key marker as it's ball park what you'd consider the halfway point through the handhelds life, a life that's seen it struggle then bounce back and gain momentum in a way it's big console brother could only dream of.

Around this third birthday, what are your standing thoughts on the system, it's past and it's likely future?

[importaku]

It good but it's no DS, the library needs to vastly improve as there's nowhere near enough the amount of games on it that i'd like to see. As time goes on more good 3rd party games are arriving but still not in the volume that the DS had.

Still enjoy the 3D aspect of it, plus there are some fun quirky things like the AR stuff. Considering that the 3DS is destroying everything saleswise i can see it doing well for the foreseeable future but the games need to keep coming & they need to sort that damn battery out so it lasts at least as long as a DS.

[teddymeow]

Own one and it's a great bit of kit but I prefer the Vita.

It has some stunning games though.

[kryss]

Streetpass plaza minigames are genius.
I've managed to keep the number of games I have down compared to the DS, I think I've lost the sentimentality I had for gaming once.

[Neon Ignition]

If I'm being honest I find more to play on 3DS than I did on DS, the 3D doesn't add anything to the gameplay so imagine this is the only time we'll see it in a handheld but I always have it on full. Streetpass though, addiction perfected

[Mr Ono]

One of the best machines out there. Not so much the 3D, as I have it turned off, but the games are great. Did upgrade to XL as the original was too small.

[Dogg Thang]

I love my 3DS. It suffered a pretty awful drought early on but eventually built up a very solid library with some really awesome games. I have clocked over 400 hours on Animal Crossing and that's just a single game. I still love the 3D and think it's a fairly amazing gimmick. My 3DS is my constant companion.

[Mayhem]

I need to get around to purchasing it, just to play a few titles I need that can't be done elsewhere (the Layton games, the new Ace Attorney, Zelda etc).

[DeathAdder]

The region locking pisses me off. Having to buy a Western one to play Ace Attorney in English was irritating as hell.

Love the shop, though.

[Asura]

I just wish it had longer battery life; even the XL. It was greatly improved over the base model, but still nowhere near as good as the DSLite.

[Dogg Thang]

Yep, both gripes above are as valid as they've ever been and the first one is especially frustrating because it was simply a choice they made. And the battery life has caused a few problems for me - cutting out in online games among other things. A real shame they haven't managed to build a newer model with great battery life.

[Asura]

Yep, both gripes above are as valid as they've ever been and the first one is especially frustrating because it was simply a choice they made. And the battery life has caused a few problems for me - cutting out in online games among other things. A real shame they haven't managed to build a newer model with great battery life.

I have considered buying the expanded battery; I think I would use it a lot more if I did. The big difference between the 3DS and DSLite to me is, well... My 3DS is currently sat on my bedside table. If I go and pick it up now, I expect it to need charging. If I compare this to my DSLite, back in 2006, if I went to pick that up somewhere in the house, I would expect it to be ready-to-use.

I'm not sure whether it's to do with the overall length of the battery life (or at what point the threshold is), or if it's to do with the standby battery use being comparatively high (especially with StreetPass), or if it's to do with the battery being bigger than the DS's, but the charger being the same power rating making the charging time longer/significantly slower. I suspect it's a combination of all those things.

The problem is that bigger battery set is pretty expensive.

[Neon Ignition]

I've not had much trouble with the battery, I tend to use the 3DS mostly for streetpass and lunchbreaks so can get a good week out of a charge. I had to go XL too, easily the best model in my mind and whilst not as good a hardware as Vita I'd pick the 3DS games line up anyday... but that's all Sony's fault as it abundantly clear.