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Forums - Nintendo - Help me Decide: DSi (XL) or 3DS?

 

Help me Decide: DSi (XL) or 3DS?

Nintendo DSi 15 15.96%
 
Nintendo 3DS 59 62.77%
 
See Results 20 21.28%
 
Total:94
manuel on 25 April 2011

I'd recommend a 3DS, because in the end you'll have to buy one anyway when the next wave of Pokemon comes out. ;)



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Immortal on 25 April 2011

The way I see it, in the long run, you're gonna buy a 3DS anyway. So it's either buying a DSi and a 3DS or just the latter. Also, I have to say, 3DS's battery life is sufficient when playing DS games so you might as well go for one. On top of that, the 3D and built-in software is fun.



 

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Michael-5 on 28 April 2011
trasharmdsister12 said:

I'm not too big on 3D as a whole so I doubt I'll be using it much. That would also help with the battery situation. How much better is the battery if you're just using 2D?

I am looking forward to a lot of 3DS titles as I never got the chance to play a lot of the titles when they originally came out. OoT, MGS, RE, Mario, Kid Icarus, Starfox and future 3DS Pokemon  games (to be announced soon hopefully!) are all way up there on the anticipation meter.

My phone handles all my media needs (music, video, internet) so that isn't too big a consideration either.

I'm not interested in playing the older Gameboy and Gameboy Advance games. I've played the crap out of Blue, Yellow, Gold, Emerald and Crystal in the past .

Thanks again for all the info. I would normally just go read reviews and stuff on other sites but the VGChartz community is so awesome I decided to get some first hand impressions from all of you.

P.S. I'm sort of leaning towards a 3DS at the moment but am still looking for a good deal. I found one last night for $200 before going to bed but it was sold when I woke up.

Damn I use a lot of emoticons... *insert emoticon here*

Playing DS games, you will get the same battery life as the original DS (which I have). I read about 8 hours for DS games is common. Playing 3DS games in 2D I read is 3-4 hours of battery life, and with 3D on full it's 2.5-3 hours, but some people say they get over 5 hours in 2D. My friends PSP has a 6 hour battery life, and when I borrowed that to play GT and Resistance, I never had a problem.

So playing DS games on the 3DS, battery is fine. Playing 3D games has a very limited battery.

I recommend the 3DS because from experience, I can tell you that in a years time you won't be interested in DS games at all. When I got my 360, I got about 20 games for the XB, and I only ever beat 1 of them (Halo 2), but I still plan on beating Jade Empire one day.

Also you sound interested in the 3DS, why get a DS now and get a 3DS in the future? Just get the backward compatible 3DS now.

If your considering a DS, my advice is look online for a used old model. You can probably get one of the first gen DS consoles for <$100 now. Ask a friend if they plan on selling their DS too. Say you get a DS for $80, play it for 2 years and sell it for $20, you could get a 3DSi then, with a more acceptable battery life, at a reduced price. However overall you will still be paying the same price, so I would still recommend the 3DS.

The DS has no future games coming for it, when you beat Pokemon Black/White, what else are you going to do with it then? It doesn't make a good frisbee...



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Roma on 28 April 2011

Why pay for a DSi or whatever and then buy a 3DS later? It will cost you more that way even if the price of the 3DS goes down. Buy the 3DS and your done. Now you can play the old games and the new games. The battery will last longer if you play old DS games so no problem there either.  



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Acevil on 28 April 2011
trasharmdsister12 said:

It's not the money that's so much of an issue. I have no issue spending $150 now for a DSi and then $150-$200 a couple of years down the road when the 3DS has had a revision or two. It's getting a good product that I'm concerned about. The DSi is the result of many revisions and improvements to the DS and is a very well refined product with great battery life. For me the issue is the 3DS is still very new. It seems to not have met sales expectations and I'm confident Nintendo will be doing something to mitigate those problems, be it a slight revision to improve battery life or a price drop or something. I just have no idea how soon (or late) they will be doing this and I'd be pretty torn if I bought one now and they announced that new 3DSs would be coming with a bigger battery or better screen at E3.

But I have decided to go for the 3DS... I'm just trying to hold off until E3. HARDEST.WAIT.EVER!!

Thanks again for all the info and opinions!


Good choice, namely with the store being up by then, and more quality titles being released. Plus this winter season you should be receiving at least mario kart or super mario 3D. 

Also 3DS battery life running DS games is really great, it is when running 3D that the battery life is harmed. 



 

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richardhutnik on 28 April 2011
radiantshadow92 said:

Neither, get a ds lite. The DSI is just a waste because DSI games are mostly non existant and i am sure you don't need a camera or music player (if you do then ignore this lol). Too add, the Ds lite plays GBA games and that is huge in pokemon if you want to play the other important colors like emerald or leaf green. Plus, the DS lite has the best battery life i have ever witnessed. I am currently playing Platinum/Soul Silver because i just recently beat the old school pokemon on my DS lite so my team is raring to go. All this, plus its cheaper than the DSI. 

Whatever you do though, do not go with the 3DS. It WILL get some sort of revision or price cut in the future and there are no games on it that are worth a purchase. I don't care how good pilot wings is there needs to be atleast 5 excellent games on a console to justify a purshace imo. You are basically paying 100$ more for 3D on a DSI with less battery life at this point and that doens't sound like a good deal to me. 

EDIT: Oh, and you can get a DS lite on eBay for like 70$

I went from a DS Lite to a DSi, because the screen was bigger, making the touch screen part more accurate.  Also, as a web browser, the internal storage works better.  Unless there is a need for GBA content to be played, if money isn't an issue, I say go with the DSi (or DSi XL) over a DS Lite.  I would also say go 3DS over DSi actually.



famousringo on 28 April 2011

DSi?

No, no, no. The question is whether you want a DS Lite so you can also play GBA games or a 3DS so you can also play 3DS games.

I chose both.



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dahuman on 28 April 2011

if you are not old, you don't need XL, if it's DSi vs 3DS, just get a 3DS then get the powerpack from nyko and you can play DS games for like.... 16 hours ? also, a lot of people say they won't use 3D much, but really, unless you have eye issues, you'd pretty much never turn 3D off because it enhances the games you play.