This is gaming on the cheap? My God, after reading this topic I'm under the impression that the 3DS is expensive as hell. Much more expensive than Vita! I really want to get one eventually, but really can't find a reason and now you actually showed me a reason why not to buy one :/ I loved my DS, but from the list you showed I'm only interested in these games: SMT: Devil Survivor Overclocked, RE:R, Zelda, Kid Icarus, SMT4, Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing and Mario 3D. IF I add Pokemon and 2-3 games that are coming, that would be a decent library, but when I add up how much it all costs, I end up spending really huge money. I don't like spending that much money on handheld games with such a low graphical fidelity :/ Just doesn't seem right for me. I think 3DS games are a bit too expensive, I mean - look at Vita with PS+ free games and major discounts and sales. Even retail games go down in price. Damn, didn't really expect this!

In the North American eShop. Bit.Trip.Saga (all six Bit.Trip games) is on sale for $5.

Nintendo gave me $60 on the 3DS eShop, so I'll definitely be spending some of that on Saga. Thanks for the low down.

(And SteamWorld dig. Looks great.)

...I'm happy to have helped?

And bear in mind that all of these prices are probably the HIGHEST you'll find them. All sorts of stores and websites have all sorts of sales all the time.

You are right, paying for all these games even at discounted pricing is much more expensive then paying $5 a month for Playstation Plus and playing whatever free games you are thrown 3-6 months after release or discounted sales titles which most of which are basically PS3 cross platform titles. But lets be clear, even including the Indie titles that are released on the PSN the number of Vita originals pales compared to the amount of software available on the 3DS/2DS and in most cases the content is vastly different as well.

One can own a 3DS and budget game as prices do eventually go down and sales have started to happen for a number of digital software available on the eShop. The problem that makes the system so damn expensive is that unless you only play EA style sports games (Madden, NBA Live although it has FIFA) or First person shooters (Call of Duty, Halo, etc.) or 3rd person action games (Devil May Cry, Gears of War, GTA, etc.) the system is loaded with potential software for you to buy (primarily Japanese RPGs, side scrolling platformers and niche puzzle games) that will cause you to spend and doesn't appear to be letting up.

Of course Vita games are cheap, they're trying to boost its sales.

8 games aren't enough to make you buy a system?

What all do you own on the Vita?

I appreciate the list compiling into one. I hope as eShop grows, Nintendo have some actual sales.

8 isn't even close. Something around 20 is good enough for me, though I still don't like the prices. If these are the highest prices you can get for these games, it's better, but why the title then? (I honestly have no idea how much 3DS games cost, so I'm not here to troll - I only know what you posted here and just came to the conclusion that 3DS gaming is actually expensive, more expensive than Vita gaming!)

On the Vita I own a lot of games. Uncharted, ACIII:L, Stranger's Wrath, Guacamelee, Rayman Origins, Gravity Rush, Killzone: Mercenary, Soul Sacrifice, WipEout, Alien Breed, Virtue's Last Reward, Little Big Planet, MGS 2&3, Mortal Kombat, Sine Mora, Unit 13, Limbo, Thomas Was Alone, Knytt Underground, Jak & Daxter Trilogy, Ratchet and Clank Q-Force, Jet Set Radio, Retro City Rampage, MotorStorm, Uncharted FFF and a lot more games that I've forgotten about, cause I've deleted them from my memory card ;) Add to that all the PSP games (I've never had a PSP) like 3 GTA's, Trails in the Sky, all FF games, etc. and a bunch of PSX classics and you pretty much see what I already have on my Vita. I'm also sure that a similar lineup on 3DS would cost me much more than what this cost me on Vita. There are still so many games I have to buy this year. Tearaway, NFS, Persona 4 Golden, Rayman Legends and Legends of War are must-haves for me that I still lack.

@NoirSon. TPP games are my favourite ones, though I love a good RPG, FPS or Castlevania as well. Still, the 3DS library seems... not weak, but still lacking something. I really can't see how it's "loaded" with good software. There are a few good games, but that's it, not a single must-have game for me. Maybe it's gonna be the next Zelda? After all, I bought my DS after my friend let me play Phantom Hourglass for 2 days :P I think I'm gonna wait a bit more time and I hope these games drop in price :P Is there an Advanced Wars game on 3DS? I would sure pick this one up.

I feel compelled to point out that any game you got on your Vita via PS+ isn't a game that you own, in any sense of the word. I'm not sure how low the prices of any physical games you've purchased are, but I'm extremely confident that, using the same methodology used in this thread, the prices generally wouldn't be much lower at all. The exception being Nintendo's first-party titles, since folks keep buying those long enough to make a price drop take ages.