Well, as you said it comes down to personal preferences.I believe that 3DS have better quality in every type of genre that the Vita also has, with some exception(with the exception being shooters).RPGs have a better quality, platformers too, adventures games, visual novels, etc.And the part to "just playing Nintendo games" is simply wrong in my opinion.That is true for the console part, but for the handheld that is false.There is great third party support on it, and in some instances is better than the first party.This year we are getting two Dragon Quests, a Monster Hunter, a Phoenix Wright, Zero Time Dillema, and so on.

But again, its down to personal preference.

3DS is lacking in driving games too (my favourite genre) while the Vita is pretty well represented.

As for the other genres, we could argue all day and never agree. Especially RPGs and Visual Novels I'd say the Vita trumps the 3DS. Platformers is pretty split. The reason said Nintendo games, is because it's their platformers that draw me to the 3DS.

What strategy games have I missed on 3DS? I don't know, just overall I think the Vita has a much better rounded software lineup with a greater depth.

But Nintendo's best 3DS titles are something the Vita can't touch.

Mentioning zero time dilemma does give me the feeling you might be quite unaware of a lot of the Vita lineup.

Well, Ill give to you that many games in the library of Vita dosent interest me.I dont have all the time of the world to play games, so those really niche japanese games(that I dont find that have much quality) dont appeal to me, and thats basically all the games Vita is getting these last 2 years and going foward.By the Zero Time Dilema part you mean the Visual Novel lineup from Vita?I actually do, and I will give it to you that it was a poor example, since Vita does have many great Visual Novel games.Virtue Last Reward, Corpse Party, Danganronpa 1 and 2, and so on.

But one thing that I should mention is that people who want to buy a Vita or 3DS, should buy it for the current library, not for a promise in the future.I mean, both of them are more than 5 years old, the Vita is being discontinued in the west(and that could kill future japanese game ports), and the 3DS will most likely be replaced next year.So just keep that in mind for those that want one but still havent bought.

Likewise is a great time to buy a PS3 (which I still need to get D: )

Nintendo tried somewhat, but they failed lol.

By Zero Time Dilema, I meant that it was also a Vita game.

As for all that's coming out are niche Japanese games. Yeah, no lol. That's why I figured you probably weren't too up on the Vita catalogue.

Hitman, Assassin's Creed, XCOM and Civilization have all seen releases this year on Vita. Add in some more indie gems like OddWorld: New 'n' Tasty, Severed and Axiom Verge. And I don't think Western software has been too badly represented so far in 2016 on Vita.

Assasins Creed is the Chronicles, which are not good games as far as I know, Xcom is a port of a game that is some years old.Oddworld, Axiom Verge and Severed have all released in other platforms.And for me, I feel its a better experience playing some of the games mentioned in the other platform(more especifically on consoles, since Im more of a console gamer).Im not as versed as you about its lineup, but I am well informed.There is also World of FF comming, and dragon quest builders which seems like good games.But as I said, its not exclusive and for me at least, the experience in the other platforms appeal to me more.

I'm loving my Vita. Got the ice blue one around black Friday last year. But now I have a backlog on four gaming systems. And Xbox One S and NX are coming soon.
Can I have myself cloned so one can work through my backlog?

That's fair enough, I only got so into the handheld gaming because my Office moved, and it was taking me nearly 2 hours each way to get too and from work. Vita gave me access to games I wanted to play on the move, but then I could hit save, and switch onto the PS3 when I did get home.

I think it has to be said for the 3DS, a big part of it's draw, isn't so much it's hardware, but it's exclusive software. Which as your post suggests, should Nintendo go down a unified platform route, would for the most part make the handheld iteration redundant.

Vita is more of a "Portable" PlayStation. While 3DS is a separate entity in itself. I figure this rather than actual quality of the overall software is the biggest factor in the installbase difference.

so you can buy these consoles for 20-50 dollars and they still get new games?