3DS Catch-all

I'd actually prefer it if game saves were tied to an online account. I'm really bothered that even on the iPhone, an always connected device, I can't remove a game without losing all my progress. Putting saves in the cloud seems kind of obvious at this point.

My 3DS related point was more that usage restrictions on the ability to transfer the software you purchase or your saves to new systems should be more prominently displayed at the time of purchase than they currently are.

I don't want to derail the thread with discussions about cloud saves, but I agree it would be nice to have that option on future devices. However, it would be a nightmare on the PS3 unless Sony seriously beefed up their network. As it is, it can take up to a minute just to sync trophies, I can't imagine saving and loading through their network. Once again I think steam has the right model offering local saves or optional cloud saves. However, even without cloud saving I would simply be happy if publishers would stop locking saves to devices. I'm perfectly fine with them locking saves to my Steam, PSN, or XBL account.

Jasonofindy wrote:

My 3DS related point was more that usage restrictions on the ability to transfer the software you purchase or your saves to new systems should be more prominently displayed at the time of purchase than they currently are.

I knew what you meant. I'm sorry if I threatened to derail it. That just seems like the perfect solution. Tie saves to a user and you solve the issue of saves being used as hacks, you make them portable across consoles and you ensure remove one more barrier to moving downloadable games around.

Either way it's good news to that Nintendo is going to allow you to re-download games. I'll be curious about their implementation, but it's a step in the right direction. If the 3DS had a more robust online infrastructure I would have no qualms about spending my own discretionary money on it just out of gadget love. If it were even close to as easy to purchase games on (and reliable) as the iPhone I might pre-order it just to play downloadable games, demos and goof around with one or two 3DS games as I use it as my new DS console.

Big picture I think price is a hurdle. To me price isn't a hurdle so much as battery life. If it's as portable and sturdy as other say then online and battery life are pretty much my only concerns for me personally.

Because of the way i use handhelds, battery life isn't much of an issue for me. What I'm more concerned about is the software lineup. While it is true that it seems that they have more publishers on board than they have ever had for a handheld launch, almost all of the games seem to be going the PSP route of "console games in your hand" but with an added 3D effect. What made the GBA and DS must purchases for me is that they offered me game experiences that I can almost no longer get on the home consoles. (games like sidescrolling Metroids and Castlevanias, overhead view Zelda games, turned-based RPGs, a wealth of puzzle games, etc.)

I'm afraid that with the new bump in horsepower publishers might abandon a lot of these on the 3DS as well. So I THINK I've decided to wait until the first redesign or price drop to see how the software library is shaping up a couple years in.

I'm worried about this as well. Doesn't the whole "3D isn't mandatory" thing prevent devs from going too crazy with this? I mean, I hope it does. I'm the same way. I'm stalwart with the DS because it (along with XBLA) feels like the last stand of commercial/retail quality 2D games.

Okay, I'm weak. Gamestop is giving $100 trade-in for a DSi XL towards the 3DS. I bought my XL for $100. For $150 I can try the 3DS out. Basically having borrowed the XL.

DSGamer wrote:

Okay, I'm weak. Gamestop is giving $100 trade-in for a DSi XL towards the 3DS. I bought my XL for $100. For $150 I can try the 3DS out. Basically having borrowed the XL. :|

Wow. That's not bad at all.

DSGamer wrote:

Okay, I'm weak. Gamestop is giving $100 trade-in for a DSi XL towards the 3DS. I bought my XL for $100. For $150 I can try the 3DS out. Basically having borrowed the XL. :|

Weak? Hardly. That sounds like a great deal. I say go for it!

Mystic Violet wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

Okay, I'm weak. Gamestop is giving $100 trade-in for a DSi XL towards the 3DS. I bought my XL for $100. For $150 I can try the 3DS out. Basically having borrowed the XL. :|

Weak? Hardly. That sounds like a great deal. I say go for it! :D

Alright. Gods help me I just packaged up the XL plus a few DS games and 360 games I wasn't playing anymore. I should walk out of the with $150+ of the system paid off. What games were coming out again? I'm a handheld hardware ho, man.

Man, GameStop is really being aggressive with console trade-in values.

I picked up a 360 Slim back at launch solely because GS was willing to give me roughly $250 in credit for my junk-ass 20GB 2005 launch unit (plus extra controller/wi-fi accessory).

For those of you who have used the 3DS;

Is the effect worthwhile or mostly a gimmick?

Does it have the same headache factor mentioned in http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/107301 ?

I personally am running under the assumption that I won't play most things in 3D and that my whole reason for getting the 3DS is because it's got new games on it. A new Animal Crossing with better connectivity is interesting to me, for example.

DSGamer wrote:

What games were coming out again?

DSGamer wrote:

I personally am running under the assumption that I won't play most things in 3D and that my whole reason for getting the 3DS is because it's got new games on it. A new Animal Crossing with better connectivity is interesting to me, for example.

Honestly, not much at launch seems very compelling (to me). Of course, Nintendo is referring to launch as a launch window ... and even then there isn't all that much that Nintendo is releasing (and if history gives us any clues it still remains true that Nintendo's games still remain the best in terms of quality, with few exceptions, of course).

Launch "window" games: http://ds.ign.com/articles/114/11448...

Oh sweet, Crush is coming to the 3DS. That's a sweet puzzler for the PSP that deserves to be revisited.

Edit: That said, that was a pretty sweet tradein deal.

I woke up this morning and I'm wavering, though. My DSi XL is just so easy to look at. I suppose I should look up how big the 3DS screens are and if they'll be at least bigger than the DS Lite screens.

Gamestop is giving $50 for the DS Lite. Obviously the DS Lite isn't as good a deal in terms of trade-in value. However, the upside there is that it's the same form factor. So I can keep the big screen DS in case I find that I really prefer that size of device.

DSGamer wrote:

I woke up this morning and I'm wavering, though. My DSi XL is just so easy to look at. I suppose I should look up how big the 3DS screens are and if they'll be at least bigger than the DS Lite screens.

3DS screens @ 3.53" ~ .25" bigger than DSi screens vs. 4.2" DSi XL screen, but with the top stretched to fit 16:9 format. Given the screen format (4:3 vs 16:9), that makes it actually about .22" less in height, but .48" more in width than the DSi. Or, .79" less in height from and .28" less in width than a DSi XL. Don't worry, I just layed it out in CAD to get those numbers. I'm not smart (or crazy) enough to figure it out otherwise.

There are numbers on Wikipedia as well. Either way the bottom line is if I did trade in my XL I'd end up with two DSes with roughly the same form factor. However, if I just bought my Lite a few months ago as I find it more portable. Ugh.

If GameStop (or Amazon preferably) were doing a deal like this for an old phat DS I'd be all over it. I skipped the Lite, DSi, and XL, so I'm perfectly happy to upgrade at this point. Sadly, nobody wants my good, solid, GBA playing phat anymore.

ahrezmendi wrote:

If GameStop (or Amazon preferably) were doing a deal like this for an old phat DS I'd be all over it. I skipped the Lite, DSi, and XL, so I'm perfectly happy to upgrade at this point. Sadly, nobody wants my good, solid, GBA playing phat anymore.

If only the Phat had had a better backlight. It's still my favorite to hold.

DSGamer wrote:
ahrezmendi wrote:

If GameStop (or Amazon preferably) were doing a deal like this for an old phat DS I'd be all over it. I skipped the Lite, DSi, and XL, so I'm perfectly happy to upgrade at this point. Sadly, nobody wants my good, solid, GBA playing phat anymore.

If only the Phat had had a better backlight. It's still my favorite to hold.

Lite still plays GBA, so of course we wouldn't want that dark, dull looking screen.

garion333 wrote:
DSGamer wrote:
ahrezmendi wrote:

If GameStop (or Amazon preferably) were doing a deal like this for an old phat DS I'd be all over it. I skipped the Lite, DSi, and XL, so I'm perfectly happy to upgrade at this point. Sadly, nobody wants my good, solid, GBA playing phat anymore.

If only the Phat had had a better backlight. It's still my favorite to hold.

Lite still plays GBA, so of course we wouldn't want that dark, dull looking screen. ;)

Only if you want your GBA carts sticking out a centimeter from the device. Do you enjoy having your cart sticking out that far? Do you really?

In seriousness, the GBA is not longer a factor for me since I moved my GBA games over to my PSP emulator. The main reason I never upgraded my DS is because Nintendo never stopped announcing new revisions. Just as I was about to get a Lite, they announced the DSi. OK, just when I'm about to get a DSi, they announce the XL. Now that I was just about to jump on an XL, they announce the 3DS. As a consume I have much incentive to *not* upgrade, knowing that a year later I'll be able to get something much, much better. I would like to get a 3DS, but not for $250, and by the time the price drops they'll probably have a 3DS Lite Eye XL, or whatever revision it'll be on.

It's funny, but I've been asking around about whether I should consider trading in my XL, my Lite or neither if I want to pre-order the 3DS and someone raised the point that the resolutions might be funky for playing DS games. I looked it up and both the touchscreen and the top screen are not only different sizes, but different resolutions. It will be interesting to see what DS games look like. I might hold off on selling either DS until I see how that turns out. I use my Lite for games like Fire Emblem and Metroid and the fact that it's more portable. And I do really love the screens on the XL. A 3DS XL would make this a lot easier. Especially if I knew the original games were going to be letterboxed or something.

I'm worried they'll have to stretch the bottom screen for regular DS games because it's a touch screen.

ahrezmendi wrote:
garion333 wrote:
DSGamer wrote:
ahrezmendi wrote:

If GameStop (or Amazon preferably) were doing a deal like this for an old phat DS I'd be all over it. I skipped the Lite, DSi, and XL, so I'm perfectly happy to upgrade at this point. Sadly, nobody wants my good, solid, GBA playing phat anymore.

If only the Phat had had a better backlight. It's still my favorite to hold.

Lite still plays GBA, so of course we wouldn't want that dark, dull looking screen. ;)

Only if you want your GBA carts sticking out a centimeter from the device. Do you enjoy having your cart sticking out that far? Do you really?.

Well, do ya, PUNK?

FTFY.

BTW, there's a solution to that:

IMAGE(http://cyclods.theta.in/images/2/2d/EZ3in1.gif)

GameStop is offering $50 trade in for a DS Lite but I can't bare to part with mine just yet.

DSGamer wrote:

It's funny, but I've been asking around about whether I should consider trading in my XL, my Lite or neither if I want to pre-order the 3DS and someone raised the point that the resolutions might be funky for playing DS games.

I thought we agreed that you were going to be the first guinea pig to use the a 3DS. Don't let us down, soldier! Go get 'em!

Mystic Violet wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

It's funny, but I've been asking around about whether I should consider trading in my XL, my Lite or neither if I want to pre-order the 3DS and someone raised the point that the resolutions might be funky for playing DS games.

I thought we agreed that you were going to be the first guinea pig to use the a 3DS. Don't let us down, soldier! Go get 'em! :D

I still might. I just might not part with my existing systems to make that happen.

The guys on the Giant Bombcast had some interesting things to say regarding the future of the handheld market this week.

They didn't say this, but my takeaway impression is that there's kind of a line drawn in the sand in the development community and everyone is having to bet on either bite-sized iphone style stuff or traditional games. I really like my iphone. I have enjoyed in any real sense probably ten of the fifty games I have bought. As a dude that cannot handle the idea of hearing about Angry Birds 5 topping the chart for the third year in a row, it almost feels like my duty as a gamer (or traditionalist) to purchase both a 3DS... and PSP2.

That's an interesting / good point. Obviously the game industry isn't a charity. However I'll probably buy one or the other in the end just because I want to see full fledged games survive.

I mean I think I'll get my money's worth from either system, but the idea of the handheld landscape changing that drastically was kinda iffy. You hear all the time about people talking with their dollars and not buying games because of a company's bad practices, but that sort of behavior works best if you swing the other way too: rewarding the companies that do what you like with your money.

I've seen it twice in my life, really, where something just disappeared from gaming: arcades and space-combat. Arcades I don't really miss, because they were set up in a way to sucker most people, but I really miss the days where I could look forward to a new Wing Commander, Colony Wars, Freespace, etc.

I'm the same. I'm more than happy to pay for my games. Frequently new. Nintendo could bundle and reissue GBA games on DS and I'd probably buy them again to play on my XL.

DSGamer wrote:

I'm the same. I'm more than happy to pay for my games. Frequently new. Nintendo could bundle and reissue GBA games on DS and I'd probably buy them again to play on my XL.

I would be all over any of the GBA Metroid or Zelda games. The two Fire Emblem games would also be day 1 buys.

Regarding the resolution/screen size, that's a good point I hadn't thought of. Given Nintendo's penchant for not going high tech, I kind of assumed that the 3DS had the exact same screens as the DS, but of course that makes no sense at all. However, I'm going to assume that we won't have the option to customize how DS games play on the 3DS, which is the only way that GBA games are playable on my PSP (that and the emulator has about 3 million different rendering modes). Guess I'll have to wait and see, but if it doesn't play DS games well, then I'll probably just upgrade to a DS Lite or XL and wait on the 3DS.

The GBA Metroid games are incredible. I've played through Zero Mission more than I care to remember. I just wish I could play it on the XL now.

DSGamer wrote:
Mystic Violet wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

It's funny, but I've been asking around about whether I should consider trading in my XL, my Lite or neither if I want to pre-order the 3DS and someone raised the point that the resolutions might be funky for playing DS games.

I thought we agreed that you were going to be the first guinea pig to use the a 3DS. Don't let us down, soldier! Go get 'em! :D

I still might. I just might not part with my existing systems to make that happen.

I was planning on a day one purchase no matter what. So if you don't want to be the first GWJer to be the guinea pig, I'm willing.