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Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

#181

Post by city41 »

gonehome wrote: post #155
DCKing wrote: post #58

The 3DS, in particular the "New" models, I think are really recommended to pick up cheap. They are well built devices that are supremely hackable with access to lots of fun games. The 3DS library is good despite somewhat lacking in diversity. But the 3DS also has native compatibility with the entire excellent DS library, and after hacking it can also run the entire great GBA library without emulation (like Matroshka…

I was confused by this article because the 3DS has been unavailable for months now (except for random editions from Amazon sellers for above MSRP). The main change seems to be them removing the 3DS page from the Nintendo website? My impression was that they stopped making them long ago and were only making new versions of the 2DS (which kind of defeats the entire purpose of the device). They also don't make enough Sw…

Friend codes and generally Nintendo's online service being poor is a conscious decision. They really don't want players chatting with each other, as they want it to be a safe place for children.

Re: Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

#182

Post by city41 »

jldugger wrote: post #140
komali2 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edit: You're right, that was rude of me lmao. This is an UNORDERED LIST: 1. Super Mario Bros 3 2. The Legend of Zelda (1986) 3. Super Metroid (1994) 4. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 5. Super Castlevania 6. Pokemon: Silver/Gold 7. Advance Wars: Dual Strike 8. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (tecccchnically an n64 game though) (Majora's Mask would make this list if the DS version wasn't a butchered shadow of…

So many questions. Like, do you really need pokemon to live? And why specifically Super Castlevania, which is regarded as kind of a garbage castlevania (the player sprite is bigger so you get less of a heads up on whats ahead, and it's not part of the "metrovania" pantheon). Why Fusion and Super Metroid? Does the original LoZ hold up as well as say Link's Awakening? Why are there only 3 companies represented on this…

Super Castlevania is quite highly regarded by the Castlevania community. It's not the best Castlevania (Rondo of Blood is), but it's up there.

Re: Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

#184

Post by phaedrus441 »

NwtnsMthd wrote: post #108
DCKing wrote: post #58

The 3DS, in particular the "New" models, I think are really recommended to pick up cheap. They are well built devices that are supremely hackable with access to lots of fun games. The 3DS library is good despite somewhat lacking in diversity. But the 3DS also has native compatibility with the entire excellent DS library, and after hacking it can also run the entire great GBA library without emulation (like Matroshka…

I've recently been eyeing the 3DS, do you have a specific model that you would recommend over others?

Just a heads-up, you can get a great-condition 3DS (or 2DS) cheaply from Nintendo directly: https://store.nintendo.com/nintendo-3ds-2ds/refurbished.html

Re: Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

#186

Post by mmebane »

anon9001 wrote: post #174
Macha wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can dump your own carts or eshop titles to ROM files with custom firmware, which you can then install on another system. Technically piracy, but it's not something I personally have moral qualms about, especially when the clock is ticking on the store's own existence.

If you were to go a step further, the eShop actually trusts the client and you can download the entire 3ds library direct from Nintendo with the right hack. Google "freeshop" and read their FAQ if you're curious. I won't link it here in case it offends anyone.

Nintendo fixed that loophole back in August 2018, didn't they?

Re: Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

#187

Post by read_if_gay_ »

justinweiss wrote: post #111
DCKing wrote: post #58

The 3DS, in particular the "New" models, I think are really recommended to pick up cheap. They are well built devices that are supremely hackable with access to lots of fun games. The 3DS library is good despite somewhat lacking in diversity. But the 3DS also has native compatibility with the entire excellent DS library, and after hacking it can also run the entire great GBA library without emulation (like Matroshka…

Absolutely agree. I just got into 3DS development last year and it's been such an exciting development experience. The open-source tools are excellent (even supporting remote debugging!), and the system hits that sweet spot between being powerful enough to build interesting things and taking real work to make those things fast. Over the last year or so I've been squeezing individual fps's of performance out of the PS…

> I just got into 3DS development last year and it's been such an exciting development experience

That sounds really cool. Do you have any pointers for getting started?

Re: Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

#188

Post by JansjoFromIkea »

DCKing wrote: post #58

The 3DS, in particular the "New" models, I think are really recommended to pick up cheap. They are well built devices that are supremely hackable with access to lots of fun games. The 3DS library is good despite somewhat lacking in diversity. But the 3DS also has native compatibility with the entire excellent DS library, and after hacking it can also run the entire great GBA library without emulation (like Matroshka…

I would say a DSi XL is the best choice for original DS games though, you get a larger screen with the exact same resolution as DS games play in and you get possibly the nicest and most durable of Nintendo's portable designs. The DSi as of last year is pretty hackable in itself too.

I got one basically as a bonus in an ebay auction a few months back along with a 3DS I was getting for a friend and I've found myself playing original DS games on it more than I ever did on my own New 3DS XL so I was almost certainly picking up on the iffiness of the upscaling to fill the screen.

Re: Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

#189

Post by aikinai »

gambiting wrote: post #29

I always try to imagine what the final production run looks like at a factory for one of these. Is there usually some sort of ceremony for the very last unit rolling off the line? Or does it just run towards the end of the shift as normal, everything gets boxed up and shipped to retailers as normal, there just....isn't another shift after that? What happens with all the manufacturing hardrware?

As other comments mention, most Nintendo hardware is now made in China and I doubt they care, but there is also a factory in Uji staffed by Nintendo employees who definitely care.

I’m not sure what all they do these days, but at least they do a decent amount of serious testing and QA. They might have had a send off when authorizing the final models.

Re: Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

#190

Post by Fej »

city41 wrote: post #107
DCKing wrote: post #58

The 3DS, in particular the "New" models, I think are really recommended to pick up cheap. They are well built devices that are supremely hackable with access to lots of fun games. The 3DS library is good despite somewhat lacking in diversity. But the 3DS also has native compatibility with the entire excellent DS library, and after hacking it can also run the entire great GBA library without emulation (like Matroshka…

If picking up a 3DS, I highly recommend a "New" model. They include cameras that track your eyes, making the 3D effect much better. It's true the 3D effect is just a gimmick, but it's a very neat one. Games like Metroid Samus Returns are much better in 3D IMO. The game feels like an actual mini diorama is in front of you.

The New 3DS/2DS enhancements don't stop at the camera & eye tracking - very few people, I think, ever understood the massive leap in specs. It's like the jump from the Game Boy to the Game Boy Color, except perhaps even bigger.

- CPU got double the ARM11 cores (now 4, was 2) at triple the clock speed (exactly)

- RAM doubled from 128 MB to 256 MB.

- VRAM upped by 2/3 to 10 MB, was 6 MB (which sounds like not a lot, which is true, but the top screen is 800x240 with an effective resolution of 400x240 and the viewport rendered twice from slightly different perspectives when 3D is enabled. Lower screen is 320x240, so it's not a lot of VRAM but it doesn't really need that much)

- Added an H.264 hardware decoder (yes, the original lacked one)

- NFC added, not big but an external reader/writer puck was required for the old 3DS models and amiibo is huge among a subset of fans

- ...Wi-Fi still maxes out at 802.11g (come on now)

The hardware gap is great enough that the New 3DS got a Switch port (Fire Emblem Warriors) and a Wii port with the 3D enabled (Xenoblade 3D). It can also be used for Twitch/YouTube streaming, as it has enough horsepower (and apparently extra hardware, but I'm not sure which is required; maybe someone else can enlighten us in this respect) to just dump the display buffer over Wi-Fi to a PC. Even with the 802.11g deficiency.

It's a great console with a huge library of games, especially with DS backwards compatibility, and with mods (all are vulnerable) it's also a capable and very portable emulation machine. Cheaper as well (although not necessarily significantly) than even the Switch Lite, and more moddable (unless you want to shell out for a Switch modchip).

Nintendo could have sold many more but botched the name and the marketing, like the Wii U. But it's worth a look.

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