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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

#101
post #55
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nintendo has never really wanted to discontinue a platform. Their vision was always that developers could support old and new platforms together through funky cross-compact measures. • Did you know that the SNES’s CPU starts up in a “NES 6502 compatibility” mode, sort of like x86-64 processors starting up in 16-bit real mode? It’s fully possible to design and build a game entirely for the NES as a 6502-assembler code…

> Did you know it was possible to create a GBC cart that would act as a fully-fledged SNES game (i.e. mapping a separate SNES game ROM) when plugged into a SNES through a Super Gameboy? Or to have “progressive enhancement” logic in the GBC ROM itself that draws full-color sprites (OBJs) when played on a Super Gameboy? AFAIK, literally nobody has ever fully exploited this, not even demoscene devs. One game did! Space…

Fully exploited. Space Invaders was a partial exploitation at best. It was just a tiny stateless SNES ROM-image, that got loaded from the GB cart's ROM into the SNES's tiny work RAM, and then executed from there (leaving approximately zero WRAM for actual gameplay state. Good thing it was Space Invaders!)

A full exploitation, IMHO, would look more like the thing Pokemon Stadium did with Pokemon RBY — but done purely in-cart in the GBC game. A SNES game that "interacts with" a GBC game through the SRAM, such that you're playing the same game, two different ways, when you put it in your SNES vs. when you put it in your Gameboy. (Pretty much like Dragon Quest XI Definitive Edition's ability to reboot the game between 3D and 16-bit mode.)

Of course, to do that, you'd need actual separate ROM chips in the GBC cart for the SNES game, so that the SNES ROM-image could be larger than WRAM yet still fast. All that ROM would be untenable to fit into a GBC-cart sized cartridge even in 2003, the last year of the GBC's lifetime. It'd be perfectly doable now, though!)

Re: Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

#102
post #81
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…

Beyond playing games, can you use them for anything else? How hard is it to program them?

A 3D graphing calculator would be quite cool, I think.

Re: Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

#103
post #76
post #38

I wonder what the game plan is for offering these games in the future. The dual-screen setup obviously doesn’t map to the Switch, so it’s not just a simple eShop port like you’d have for an old SNES game. I am mostly thinking about Pokémon. They’ve got this rich new Pokémon Home system to transfer between generations, but that’s reliant on having functioning older hardware. Now, there’s a massive pool of functional 3…

I'm honestly surprised Pokemon is still around. The first one came out in like 1996, and it was initially addictive because there were a fixed number of pokemon to try to collect (150). But each iteration was basically a carbon copy of the previous gen with some map and monster changes. 7(?) gens later and now there are what 500? 600? More? I just don't understand the motivation to collect something now that you can…

Some people (I know one of them) carry their pokemon from the first generation, so they can still catch'em all. My friend's case is a mix of nostalgia and just knowing what they will get from the experience.

But Pokemon is not just about collecting pokemon, there's the competitive scene for one, where people will welcome new pokemons to shake the meta and not always care about a mon being available or not.

Re: Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

#104
post #84
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes! Don't forget you also get GameBoy Color and GameBoy games. IMO this massive library (N3DS, 3DS, DSi, DS, GBA, GBC, GB, SNES, NES) has at least 10 "must play before death" games in them (for people that care a lot about videogames, anyway). Of course all of this can also be achieved on a PC with a simple 10$ amazon controller and free emulators, if you're comfortable pirating games.

> has at least 10 "must play before death" games Could you make some recommendations? I'd be very interested in your list.

Here's my rough list of games that you can play on a 3DS that are not necessarily 3DS games that I think are "must play" type games. Does not include all games that should be on the list.

1. LoZ: Ocarina of Time 2. Super Mario 64 (ds version) 3. Donkey Kong Country Returns 4. LoZ: A Link To The Past 5. Shin Megami Tensei: IV (maybe not "must", but you should give it a shot) 6. Earthbound 7. Super Mario World

Re: Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

#105
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…

Seconding this, the platform can be blown wide open and has an amazing library of both homebrew and official games.

Re: Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

#106
post #5

I sort of wonder if there's going to be a barrage of exploits held until end-of-life that's going to be released now. EDIT: I'm already aware that the system has been exploited to death and back, so I'm mostly curious if people haven't already dumped everything.

you know they'll sneak updates forever worded like: General system stability improvements to enhance the user’s experience.

to patch exploits.

Re: Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

#107
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.

Re: Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

#108
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?

Re: Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

#109
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll be disappointed if Super Metroid doesn't make this list of yours.

Super Metroid is available on Switch Online. Super Mario RPG would be my pick from here that is almost impossible to find legally.

I wasn't big into RPGs growing up, and I didn't even have a Super Nintendo, but I bought a Mini SNES last year and gave it a shot...I was floored at how enjoyable the game is. I got pretty deep into it but life and work and everything got in the way, and now it's been so long that I want to go back to it but would be completely lost...but I'm looking forward to starting over again when I've got some free time to dig into it again.

Re: Nintendo 3DS discontinued after almost a decade

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most in-demand 3DS games have not been cheap in years. They've been pretty expensive due to low printing (Bravely Default, DQ remakes, most Atlus RPGs) for years now. I'm guessing Nintendo games are OK due to so many people owning them though. 3DS eShop might be a safe bet but aside from the usual downsides of digital, the games are tied to the system, not your eShop account.

There are some that remained in print , however, and so I held off on taking the plunge because I didn't feel like dropping $40 for Fire Emblem Echoes (for example), knowing it would probably be a year before I played it. But knowing that the console and likely all first-party games will soon be OOP certainly lights a fire under me, as I'd much rather pay $40 for a new, sealed copy of the game than $70 for a cart-onl…

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.
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