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My 3DS Journey 2021


adamchevy

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2021!! A new year, so I thought why not try a “New” console?

 

This year I wanted to try a “New” handheld device and I landed on the “New” 3DS. Hereafter I will refer to it as just the 3DS.

 

I was going to create a blog somewhere to chronicle my adventures into 3DS land, but I decided that I really like the people and opinions here on Atariage. I also did some looking around the forum and was unable to find a similar 3DS topic. Not that someone couldn’t have their own topic chronicling their adventure into a given console/device despite what already exists.

 

So I decided upon the 3DS after playing/watching some Xbox game pass games for a few weeks and realizing how much I missed Nintendo games. I’ve already owned a Switch and I think it’s a great device. I have also owned a few Wii U’s over the years and the 3DS reminds me of that wonderful console with its dual screenality(not a real word). I wanted something different and something portable due to me being a provider/dad/husband that has limited time.

 

I landed on the 3DS because it has 3D, and the library is very conducive to my tastes in video games. I noticed that many of my past favorites have been recreated in 3D. Also, it looks to have some promising titles that look fun to delve into. The library is vast and reaches with backwards compatibility back to the DS/DSi with a few limitations with the AGB slot accessories.

 

I will update this thread once I receive my games and systems in the mail. I’ve purchased about 15 games and 2 different 3DS systems to start with. I purchased some items from eBay, GameStop, and Lukie games.

 

I took my time deciding which games to start with by listening to the IGN NVC podcast, watching Metal Jesus Rocks on YouTube, and by a bit of my own internet searches. I was really impressed by the amount of titles that reach back to the N64 and gamecube generations specifically. Ofcourse many games are inspired by the SNES and NES generations as well. The fact that many of these games have 3D added to them is what really interests me. I found specifically that Luigi’s Mansion that was ported/remastered from the Gamecube version was originally programmed with Stereoscopic 3D in mind. It lacked consumer adoption of the technology at the time from what I’ve read so far, so Luigi’s Mansion never utilized its 3D birthright until 2018 when it was remastered for the 3DS.

 

I will update this post in the coming days. To all a happy 2021! If you would like to share any 3DS/DS games that you are particularly fond of or anything about the 3DS that would be wonderful as well. Cheers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The New 3DS/2DS is awesome when hacked. There is quite a bit of homebrew for it and its still getting new stuff.

 

I didn’t know that there was Homebrew for the 3DS/2DS. I’ll have to look into it. As for hacking my console I don’t see my hacked consoles the same way afterwards. I’m not sure why but I lose interest shortly after I hack consoles. It’s like they change into something else like an emulation station or something similar.

 

I don’t have any feeling about it being right or wrong. Its not like my console got a tramp stamp. It just changes in my mind somehow into something else.

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There is, I think it's called LUMA where you can soft hack it so it doesn't do anything permanent or some crap some twitchy Nintendo server won't see either.  I just don't and won't do it, but it's also just no interest when I have enough unfinished business. ;)

 

I've got around 15 3DS games, owned many times more than that over the years but I had dumped what I had a couple years back and re-acquired one fairly recently (a New 2DS XL) so I've been slowly picking away.  I actually just pulled 4 basically light use only games off the shelf I intend to ditch, one sealed even I never got around to, just because of lack of time.  I figure if I add to it, it'll be very slow and when I actually will play it, or it's just not needed.

 

The 3D effect is nice for a time, was annoying on the old hardware, but the 'new' model it is solid so you don't get blur/tearing effects from it.  It's also and I really really hate to say it, a gimmick.  A few games, earlier years, use it well but it kind of got put to the side where it doesn't help or enhance the games, more of just a fluff feature.  Earliest stuff tried to and did alright with it for sure, but like the awful PiiU their last console made, nice start, then got used for little of value (referring to the touch panel on the old console.)  I may have to follow this topic as you post, kind of curious to see what gets bought and bothered with.

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1 hour ago, adamchevy said:

 

I didn’t know that there was Homebrew for the 3DS/2DS. I’ll have to look into it. As for hacking my console I don’t see my hacked consoles the same way afterwards. I’m not sure why but I lose interest shortly after I hack consoles. It’s like they change into something else like an emulation station or something similar.

 

I don’t have any feeling about it being right or wrong. Its not like my console got a tramp stamp. It just changes in my mind somehow into something else.

I know exactly what you are talking about. I feel the same way when I get new hardware but after a while its like giving a system a new life.

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Shin Megami Tensei IV is my choice for my favourite game of the past decade, so definitely play that. Its sequel... is a giant mess, but still has excellent music. There's a bunch of reasons that I bought the soundtracks for both of them. Also try Devil Survivor and Devil Survivor 2, both of which have enhanced ports on the 3DS. Fire Emblem is there, as well, so try at least one or all of them. For another strategy game, try Stella Glow, which also has excellent music and I think most people forget it exists. I think all of these games aside from Fire Emblem are rare and expensive now, though. There's a decent and serviceable port of Tales of the Abyss, but the PS2 version looks and runs much better. This port was literally the reason I bought my 3DS and I was overall not disappointed by it, however, and it was worth it.

 

For things that are not RPGs, the 2 Zelda N64 -> 3DS conversions are generally good. Some people hate Majora's Mask 3D, but I never played the original version since I never had an N64 and ended up using my neighbour's N64 and Ocarina (he didn't have Majora's Mask), so I can't say what the differences are. There are a few Castlevania games on the DS that I have not played, but I did play Order of Ecclesia. This game is rare and expensive, but it's good and fairly difficult, so try it if you can find a real copy for under $100 (good luck).

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DS games look bad on the 3DS at full screen size. You can launch them in 1:1 mode by holding Select when you open them (if I recall correctly) but they’re quite small in that mode.

 

In terms of mechanics, Order of Ecclesia is my favorite Igavania, and that is one of my favorite runs of games ever. I can’t seem to stick with Bloodstained, though.

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I expected to be rather displeased with how DS games looked full screen on my 3DS XL when I bought one some years ago, but was pleasantly surprised to discover they didn't look half bad. 

 

I still wish that I hadn't missed out on a DSi XL, but I'd be lying if I said that I see a substantial picture quality drop on my 3DS XL and New 2DS XL compared to how DS games look on my old DS or DS Lite. 

 

Maybe it's a benefit of my poor eyesight.

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I don't think your eyesight is the problem.  I think it's a matter of personal perception vs reality.  Back when the 3DS first came out I ditched my DS and used the games on there, and then on the XL after.  Sure the games are blown up a little more, aspect ratio is fine, you just see more of the limitations of what the DS was capable of as far as smoothness, blocks on 3D stuff, whatever.  They don't look bad, they look perfectly good really, it's just that vs 3DS games and on a better screen the age shows more and that's really it.  It's like saying NES games look terrible on a trinitron TV using the rca cables vs a mid-80s mid-tier color tv using rf...it's not worse, you just see what something else masked better.

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Shin Megami Tensei IV- purchased

Also try Devil Survivor and Devil Survivor 2-looking into them more.

Fire Emblem, I purchased Fire Emblem Awakening.

Stella Glow, currently bidding on.

Tales of the Abyss- Looking into more.

I purchased all of the available 3DS Zelda games. And order of ecclesia.

Thanks for the recommendations!
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DS games will look much better on the 3DS if you turn the power saving option off. They look pretty terrible with it on.


Thanks for the tip. I purchased Spirit tracks, phantom hourglass, and Chrono trigger so far to try out. I haven’t ever played Chrono Trigger and I’ve heard the DS version is the best so I’m pretty excited. It was a bit pricey but I’ve wanted to play it for many years. I’ve never owned a DS so I’m interested in trying out the whole stylus Zelda thing.

I’ve been worried about how the DS games were going to look and almost purchased a DSi XL to play them on. But I guess I’ll have to see how my eyes see them.

I also have been learning about how some New 3DS XLs have ips panels and some have TN panels. I have a new TN panel that I use for work that looks pretty nice so I’m not to worried. I wonder if they switched for price reasons or possibly for ghosting that they could see on the ips panels? It’s certainly interesting that they switched at some point.
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My current 3DS list of game purchases:

 

Ocarina of time 3D

 

Majora’s Mask 3D

 

Link between Worlds

 

Mario Golf World Tour

 

New Super Mario Bros 2

 

Super Mario 3D Land

 

Heroes of Ruin

 

Pokémon Y

 

Mario Kart 7

 

Luigi’s Mansion 2018 remaster

 

Fire Emblem Awakening

 

Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology

 

Bravely Default

 

Shovel Knight

 

Stella Glow

 

Tales of the Abyss

 

Kirby Planet Robobot

 

Terraria

 

Boulder Dash XL 3D

 

Sega 3D classics collection

 

Earthbound(E-Shop)

 

Mutant Mudds(E-Shop)

 

I think that should keep me busy for a little while. I will post about them individually and the systems once they finally show up. I am amazed at the amount of quality games available for the 3DS. Any system would be lucky to have half of them. It was really hard to narrow it down to this list to start with.

 

 

 

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That looks like a great start! I'll add some others when I think of them. What kind of games do you like the most? If you don't know the Game Gear library, don't miss out on some rare and excellent games like Defenders of Oasis and Vampire: Master of Darkness. There are some rare and great Game Boy games as well.

 

13 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Sure the games are blown up a little more, aspect ratio is fine, you just see more of the limitations of what the DS was capable of as far as smoothness, blocks on 3D stuff, whatever.

 

Nope, there's SERIOUS aliasing happening. It affects some games more than others, but I really hate blobby/uneven pixels so I notice it a lot. I'll take some side-by-sides on a 3DSXL and a DSiXL for your review. Just running 1:1 mode on a 3DSXL is more than enough to prove it to yourself, IMO.

 

Granted, if you have the original 3DS, it's much less noticeable. It's much more a problem on the versions with bigger screens, including the New 3DS.

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Serious question about the 3D in the 3DS.   Do you just stop seeing it in 3D after a while?  It was interesting for a bit, and then it just started looking like nothing special like the 3D wore off.  Similar to PSVR.  It made me feel like i was rolling on ecstasy the first few times and then it started feeling like nothing.. i guess the brain adapts really fast?  Anyway, I really wanted to like the 3DS.  I  have the 3DSXl which was so uncomfortable to hold.. I went and got the New 3DS small one and that was just as uncomfortable to hold.   The DS Lite wasn't as bad, and the first DS was actually really comfortable.  3D outrun is a great game for it, along with.. some other 3d old school racer that i'm blanking out on now..

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10 hours ago, NeonSpaceBeagle said:

Serious question about the 3D in the 3DS. Do you just stop seeing it in 3D after a while? It was interesting for a bit, and then it just started looking like nothing special like the 3D wore off.

Do you have stereo depth perception in your day to day life? (Real stereo vision, not just knowing how far things are based on shadows etc.) Have you had a stereo vision eye test? It sounds like one of your eyes may be essentially taking over and telling the other one to turn off. I have somewhat poor depth perception because my right eye is so dominant, but I still see 3D fine on the 3DS.

 

I agree with you about comfortability. Everything since the OG DS (including the Switch, which is worst of all) hurts my hands or makes them go numb. The Lynx and the Game Gear don't do that ? 

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On 1/26/2021 at 3:10 PM, adamchevy said:
On 1/24/2021 at 5:10 PM, Steven Pendleton said:


Shin Megami Tensei IV- purchased

Also try Devil Survivor and Devil Survivor 2-looking into them more.

Fire Emblem, I purchased Fire Emblem Awakening.

Stella Glow, currently bidding on.

Tales of the Abyss- Looking into more.

I purchased all of the available 3DS Zelda games. And order of ecclesia.

Thanks for the recommendations!

Sure. I have more, but looking through my DS and 3DS games, it seems that it's a bunch of RPGs and about half of those are Pokemon and that's about it. The only one of note that I didn't mention is Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, which is also available on the glorious Sega Saturn. It's the sequel to Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner, also on the Saturn. Have fun with Shin Megami Tensei IV... I probably should have mentioned it before, but it's definitely a game for people that like seeing game over screens.

On 1/26/2021 at 3:17 PM, adamchevy said:

 


Thanks for the tip. I purchased Spirit tracks, phantom hourglass, and Chrono trigger so far to try out. I haven’t ever played Chrono Trigger and I’ve heard the DS version is the best so I’m pretty excited. It was a bit pricey but I’ve wanted to play it for many years. I’ve never owned a DS so I’m interested in trying out the whole stylus Zelda thing.

I’ve been worried about how the DS games were going to look and almost purchased a DSi XL to play them on. But I guess I’ll have to see how my eyes see them.

I also have been learning about how some New 3DS XLs have ips panels and some have TN panels. I have a new TN panel that I use for work that looks pretty nice so I’m not to worried. I wonder if they switched for price reasons or possibly for ghosting that they could see on the ips panels? It’s certainly interesting that they switched at some point.

 

They didn't switch; both IPS and TN panels were used in 3DS construction simultaneously.

49 minutes ago, jgkspsx said:

Do you have stereo depth perception in your day to day life? (Real stereo vision, not just knowing how far things are based on shadows etc.) Have you had a stereo vision eye test? It sounds like one of your eyes may be essentially taking over and telling the other one to turn off. I have somewhat poor depth perception because my right eye is so dominant, but I still see 3D fine on the 3DS.

 

I agree with you about comfortability. Everything since the OG DS (including the Switch, which is worst of all) hurts my hands or makes them go numb. The Lynx and the Game Gear don't do that ? 

Try this thing: https://store.nintendo.com/split-pad-pro.html

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3DS kicks total ass. Bravely Default, Bravely Second, Ocarina of Time, Majoras Mask , Resident Evil Revelations + Mercenaries, Metal Gear 3D, Metroid Samus Returns, Super Mario 3D World, both Luigi Mansion games, Link Between Worlds, NES remix, Sega 3D Classics, Xenoblade, super mario bros 2, Splinter Cell 3D........... I can go on. 3DS should have been the console that sold 150,000,000. DS was crap. There I said it.

 

 

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I probably picked a bad game to do this demo with (a true DSiWare essential: X-Scape, the sequel to X, the game that led to Starfox), but here goes. These are all equally well focused with well defined pixels.

 

DSi:

 

3D36B4F5-4F3B-4FD5-BFD4-31692EADBF00.thumb.jpeg.a92f8fdb77b8c69881d44eaae6f800de.jpeg889DE6D7-1AD2-486A-A223-C1ACEA2F7EA9.thumb.jpeg.c0d4ed87e1d4380b1018a180e4ccf567.jpeg

 

New 3DS full screen mode:

 

763A03FC-0D4E-412B-8360-7A3F588879DD.thumb.jpeg.115903dc039700567f0626ff5a7cc4d9.jpeg9CD6A4F2-EBB0-476A-BC0D-BF7A1218BC66.thumb.jpeg.5cf8d13f8f3ccdd0f13a98fd52b4d411.jpeg
 

New 3DS 1:1 mode:

 

D8831327-6E60-49A2-907C-089BF50438FA.thumb.jpeg.7817a0048620569f0f0624d1d6867d9f.jpeg1A8B5138-DA1E-407A-83A0-6CB8C12BF41F.thumb.jpeg.c44d7da03ca40bd46c9c5312b8ba48ed.jpeg
 

The aliasing is especially noticeable on text and fine pixel art. For polygonal games you might not notice it that much.

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On 1/27/2021 at 1:48 AM, jgkspsx said:

Do you have stereo depth perception in your day to day life? (Real stereo vision, not just knowing how far things are based on shadows etc.) Have you had a stereo vision eye test? It sounds like one of your eyes may be essentially taking over and telling the other one to turn off. I have somewhat poor depth perception because my right eye is so dominant, but I still see 3D fine on the 3DS.

 

I agree with you about comfortability. Everything since the OG DS (including the Switch, which is worst of all) hurts my hands or makes them go numb. The Lynx and the Game Gear don't do that ? 

Ah, you might be right about that!   I wonder if it has anything to do with watching tv to the side for many years?  I notice that if I cover my left eye my right eye vision feels natural, but if i cover my right eye my left eye seems to actually be working to see if that makes any sense.  (the vision is the same in both eyes, but one eye doesn't feel like it's doing any work.)

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20210129/5dba9ebd62f8c2dd9e7ac4ebcfcef999.jpg[/img]73294eb2817755f36e905181a589b6e3.jpg9e0019ed480e0cc742104c47be60fb0a.jpgfe6a63a4a1c30e09e959cc832fad72b6.jpg

c50d1bdbb91900a858551f34c9ab7eaf.jpgec6ec06f0360c88cc4fb620ea0d589de.jpg09f6fa489ecc774d07afe0738090d7f7.jpg

 

I purchased a couple of different 3DS’s. One from GameStop premium refurbished and it’s in pretty nice shape it’s the one towards the end just above the Mario traveler case. The other is a Nintendo refurbished model.

 

The Nintendo direct refurbished console looks like new. I picked that on up off of eBay. I put a glass screen protector on that one, and a full body skinomi kit.

 

I think I’m going to keep both of them so I can play some multiplayer with the kids. I have been impressed with how much I enjoy the 3D. I must have eyes that are fairly equal in how they work.

 

I started with Ocarina of time because I’ve never played much more than 3 hours of it. I was 17 when it came out and I was to “cool” with my gaming PC to play it. I also was into playstation at the time and saw the N64 as a kiddy console. It was a strange time.

 

Playing Ocarina of time in 3D looks great! I am genuinely impressed with how it looks, even with the 3D off. It also controls nicely, I forgot about Z targeting being a thing. I like Z targeting.

 

ed73c5836975b678d65b2fc3474c61b9.jpg

 

I also made sure to study the manual so I could learn about all of the little consoles functionality. It’s always nice to have a manual for your new shiny toys.

 

 

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