Well, I took some time to jot down some thoughts on the one handheld that everyone seems to agree was the bee’s knees: the Nintendo 3DS (and all its various iterations thereafter!)
It’s one I’ve gone through a few ‘phases’ with - collecting, modding, selling, then buying a ‘perfect’ one, then…the pattern just repeats and repeats. I love how truly customizable it is now that it is…essentially an abandoned generation. The community took things to great new heights (those themes!!!), 3D printed docks and displays, vinyl stickers…it makes me so happy to see how very few 3DS consoles look like anyone else’s.
The market is getting crazy though. Prices are only going up (and special editions are going waaaay up), but it’s nice to see options like the Thor, Pocket DS and Anbernic’s RG DS coming up to give modern users some solutions to playing.
Anyway
Don’t expect anything wonderful here, I wasn’t even sure what to write for this article. I guess while I call it a retrospective, it just touches on some key points in the lifetime of the 3DS system.
P.S. 100% ready for any 3DS games recommendations to be shared!!!
I loved my 3DS. And yeah it’s actually pocket sized, unlike the Switch or Steam Deck. I’m still not sure about the choice of the 3D screen instead of just making it higher resolution lol, a higher resolution DS would’ve been good too. The 3D effect was cool but kind of a gimmick.
Like most, it never really interested me. I just liked the clamshell self-protecting design. The 3D slider was firmly set to the ‘off’ position for me!
I still use mine. I modded it and it can play a ton of games. The Pokemon romhacks are fun