The announcement of the Nintendo 3DS at the E3 2010 was without a doubt one of the most surprising of the event. The introduction of true stereoscopic 3D gameplay in a handheld device without the need of special glasses was the revolutionary idea unveiled by Nintendo on June of that year, and after its release in Japan, America, Europe and Australia, is now available for all of us to use and play with. Lots of gamers and Nintendo fans want eagerly to feel the new gameplay experience this system has to offer; however, given the $249.99 launch price tag, the ok-but-not-really-that-awesome collection of launch titles, and its short battery life (three and a half hours of gameplay average), makes one wonder if it is wise to invest in this system right away and play 3D games NOW, or wait until the second model of the system is developed (just like it happened with the original DS). A third option is investing on a different system, like a PSP GO or a previous iteration of the Nintendo DS line; but, is it worth doing it at the expense of not having true 3D gameplay? Let's analyze some facts:
Both the 3DS and the DSi offer capabilities not present in the previous DS models. To name a few: browsing the Internet through the Opera browser, being able to buy and download special games (DSiWare/3DSWare) through the Nintendo eShop, the option of creating Miis, upgrading the firmware of the device and even reproduce certain kind of multimedia formats from an SD card. They also count with built-in VGA digital cameras which point to the user and to the front of the handheld, which is not a very useful feature in the DSi (the quality of the pictures it takes is very low), but is an essential feature on the 3DS. The user camera on the 3D handheld is what recognizes the position of one's eyes and creates the 3D effects accordingly; also, the two cameras in the lid of the console are capable of taking pictures in 3D and can also integrate what they capture into "augmented reality" mini-games. Also, in addition to the features that came with the DSi, the Nintendo 3DS has full backward compatibility with DS games, an activity log, and even includes the service of Virtual Console, which allows you to buy "Nintendo Points", and redeem them for Virtual versions of Game Boy Pocket titles, Sega Game Gear titles, among others.
As you can see, both the DSi and the 3DS offer a great array of attractive features; however, these are seldom used in general. If you really don't care about browsing the web from your portable (that's what your laptop is for!), downloading content, taking photos, etc., and all you want is just to play some games, then the direct successor of the original Nintendo DS, the DS Lite, could be an excellent alternative for you.
Aside from the stereoscopic 3D gameplay, the DS Lite actually has a number of advantages over the 3DS: First, it has a much longer battery life, which lasts from 8 to 10 hours of continuous gameplay. It is region free, which means that you can buy an American console and play Japanese or European games in it without trouble. Also, it comes with the Game Boy Advance (GBA) slot; if you happen to own any GBA cartdridges you can play them on your DS Lite (only in single player mode), or use it in conjunction with specific DS titles in order to unlock special bonuses. Also, certain DS games come with accessories that make use of the GBA slot (like Guitar Hero: On Tour); these titles can't be played from the DSi onwards. Finally, the DS Lite is slightly lighter than the 3DS.
The Nintendo 3DS might be packed with features; however, if you are more of a casual gamer and use your handheld for its main purpose only, which is to play games (not Internet, Miis, eShop, etc), I would recommend you get the Nintendo DS Lite instead, at least until the second model of the 3DS is released. Not only it costs less, but the original library of DS games is HUGE, along with the large collection of GBA titles (which nowdays are pretty cheap) you can get for it. And if you ever want to know how playing in true 3D is like... you can always visit your nearest game shop and test the 3DS out!
As the original DS motto goes: "touching is good"... even if it is not in stereoscopic 3D. Happy gaming!
For detailed information on the Nintendo 3DS you can check out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_3DS
For information on the Nintendo DS Lite check out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS#Nintendo_DS_Lite
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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