Looking for a handheld console

[i-ongei]

Okay, hi.
I've almost always been gaming on PC. I had a few consoles back in the day, like the the SNES, the GBA, the NDS, PS1 and PS2. After the PS2 I haven't really had any interest for consoles as I had mostly been gaming on my PC and have been upgrading it over the years. Although I have a shallow idea I haven't kept myself updated with the console scene at the moment. I've been travelling a lot lately so I thought to myself - why not get a handheld console? So - which one would be the best for me right now? Which handle console has the most number of titles? Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks.

[Superspeed07]

The 3ds would be the goto the other option is the vita as to which specifically we could suggest would be on the games that you like to play

[TheBestUserName]

valdyrgramr makes good points that I agree with. 

 

In my home we have an OLED Vita, DSi (with flash card[yay!]), and 3DS.... but I'd probably recommend the 3DS.   

 

Look at the list of games for each, though.  Or do a websearch for "top rated [insert console here] games" and read through multiple lists.  Keep a tally of which one has the most games that seem to interest you.   Get that one. 

[FullTank1337]

Assuming you're sticking with current-gen, 3DS is the way to go. It's my personal preference, but more importantly, it's got WAY more 5-star games than the Vita. All the best games with cost a fortune, but even the $5 downloadable indie games are pretty good for the most part. Do some research and decide which one has more games you want, but man, you'd have a hard time beating the 3DS!

[i-ongei]

I've looked into Nintendos website and other sites and the only thing I can find is the XL. Where did the regular 3DS go?

[FullTank1337]

7 hours ago, i-ongei said:

I've looked into Nintendos website and other sites and the only thing I can find is the XL. Where did the regular 3DS go?

I haven't checked in a while, but it might have been discontinued. You can still find them used even at major retailers, though a 3DS XL might not be a bad choice anyway, since it's the same console with bigger screens. I actually use a XL, and I love it! 

But if you want an original, you might have to do some hunting.

[Monte_Carlo]

On 6/2/2016 at 1:24 AM, i-ongei said:

I've looked into Nintendos website and other sites and the only thing I can find is the XL. Where did the regular 3DS go?

 

I believe it has been discontinued in favor of the N3DS and N3DS XL.  At this point I'd definately go for either the old school 3DS XL or just go for the more powerful New 3DS XL.  The larger screens are truly excellent.

 

 As for which console?  I'd go for the 3DS over the Vita.  Owning both I feel very much abandoned by Sony and their lack of care or support for this fairly excellent system.  And one can't ignore the expensive as hell elephant in the room.  The Vita 2000 still uses specific memory cards sold only by Sony at ripoff prices that make me cringe even now. One huge plus for the 2000 over the original is the move to micro-USB instead of that weird proprietary connector the old Vita used.  As for the screen... I'm probably in a minority camp here, but I enjoy the TN panel over the OLED thanks to less color saturation, and the absence of that flaking OLED blotch.  (Screen still looks damn good, and the extra battery life is totally worth that trade off imo.)

 

Nintendo for the time being seems very happy with the 3DS sales figures, and is still coughing up first party titles at a decent pace.  The older 3DS systems use SD cards, and the New 3DS systems use MicroSD cards.  Still use a proprietary charging cable, and last I checked, no real way to sync via USB.  But man... that 3DS and DS library is freaking massive.  

[ShadowCaptain]

I use my Vita a bit, my 3DS hardly but both are great

my nvidia shield portable gets a LOT of use, cos I use it to run tons of emulators and can stream PC to it - plus android games 

my iphone 6 is great for gaming too

[kol]

Had a VITA and sold it for a 3DS. Hardly play it to be honest. If I were to recommend a handheld, I'd recommend a PSP and load some CFW on it. That way you can play anything from the NES to the PS1 + PSP games. You can get them fairly cheap. Just watch out as the 1001 version has an awful screen if i remember. 

[rm -rf]

On 02/06/2016 at 5:13 AM, i-ongei said:

Okay, hi.
I've almost always been gaming on PC. I had a few consoles back in the day, like the the SNES, the GBA, the NDS, PS1 and PS2. After the PS2 I haven't really had any interest for consoles as I had mostly been gaming on my PC and have been upgrading it over the years. Although I have a shallow idea I haven't kept myself updated with the console scene at the moment. I've been travelling a lot lately so I thought to myself - why not get a handheld console? So - which one would be the best for me right now? Which handle console has the most number of titles? Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks.

No matter what people are saying, don't go for the Vita, or PSP (Is that still a thing?)

Only Nintendo is innovating and succeeding in the handheld area.

Or you could buy a tablet, though that probably isn't what you're wanting.

[LanceAvion]

What are you looking for in your handheld? The 3DS and Vita are both great in their own realms. The 3DS is pretty much the DS 2. So if you're familiar with the original DS, the 3DS is more of that on better hardware. The Vita, on the other hand, isn't like the PSP. It's essentially an Indie and Japanese device. If you like indies and Japanese titles you'll love the Vita. Even better is if you can speak/read Japanese as you can import or just use the Japanese store. The Vita is region free after all, but the 3DS is region locked.

[Johnmakuta]

If you really love PC gaming and don't mind a subscription I would suggest the Nvidia Shield Portable. It may be aging but with Nvidia's game streaming it might be worth it to you.

 

As far as mainstream consoles I'd usggest the New 3DS XL. It's the only console that has complete backwards compatibility stretching all the way back to the NDS of 2004. Also, the New 3DS XL gets around 7-12 hours of battery life when playing original DS games so that is a definite win in my book. The only real advantage to a Vita is if you have a PS4 and can stream games from it. The New 3DS does have some capabilities with the Wii U but nothing that makes it dependent.

[Zodiark1593]

On 6/8/2016 at 7:36 AM, kol said:

Had a VITA and sold it for a 3DS. Hardly play it to be honest. If I were to recommend a handheld, I'd recommend a PSP and load some CFW on it. That way you can play anything from the NES to the PS1 + PSP games. You can get them fairly cheap. Just watch out as the 1001 version has an awful screen if i remember. 

I have an original PSP kicking around. The display isn't all that bad in terms of color, but that ghosting is truly horrendous. Also, newer PSP models provide for more RAM, reducing loading times. However, the original PSP's build quality gives you the sense you could bludgeon things with it if you so choose, then fire it back up for a game when you're done.