My Nintendo 3DS XL
As far as my favorite video game console goes, it's always been a toss-up between the PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo 3DS. They accomplish different things and are meant for different types of games, so really it's a pretty solid tie between the two, with one being my favorite stationary console and the other my favorite handheld.
Joel recently posted about his experiences with the 3DS, and it inspired me to revisit my own personal experiences. Mine will not be as in-depth, and I'm not as tech-savvy as Joel, but I wanted to post this as a little celebration of what I consider to be one of the greatest and most creative game consoles ever released.
A quick note, though: The 3DS is my favorite aesthetically, but I love the DS family of consoles in general, and a lot of the things I'll say about the 3DS in this post apply to other DS consoles as well. The 3DS is backwards compatible and is the culmination of the DS line.
An Overview
I don't think I had an original 3DS, as far as I can remember. I went from the DSi to the 3DS XL. By 2013, there were enough new games on the system that I wanted to play, and I was especially excited for the new Legend of Zelda game, A Link Between Worlds. I purchased the special edition 3DS XL that was released for it with the game already installed, and it's the same one I still have today. It's a beautiful dual-color gold and black with a Triforce symbol on each side.
It quickly became my favorite console. I spent a lot of time playing games on it, but I also took it with me everywhere I went so I could get StreetPass connections. To my delight, it seems like a lot of people still carry theirs with them, so I can make new connections even now. Although, I don't take it with me everywhere anymore, just to conventions and places where I know other folks might bring theirs along.
There's a great Eurogamer article by Jai Singh Bains that highlights the unique features of the DS family of consoles by shining a spotlight on Hotel Dusk: Room 215, one of my favorite games of all time. (I even made a shrine for it!)
More than any other system, my 3DS just feels good to play. It utilizes the two screens in ways that are clever but intuitive at the same time. Games like Phantom Hourglass, the Professor Layton series, 999, Bowser's Inside Story, and Trauma Center all showcase how wonderfully creative the DS features are.
There are puzzles that you actually have to close the DS and then open it back up to solve, and some gameplay elements require turning it on its side like a book. The touchscreen is super responsive, and you can use a stylus for more precise control, which is helpful for things like drawing and performing surgery (hello, Trauma Center). There's even a feature where you can blow into the DS to make a character fly higher or solve a puzzle involving wind.
If you'll allow me to embrace my elderly side for a minute, they just don't make 'em like this anymore. I like my Switch a lot, but it feels flat and boring compared to the 3DS. It seems like there's not much room for quirky or inventive consoles and games in the AAA space these days, but maybe with the cost of game development going up, devs will get more creative again.
Personal Tidbits and Favorite Memories
You can see in the image above that I have the official KK Slider theme from Animal Crossing. It's been my theme for as long as I can remember, and I'm kind of attached to it. It includes music, with KK singing and whistling a jaunty little tune. If you scroll across the touch screen, he moves his mouth and strums the guitar.
There are lots of cool fan-made themes out there, but my 3DS isn't modded and I'm not sure if I want to dive into that or not. I know it offers more functionality, but I've always been happy with my 3DS as is. I have plenty of game cartridges for it too.
You might have noticed that I didn't mention the 3DS's titular feature in the overview: the 3D slider. Personally, and maybe ironically, it's the one feature I don't really care for. I've heard people say it makes games look better, but I can't tell much of a difference graphically and it honestly kind of hurts my eyes.
The only exception to this is A Link Between Worlds, which has 3D baked into its gameplay. It's neat enough that I didn't mind using the 3D when I needed to, but I still didn't have it turned on the entire time while playing.
I rarely play competitive games online, but Mario Kart DS was one of the biggest exceptions. I played online a lot, mostly using Dry Bones in Peach's Light Tripper, and got surprisingly good at it. My best track was Baby Park, but my favorite was Delfino Square.
I have so many photos from Animal Crossing: New Leaf on my 3DS, which is my most played game. I took screenshots of everything, including the haikus I wrote and posted on the town bulletin board. Here's one of them:
The winter snow is
falling ever so softly.
My toes are frozen.
I've had these charms on my 3DS for almost as long as I've had the console itself. I can't remember off the top of my head if the pterodactyl is from a specific game, but I love it anyhow. The Japanese lettering and the amazingly weird pointing hand are from Ace Attorney, one of my most beloved series. And the katana is from Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. You can unscrew it to open it and use the sword as a stylus!
I'm sure there's a lot more I could say about the wonders of my 3DS and DS systems, but I'll leave it at that for now. Maybe I'll follow this up with a post about the PlayStation 2...