Support NeoGAF

[bender]

And speaking of the 3DS, and I know it is blasphemous, but Super Mario 3D Land is probably my 3rd favorite 3D Mario after Galaxy and Galaxy 2 (I was really late to the party with Mario 64 via the Switch release, oddly enough) and my hope is that it along with Galaxy 2 get a Switch 2 port a la 3D All-Stars (yes, I know both will require some reworking due to motion controls and 3D).

 

[daxgame]

It really doesn't even come close
Especially from a quality of games point of view too.
a lot of points made in the op literally make no sense.
Hardware wise lmao. I can't even remember how i managed to squint my eyes back then to look at that shitty 3ds screen. And three Houses is easily the best FE, btw.

 

[CityHunter1981]

I miss the 3d effect. In some games they worked really well and added to the experience. Switch is okay, but the joycons are trash, have a huge drift on both of them and he prices for new ones are a bad joke.

 

[Pasta la Vista]

Played 3DS way more. Many great games are still stuck on that platform. Include the DS library and Switch hasn't even come close to the variety and quality of exclusive games.

Switch isn't a true portable either tbh and the build quality of the joycons are absolute shit. No true dpad and the buttons feel terrible.

 

[Kenpachii]

Switch has the better games, 3DS gets the edge for me because of 3D hope switch 2 brings it back.

 

[Party McHardy]

I don't care what the market said, playing Ocarina of Time popping out the screen makes 3DS the superior console.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

In terms of library, the 3DS was the last bastion of a kind of games we will never really see again. Dual screen, capacitive touch, AND glasses-free 3D all in one. Plus full retro compatibility with one of the largest libraries ever. Shame that Nintendo seriously botched its first iteration, the system in its final form (new 3DS XL) was criminally underrated.

They are two very different systems, so it makes little sense to compare them point for point. Both are severely unergonomic, both have disappointing battery life, both have glaring flaws you can't really ignore. The 3DS certainly has the more unique library, but the Switch has some amazing exclusives. The Switch suffered more from its constraints, though. Games had to be adapted for the Switch with great compromises, vs most games being tailored to the 3DS.

 

[existensmaximum]

Dunno but the GBA wipes the floor with both of them.

 

[Stefan.North]

Everything after GBA and GC was a step back

 

[cireza]

3DS and this not even a contest as far as I am concerned.

Switch is a pretty bad handheld to begin with, 3DS was made specifically for this use-case. Switch is a bad home-console on top of it. It manages to struggle giving a good experience even on rather simple games such as Dead Cells lol. And I love Dead Cells and think the developers did a good job.

It started as a Wii U port machine (which made the console pretty pointless at first), and we quickly understood that there was not going to be any significant step up from this console. When multiplats started being ported for PS4/One, everything fell apart. Who in his right mind would endure playing Doom or Witcher 3 in these conditions ? And Nintendo games have been pretty meh-ish as far as I am concerned. Even Kirby is really meh compared to the two main 3DS games.

The main issue here is not really the console, it is how making games has evolved. A console like the Switch needs specific, optimized efforts. Otherwise you get shit like Doom, Witcher etc... A game like Metroid Prime Remastered makes great use of the hardware. But these are a handful of games, when on 3DS, the majority of the games made great use of the hardware.

If I take a look at what I bought on these consoles, for the 3DS I would buy most of the big games getting released on it and have a great experience. On Switch ? My collection is almost entirely made of retro-collections and remasters, because emulating 8/16 bits or running 32 bits games looks like it is the only thing this console can do correctly consistently.

Can't say I am really optimistic for Switch 2.

 

[Trilobit]

Didn't have the 3DS, but a DS Lite and I honestly think it's the better handheld. I never felt satisfied with the portability of my Switch as it was too big and cumbersome to take with me on the bus and many games were to consolesque in that they didn't have that 15 minute short and satisfying gameplay that's a trademark for previous handhelds. When I play BotW I want to have at least an hour because much of the time you spend running from place to place while in for example Minish Cap the world is tiny in comparison so you can do more in a shorter time. The DS also easily fits in my pocket and due to the clamshell I don't have to worry about it bouncing around with coins.

But, as OP says, I had high hopes when we learned that Nintendo consolidated their teams into one console that they'd bring out a plethora of games. With smaller stuff like Tomodachi Life and Advance Wars allowing you to play short bursts. But it never really materialized. Granted, Switch was a risky move as a response to Wii U so they might have wanted to play it more safe, but I hope Switch 2 brings us more variety from Nintendo themselves.

 

[ReBurn]

I've loved them both. They're different vibes. i don't think one is better than the other.

 

[gtabro]

All I know is the Switch for me did NOT become the go-to handheld console. 3DS was way comfier with better battery life and most importantly:

Games designed for the smaller screen(s).

 

[MadchesterManc]

I miss the 3d effect. In some games they worked really well and added to the experience. Switch is okay, but the joycons are trash, have a huge drift on both of them and he prices for new ones are a bad joke.

Joycons are trash, but relatively simple to repair at least. You can grab replacement sticks online for under a tenner and follow a simple iFixit guide to change them yourself. As they screw in and connect with a ribbon, no soldering required. Only takes about 20 minutes or so and much cheaper than buying whole new joycons.

 

[Fbh]

Easily Switch for me. I like the hybrid approach and I think allowing people to buy a single platform that gives you access to all new Nintendo games was the right move.
3DS was an ok system but not a particularly memorable one for me. Now that I no longer own one the only games I'm sad about no longer having access to are Kid Icarus Uprising and the N64 Zelda remasters.

I did like the 3D though. Almost everyone I know that had one ended up defaulting to playing with the 3D off, but I always liked it.

 

[Soapbox Killer]

I will say this about the 3DS, there is a certain charm that those games have based on the limitations of the console. I have no idea if it makes sense but they feel more "video gamey" than modern games that feel like they want to be movies or anime. 3DS games feel like they want to be video games, (that might sound like horseshit but I can't really express what I'm feeling)

 

[CuteFaceJay]

I miss the Street pass feature but understand why it was scrapped.

 

[Majukun]

3ds literally had nintendo backpedal on its own premise with the 2ds

 

[Zacfoldor]

The Switch is the way. We need standardization. Look at the Dominus collection. My kingdom to be able to play those games "normally."

3DS was great but Switch was him.

 

[RobRSG]

As a portable-only device, I would say the 3DS wins because it is more pocketable, and has a great number of games specifically made to be played on the go… But the Switch is a Swiss Army Knife of consoles, so you can dock it and play 4 player games at ease in a big screen.

So overall the Switch is the better console.

 

[Sooner]

Switch, easily. There were lots of 3DS games I loved, but I hated using the actual hardware.

 

[spookyfish]

Putting the Grezzo remasters of Zelda: OoT and MM on Switch would make me so happy, and I'd even pay for them separately if Nintendo wants to soak me.

 

[Walter Matthau]

I will say this about the 3DS, there is a certain charm that those games have based on the limitations of the console. I have no idea if it makes sense but they feel more "video gamey" than modern games that feel like they want to be movies or anime. 3DS games feel like they want to be video games, (that might sound like horseshit but I can't really express what I'm feeling)

I voted for Switch, but 3DS definitely wins in the charm department. The form factor, small screens, and 3D element certainly contributing factors, but as you mentioned the look of games were less homogenized and more centered around quick and fun experiences. A game like Pilotwings Resort is a good example of this.

 

[cartman414]

It's a handheld, it's by definition the lesser experience. It's literally designed to be a compromise, and especially in these days that meant you get simpler games with smaller scopes but in turn you can take them on the go - which to many people is outright useless.

The DS/3DS are the worst Nintendo handhelds (worse than GB, GBC, GBA) because this was the time where Nintendo really went all in on their gimmick shit, only to abandon one of their gimmicks (3d) later on anyways because obviously their gimmick sucked, as most of them do. There's a reason double screens didn't make a return yet, lmao. Nintendo fans will tell you about the "innovative" games this brought forward, when in reality 90% of it was casual 0.99c iOS store quality shit like Nintendogs or the second screen was barely an after thought and only used for like a map or something.

The Wii is only slightly less shit because it actually had a couple of great games (most notably Mario Galaxy 1/2, Xenoblade) but still represents one of Nintendos worst times, in terms of me looking forward to what they have in store.

So yes, ds/3ds was nintendo at its worst.

You'd have to say by extension that the Switch is among their weakest experiences as a console because it offers compromised experiences compared to its chief rivals.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Take a look at this

 

[rabbity-thing]

3DS. Joycons suck. I hope Nintendo overhauls them on the Switch 2.

While I agree that the joycons suck, the 3DS wasn't much better on the control front. Slide pad + Touch Screen control schemes were awful. The updated new version of the 3DS that introduced Slide Pad + Analog Nub control schemes offered only marginally better useability.

As an OG 3DS ambassador, I loved the 3DS. It's a great system. But, just like the switch, the controls were simply not there. With both Switch and 3DS, I had to purchase 3rd party grips to make the experience tolerable.

 

[StereoVsn]

Switch is probably a better system considering the overall library, but 3DS and DS before them had a certain kind of charm.

The games were designed toward handheld systems in general and to the hardware limitations in particular.

There was a great number of very interesting games from platformers to adventure to RPG. I have a lot of fondness for these systems and have couple of DSi XLs and New 3DS XLs.

 

[Impotaku]

DS was my favourite of all the nintendo releases have over 400 games for it the library was crazily good. However it now sits in second place as the switch overtook it due to the game library, while the DS still beats switch library for super weird quirky stuff there's enough on switch as well as crazy amounts of 3rd party stuff to make up the numbers. 2 of my favourite genres are rhythm and shmups and switch has loads.

Let's put it this way I had to literally scour all 3 regions for DS games finally sifting through the remaining shovelware to find the last few games worth picking up before I stopped. With switch I'm nearly at 600 games and I haven't even started going through all the older releases to grab everything I want let along sifting through the final dregs to find the good stuff in between the shovelware. With the stuff I already have I can easily see myself getting to 800 easily. The bonus is not just new games been released but older retro stuff brought back so you can enjoy without getting fucked over by retro scalpers.

 

[od-chan]

You'd have to say by extension that the Switch is among their weakest experiences as a console because it offers compromised experiences compared to its chief rivals.

No, lmao. Your reading comprehension would have to be really poor to infer that from my post, since I specifically pointed out that a) handhelds BACK THEN were much more held back by these compromises - obviously with systems like the Switch and now Steam Deck this is no longer the case, at least not to such a degree and b) Nintendos shit gimmicks were too central to the whole design of the system. Now you just need to take this thought one step further, because being this heavily focused on gimmicks was a large part of Nintendo's deal back then (ds/3ds/wii) and this reflected in the way they went about game design, or even which IPs to pursue in what way and how to handle the company in general.

The Switch has (obviously) been a huge return to form. Things aren't perfect, but there's a good chance I'm gonna be at least somewhat excited about something new Nintendo has to announce nowadays again.

 

[cartman414]

No, lmao. Your reading comprehension would have to be really poor to infer that from my post, since I specifically pointed out that a) handhelds BACK THEN were much more held back by these compromises - obviously with systems like the Switch and now Steam Deck this is no longer the case, at least not to such a degree and b) Nintendos shit gimmicks were too central to the whole design of the system. Now you just need to take this thought one step further, because being this heavily focused on gimmicks was a large part of Nintendo's deal back then (ds/3ds/wii) and this reflected in the way they went about game design, or even which IPs to pursue in what way and how to handle the company in general.

The Switch has (obviously) been a huge return to form. Things aren't perfect, but there's a good chance I'm gonna be at least somewhat excited about something new Nintendo has to announce nowadays again.

Funny you bring up reading comprehension. Maybe I should have phrased it differently. The Switch IS underpowered compared to other platforms making your post a little ironic. The 3DS at the very least had no pretense towards console aspirations, empowering it to embrace smaller scope (but not necessarily length!), pick up and play games at a lower cost.

The Switch meanwhile as a quasi-home console, has had to keep up with the big guns, only to come up short for the most part, either missing out on games or getting gimped ports due to being underpowered. Worse, regardless of size or scope, the games carry that same console price tag.

 

[nordique]

I liked the 3ds but switch is soooo much better

Everything from first to third party output
Screen quality , graphics, speakers, proper analog sticks

Especially oled screen


But most importantly switch has doom and better Zelda, Metroid and Mario games

 

[hououinkyouma00]

Putting the Grezzo remasters of Zelda: OoT and MM on Switch would make me so happy, and I'd even pay for them separately if Nintendo wants to soak me.

I would give so much money to Nintendo if they would just port these and WW/TP. Hell I don't care if they were all full price ($40/60). I'm buying them all.

 

[fart town usa]

DS was better than 3DS in terms of software.

Switch is way better than both, but the DS is still king in its own way.

 

[Hugare]

Switch library is great, but as a system it's just so vanilla. So boring.

Most people can have a much better Switch experience by emulating it on the Steam Deck or any other capable hardware.

You cant say the same about the 3DS. You'll only have the intended experience on the original hardware.

That alone makes me appreciate the 3DS way more than the Switch

 

[Perrott]

The 3DS hardware had more possibilities for interesting gameplay given its unique controls and features. In that regard, the Switch is just a worse but portable regular home console; there's just nothing special about it.

 

[Sakura]

3DS > Wii U > Switch.
I still have my Wii U and 3 3DS's. Don't have a Switch any more though.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Switch library is great, but as a system it's just so vanilla. So boring.

Most people can have a much better Switch experience by emulating it on the Steam Deck or any other capable hardware.

You cant say the same about the 3DS. You'll only have the intended experience on the original hardware.

That alone makes me appreciate the 3DS way more than the Switch

I have to agree. Although they massively improved the screen (less burn-in risk than the Steam Deck OLED apparently too, but no HDR support and no adjustable refresh rate …) AND the kickstand (which was awful in the regular model) AND it is nice for quick local co-op sessions or SP tabletop gaming to be able to detach the Joy-Cons… overall the system itself, not the games published for it (those could have been published on almost any hardware really), is very bland and they convinced their core users that it was the only way to make decent UI.

The Xbox 360 had a much stronger, vibrant, and engaging UI (Blades) and it needed only 32 MB of RAM and a small reserved portion of the three PowerPC cores performance to run… come the Switch with more, newer, and performant OoOE cores, much more RAM (4 GB total, 1 GB reserved to the OS), and and a much newer GPU and all we get is the current barebones UI… at 720p max. It is ridiculous that this is seen as a must for the UI to feel snappy.

32 MB of reserved RAM (Xbox 360) vs 1 GB of reserved RAM (Switch)

5% of Core 1 + 5% of Core 2 reserved for the OS (Xbox 360) vs 100% of 1 out of 4 available CPU cores reserved for the OS (Switch)

… sigh…

There is no reason, outside of Nintendo experimenting how much can they take away from their customers before they stop buying their excuses and actually complain and how much before the sales are affected, Switch UI should be this soulless, extremely minimalistic, and barebones.

 

[Hudo]

I would give so much money to Nintendo if they would just port these and WW/TP. Hell I don't care if they were all full price ($40/60). I'm buying them all.

I recon they sell these for Switch 2 to have some sort of Zelda stuff present for the launch window. The question rather is if they just ported the Wii U versions or if they did more.