Nintendo has been dominating the hand-held gaming market for more than a decade. They really hit their stride with the Nintendo DS and DSi, which has sold more than 100 million units worldwide. So, the question is, when looking for a gift for your kid should you go with Nintendo’s newest offering, the 3DS, or stick with the old stuff?
First, let me introduce you to Nintendo’s newest hand-held console. It’s called the Nintendo 3DS. The key term here is “3D”. That’s right, Nintendo has found a way to bring 3D gaming to a hand-held platform. Like the DS before it, it will boast two touch screens, and it will retail for the rather hefty price of $250.
If you’re worried about your kid having to carry around a goofy looking pair of 3D glasses in order to use his 3DS, then you can stop fretting, because Nintendo has done something with the 3DS that even $3000 TVs can’t do. The 3DS will project 3D images to the user without the need for those bulky glasses. It goes even further than that. The 3D image, which will only be viewable to the person playing the game, is adjustable via a slider on the side of the device. If you want to play in 2D, you can do that. If you want to tone down the 3D effect a bit then you can do that as well, all with the ease of sliding a knob, and all in realtime.
The $250 pricetag may seem steep, but it’s worth it. The Nintendo 3DS is going to be around for a long time. For $250, your kid will get probably 3 good years of use out of the device. All the big first party Nintendo games like Mario and Zelda are on their way to the device as well, with a remake of N64’s Ocarina of Time (trust me, your kid loves this game) already announced. The 3DS will cost you about $100 more than the regular DS, and it is completely worth it. If you buy the DS, you’ll just be buying a 3DS in a year anyway and end up spending more money in the end.