Gaming How is a DSi XL compared to 3DS XL for DS games?

Harsky · Jun 26, 2013

Before I got the 3DS XL, I've been using the DS lite for all my DS gaming. Unfortunately my R4i Gold card turned out to be one of the unupgradable one which meant that I couldn't use it on my 3DS XL. I did manage to play a couple of DS games I borrowed from my cousin and I thought it was quite decent in displaying DS games but I don't like the choice of having it played in native, smaller screen size or screen filling but sorta more pixelated graphics.

Now I'm curious to know, if I wanted a big screen experience for DS games, should I get the Supercard DStwo and play it on my 3DS XL or spend a little extra and get a DSi XL?

Pong20302000 · Jun 26, 2013

buy both

will your card work on a DSi running 1.4.5?

Rydian · Jun 26, 2013

Well, you don't have to deal with extra space or stretching, since it's 1:1 on both screens. People like that a lot.

smoke14me61 · Jun 26, 2013

I have both but I tend to like the 3DS XL screen a little better than the DSi XL, and the DSTWO is a great card. May be just me but the games seem brighter and look better.

Harsky · Jun 26, 2013

Pong20302000 said:
buy both

will your card work on a DSi running 1.4.5?

I just double checked the Help Information in the R4i Gold. It says:

Sys: NDSi 1.44&3DS4.3.0-10

Since I can't get it upgraded, I guess that card is no use even on a DSi XL. By the way, although Supercard DStwo have a proven track record of bypassing Nintendo's firmware blocks, I would really like to keep any pirate stuff off the 3DS XL just in case Nintendo does create a firmware that really does affect future flashcards where the only solution is to keep buying "revised" flashcarts.

Pong20302000 · Jun 26, 2013

Harsky said:
I just double checked the Help Information in the R4i Gold. It says:

Sys: NDSi 1.44&3DS4.3.0-10

Since I can't get it upgraded, I guess that card is no use even on a DSi XL. By the way, although Supercard DStwo have a proven track record of bypassing Nintendo's firmware blocks, I would really like to keep any pirate stuff off the 3DS XL just in case Nintendo does create a firmware that really does affect future flashcards where the only solution is to keep buying "revised" flashcarts.

what revision is your R4i gold?
if its a 6,7, or 8
ftp://r4idsdown:[email protected]/R4iGold_NDSi145_Patch.rar
that will get it up to DSi 1.4.5

smoke14me61 · Jun 26, 2013

Harsky said:
I just double checked the Help Information in the R4i Gold. It says:

Sys: NDSi 1.44&3DS4.3.0-10

Since I can't get it upgraded, I guess that card is no use even on a DSi XL. By the way, although Supercard DStwo have a proven track record of bypassing Nintendo's firmware blocks, I would really like to keep any pirate stuff off the 3DS XL just in case Nintendo does create a firmware that really does affect future flashcards where the only solution is to keep buying "revised" flashcarts.

Well, I guess there is always a possibility it could be blocked permanently, but the track record is perfect right now and if it would get permanently blocked use it on the DSi XL

Harsky · Jun 26, 2013

Pong20302000 said:
what revision is your R4i gold?
if its a 6,7, or 8
ftp://r4idsdown:[email protected]/R4iGold_NDSi145_Patch.rar
that will get it up to DSi 1.4.5

That worked perfectly. Not sure why I over looked this one all this time but it's not updated with the "smiling man Dorasu" logo. Unfortunately trying to get the 6.0 patch to run results in a failure but at least the card will work on the DSi XL. Then again, the GBA emulator on the Supercard is tempting me because Nintendo is still being stubborn in adding GBA games to the eShop.

Harsky · Jun 26, 2013

So to double check, will DS gaming on the DSi XL be pretty much the same as the one on the 3DS XL?

GBA rocks · Jun 28, 2013

Harsky said:
So to double check, will DS gaming on the DSi XL be pretty much the same as the one on the 3DS XL?

Having both of them in front on me with the same game on (see pics below, the first in stretched mode, the second in 1:1 mode)
- colors on the DSi XL are more vivid (mario's hat is sour-cherry-red on the 3DS XL and strawberry-red on the DSi XL)
- speaker volume on the DSi XL is louder at max
- on the DSi XL you will be able to notice pixels (if you come from NSMB2 or NSMB Wii or even from NSMB on a smaller DS, Mario will look blocky, at first you'll feel like you need glasses), whereas the pixelation is softened on the 3DS XL (in stretch mode), on one hand this is good for the 3DS XL, on the other hands scaled games feels like they "don't belong" there (on the 3DS XL screen)
- in 1:1 mode you don't have the weird "softening" anymore, but the picture is smaller and is of course surrounded by huge black bars that completely destroy immersion in the game for me; and colors are still more vivid on the DSi XL
- the DSi XL has a nicer industrial design and is the final iteration of the DS generation, you should own one

So, go for a DSi XL for DS gaming, as far as I'm concerned.

Harsky · Jun 28, 2013

Thanks for the pictures! Looks like I'll be adding a DSi XL to my handheld collection soon.

Nemix77 · Dec 18, 2014

Don't mean to resurrect a dead thread but IMHO the 3DS does a great job upscaling DS games to the 3DS's screen albeit the picture will be a bit fuzzier and less vivid but unless you have a DSi XL side by side for comparisons you get used to the picture and probably can't tell there's a difference at all.

In a perfect world the Wii should only be played on 480p 4:3 old CRT TV's since the resolution is 1:1 and most Wii games are made for 4:3 screen (when set to 16:9 the Wii actually stretches the screen it's not true widescreen), 720p LCD TV's should be true 1280x720 resolution not 1366x768 BS where 720p content still has to be upscaled by the TV causing the a bit of blurriness, ghosting and input lag.

My point is unless you have a perfect setup for each and every video source ex: Wii on a 480p CRT, PS3 on a 1280x720p LCD, Xbox upscales but still preferred on a 1280x720p LCD, DS games on a DSi (XL) etc. It's really pointless to compare the screens between a DSi and 3DS when playing DS games just be grateful Nintendo preserved backwards compatibly for DS games to to played on a 3DS.

Just a note:

DS games should look a better on the New 3DS since the screen seems to be better in almost every way compared to the old 3DS (higher contrast, better colors, better viewing angles, picture seems clearer and probably better response times), so if one really cares that much about playing DS games on the 3DS and getting the best picture possible then look into upgrading to a New 3DS in the near future.

SuperrSonic · Dec 18, 2014

Nemix77 said:
In a perfect world the Wii should only be played on 480p 4:3 old CRT TV's since the resolution is 1:1 and most Wii games are made for 4:3 screen (when set to 16:9 the Wii actually stretches the screen it's not true widescreen), 720p LCD TV's should be true 1280x720 resolution not 1366x768 BS where 720p content still has to be upscaled by the TV causing the a bit of blurriness, ghosting and input lag.

It is true widescreen though, it's not rendering more pixels but it's not like you could tell the difference.

And many Wii games are made for widescreen and -only- widescreen in mind unfortunately. These play at a lower res when using 4:3 mode obviously and look pretty bad thanks to the lack of detail; at least in widescreen mode you get more lines. It really depends on the game but it's around 120 lines lost just to show more info on the screen.

Off the top of my head:
Another Code: R - it places hud elements in the 4:3 part but the game is still wide.
Arc Rise Fantasia - just wide in a 4:3 frame
NSMB Wii - same
Xenoblade Chronicles - definitely the worst looking one, this game really needs the extra detail.

It's not really a problem for me but a good example of why some games play better in widescreen.

Nemix77 · Dec 18, 2014

There are very few Wii games that are made only for widescreen not even close to many: Xenoblade and NSMB Wii are the only two the comes to mind for me.

I enjoyed my Wii a lot more on a small old 24" CRT non 480p (was interlaced) then after I upgraded to a 32" LED TV in which case that was when I played Xenoblade and NSMB Wii which played really well on the new LED but older games that I played on the CRT did not play all that well on the LED due to horrible input lag, blurriness from upscaling, ghosting and not true 16:9 aspect ratio (I was using component cable on both the CRT and LED TV with 480p set on the LED).

This was only because at the time I had a very recent memory of playing these Wii games 1:1 on the old CRT TV which is far superior IMHO for Wii games but over time I got use to the LED TV even though I knew the picture was inferior to that on my old CRT I had nothing to compare it too anymore and my memory of playing the games on the old CRT going away.

My point again is going back to DS games being played on a 3DS, it's exactly the same scenario but in this case the slight blurriness and less vivid picture on the 3DS screen actually has an advantage on the form of response time, input lag and ghosting which is superior on the 3DS's screen when compared to the DSi's screen for DS games.

Gaming How is a DSi XL compared to 3DS XL for DS games?

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