Japanese 3DS worth the hassle? (and other questions)

[MohammedQ8]

Be aware of yellow screen mine turned little bit yellow which is very sad.

 

[binkinator]

I don't know how much N3DS are going for in the US but isn't shipping from Japan like 30 bucks anyway?
I'd recommend checking places like FB marketplace instead of ebay for a 3DS.

Had to look mine up to see shipping and realized I actually bought mine on Amazon. N3DS-XL are selling for about $250 (+ whatever). My N3DS-LL was $173 and change to my door. Took 2+ weeks and had Japanese postage so I guess he ate the shipping.

 

[sley]

Had to look mine up to see shipping and realized I actually bought mine on Amazon. N3DS-XL are selling for about $250 (+ whatever). My N3DS-LL was $173 and change to my door. Took 2+ weeks and had Japanese postage so I guess he ate the shipping.


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I just checked the german equivalent to cragislist and omg... Before the eShop announcement you could easily get one here for 100-150 but now it's also in the 200+ range. Really bad timing to buy a N3DS imo.

 

[Mikmoomamimocki]

I don't know how much N3DS are going for in the US but isn't shipping from Japan like 30 bucks anyway?
I'd recommend checking places like FB marketplace instead of ebay for a 3DS.

On Ebay, used US N3DSXLs are usually 180-250 dollars. Japanese ones are usually 100-150 dollars and are usually cared for better. Also, shipping is often free. Thanks for the recommendation though.

 

[Deleted member 194275]

About a year ago I found a 2DS XL on pokecenter in Japan, brand new. It was the pokeball model. Long story short, it is perfect.

I went to the trouble of translating the OS, since very little words remains in Japanese. The CFW process is very easy too, the language is no obstacle at all.

Best thing is that japanese 2DS and 3DS are guaranteed to have dual IPS screens, while American ones is a lottery, you may get one IPS screen, two or even none.

 

[Deleted member 585915]

Despite everyone saying "there's no need to region switch" I think its definitely worth it. I got my Japanese 3ds for $80 with original box and all accessories shipped from an eBay seller. The Japanese was getting annoying to translate so I region swapped it. I had to fix nds games with TWLfix but then everything was perfectly fine, I forget that it's a Japanese 3ds. I can't use the eshop but It's honestly not worth paying $150+ for a US 3ds when the eshop is getting shut down soon. In my opinion the "hassle" really is worth it if you would even call it a "hassle."

 

[binkinator]

Despite everyone saying "there's no need to region switch" I think its definitely worth it. I got my Japanese 3ds for $80 with original box and all accessories shipped from an eBay seller. The Japanese was getting annoying to translate so I region swapped it. I had to fix nds games with TWLfix but then everything was perfectly fine, I forget that it's a Japanese 3ds. I can't use the eshop but It's honestly not worth paying $150+ for a US 3ds when the eshop is getting shut down soon. In my opinion the "hassle" really is worth it if you would even call it a "hassle."

I was going to region switch mine when I saw the announcement but the look has grown on me and I can “touch type” through the UI at this point, although Google translating the damn chatty rabbit in the Badge Arcade almost did my head in!

 

[Deleted member 585915]

I was going to region switch mine when I saw the announcement but the look has grown on me and I can “touch type” through the UI at this point, although Google translating the damn chatty rabbit in the Badge Arcade almost did my head in!

I was actually gonna leave it like you did at first but for some reason I always felt like I was clicking the wrong thing lolll

 

[Deleted member 585915]

On Ebay, used US N3DSXLs are usually 180-250 dollars. Japanese ones are usually 100-150 dollars and are usually cared for better. Also, shipping is often free. Thanks for the recommendation though.

yes the japanese ones are always cared for sooo much better it’s crazy

 

[Mikmoomamimocki]

Despite everyone saying "there's no need to region switch" I think its definitely worth it. I got my Japanese 3ds for $80 with original box and all accessories shipped from an eBay seller. The Japanese was getting annoying to translate so I region swapped it. I had to fix nds games with TWLfix but then everything was perfectly fine, I forget that it's a Japanese 3ds. I can't use the eshop but It's honestly not worth paying $150+ for a US 3ds when the eshop is getting shut down soon. In my opinion the "hassle" really is worth it if you would even call it a "hassle."

Now since the eShop is closing anyways, I'm considering this. How difficult is it to hack the region? I heard that you have to mess around with the NAND and I'm not sure if I want to do that. I'm pretty much a complete newb, I haven't hacked anything besides my 2ds and dsi. Thanks! Also, 80 dollars is a spectacular deal! When did you get that?

 

[Marc_LFD]

its definetly worth it, specially now that the eshop will be removed either way. You can easily mod it and change the language to english and add games to it without dealing with the eshop

Removed.. like, via a firmware update or just unable to actually use it? Seems to be the latter.

Miiverse was removed from the 3DS and Wii U, but this is different.

 

[Marc_LFD]

On Ebay, used US N3DSXLs are usually 180-250 dollars. Japanese ones are usually 100-150 dollars and are usually cared for better. Also, shipping is often free. Thanks for the recommendation though.

I bought a 3DS XL (with some minor marks) for $50 (what I offered him) about two years ago. I reckon the guy was desperate for the money and that was a good deal for me.

Then, I got it hacked and it's loaded with tons of games. Yet, I've rarely played any of them aside from Mario Kart 7.

 

[binkinator]

Now since the eShop is closing anyways, I'm considering this. How difficult is it to hack the region? I heard that you have to mess around with the NAND and I'm not sure if I want to do that. I'm pretty much a complete newb, I haven't hacked anything besides my 2ds and dsi. Thanks! Also, 80 dollars is a spectacular deal! When did you get that?

Here’s your rabbit: https://3ds.hacks.guide/region-changing.html

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Nice!

On another post, I saw someone advising someone else with a Japanese 3DS to "NEVER CONNECT IT TO THE INTERNET." Why is this? I'll need to connect it up to WiFi in order to download Pokemon Picross, correct? Is that person's advice outdated?

EDIT: Also, I heard that I shouldn't change the region. What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing this? I just don't want Japanese menus. If I can autoboot into Luma in English, that'd be great. Does that require a region change?

Also, thanks for helping. I don't have any hacking experience besides DSi Memory Pit hacks (which, by the way, is ridiculously easy, go do it now if you haven't).

A 3DS that has never had the eShop opened can be region changed and keep eShop fully working (but not on consoles that came with preinstalled titles apparently), though that matters less now since the eShop shuts down soon.

You can make an emuNAND and region change that. So you'll keep the Japanese language and eShop on your sysNAND but you don't necessarily ever need to see/use it if you don't want to. Takes a couple of gigs on the SD, increases boot times. There's not much reason not to region change sysNAND as all the drawbacks of it won't matter once the eShop shuts down. So I see no need to waste time and SD card space.

 

[Mikmoomamimocki]

A 3DS that has never had the eShop opened can be region changed and keep eShop fully working

How does online play work with all of this? Online play isn't super important to me but it'd be nice to have it.

 

[Deleted member 585915]

Now since the eShop is closing anyways, I'm considering this. How difficult is it to hack the region? I heard that you have to mess around with the NAND and I'm not sure if I want to do that. I'm pretty much a complete newb, I haven't hacked anything besides my 2ds and dsi. Thanks! Also, 80 dollars is a spectacular deal! When did you get that?

Messing with nand isn’t extra special, there is no separate “nand menu” or anything. You kinda just select options in godmode9 (which you would already do while hacking your 3ds in the first place.) The process isn’t any harder than hacking your 3ds, and in my opinion it’s easier because you will already be familiar with what is what after hacking your 3ds.

Hehe yeah $80 is a really great price I’m so happy with it! I sacrificed the new features to get an original 3ds because I love the pink colorway. I got it probably a week ago off eBay, be on the lookout on there.

 

[Deleted member 585915]

How does online play work with all of this? Online play isn't super important to me but it'd be nice to have it.

still works even after region changing

 

[binkinator]

Messing with nand isn’t extra special, there is no separate “nand menu” or anything. You kinda just select options in godmode9 (which you would already do while hacking your 3ds in the first place.) The process isn’t any harder than hacking your 3ds, and in my opinion it’s easier because you will already be familiar with what is what after hacking your 3ds.

Hehe yeah $80 is a really great price I’m so happy with it! I sacrificed the new features to get an original 3ds because I love the pink colorway. I got it probably a week ago off eBay, be on the lookout on there.

I paid 100% more and thiugh I got a pretty good deal due to the condition. Fantastic price, man.

Here’s a tut for what @benamin is referring to: https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutoria...d-using-it-with-a-region-changed-nand.490242/

 

[BaamAlex]

Is that person's advice outdated?

Definitely outdated. I have a japanese region changed 3ds here and connected it to the internet.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

How does online play work with all of this? Online play isn't super important to me but it'd be nice to have it.

Online play always worked, what didn't work is NNID login which is only required for some things like eShop and Badge Arcade.