Gaming What is your best Nintendo handheld console?

[BORTZ]

The DS Phat. Because it brought me to this community.

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

The Nintendo DS! It made up my childhood, alongside the Wii. I remember days when all my friends used to meet up, and we'd play Mario Kart, Mario Party, Pokemon... The kind of experiences you can't really replicate nowadays. It had such an amazing game library... It will always hold a special place in my heart <3

It's also what got me into the modding and homebrew community. Must've been, oh, 2008 when I got my first flash card, an ol' Supercard DSone. I discovered this community, with sites like Neoseeker and GBATemp (a shame it took me so long to actually create an account and join). I came across homebrew and modding and man what a beautiful world this is!

Cheers~

 

[Clydefrosch]

form-factor, gba sp hands down

utility once hacked: 3ds. all those emulators, 3ds games etc. if they ever manage to get ds games from memory card to work...

 

[Greymane]

Library: DS, for now
Hacked + DSTWO+: 3DS, all the things that can be done, and so many games "crazy cackeling"

 

[FAST6191]

GBA SP is probably my favourite form factor of the handhelds. DS has the best library. 3ds has no games and not much in the way of homebrew (and if you exclude sub par emulators and injections then really not much homebrew) and does not play GBA natively so it definitely does not rank, hell were it not for DS backwards compat I would have probably put a virtual boy ahead of it and it is certainly the weakest of the post game and watch world.

I never cared much for Nintendo's offerings but the 3ds is so disappointing in basically every way that matters to me. I wonder how history will remember it and when people will really start turning on it.

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

I never cared much for Nintendo's offerings but the 3ds is so disappointing in basically every way that matters to me. I wonder how history will remember it and when people will really start turning on it.

Nintendo just tried to refurbish and push out what could amount to "revisions" of their existing systems this gen.
Wii > Wii U
DS > 3DS
Nothing too "new." And if naming conventions are anything to go by, their lack of a solid step into next-gen bit them in the arse.
The 3DS is essentially the DS, except more expensive to develop for, with a smaller install base. Thus, you get less games. I agree with you, the 3DS library can't rival the DS's strong lineup.
Not to mention it's harder to run homebrew on. Previously, any flash card would work right away, no problem (unless you were using a DSi, but even then).

Since you mentioned history, what do you think Nintendo's next handheld will be? Do you think they can outpace the DS and build up another legendary library, or are those days behind us?

Library: DS, for now
Hacked + DSTWO+: 3DS, all the things that can be done, and so many games "crazy cackeling"

Man, your profile image just goes so perfectly with this xD

 

[VitaType]

Nintendo just tried to refurbish and push out what could amount to "revisions" of their existing systems this gen.
DS > 3DSD

Fair. The 3D part obviously is the new feature, but fair. But nothing wrong with it.

Nintendo just tried to refurbish and push out what could amount to "revisions" of their existing systems this gen.
Wii > Wii U

Wii U a revision of Wii? No. Just no. The naming only was used for helping the sales figures (see Yoshi's Island which is marked as Super Mario Land 2).

Do you think they can outpace the DS and build up another legendary library, or are those days behind us?

I guess they will continue to make handhelds for a long time. Therfore I think we will see a handheld topping the DS library someday.

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

Wii U a revision of Wii? No. Just no. The naming only was used for helping the seal number (see Yoshi's Island which should be Super Mario Land 2).


I guess they will continue to make handhelds for a long time. Therfore I think we will see a handheld topping the DS lib someday.

Ah sorry, I meant by naming scheme. It makes it seem like they made this gen a big revision rather than an entirely new console era. "Wii" to "Wii U" sounds like it'd be a revision.

And I sure hope the DS library gets topped some day. That would be awesome.

 

[FAST6191]

Since you mentioned history, what do you think Nintendo's next handheld will be? Do you think they can outpace the DS and build up another legendary library, or are those days behind us?

Next handheld.
My hope.
Flagship android device. Them going third party developer, along with said flagship and maybe controllers (I don't think they make great controllers, they don't necessarily make bad ones though and more baseline acceptable controllers is nice).

My expectation.
At this point the NX is still a massive question mark but ignoring that I imagine they have another round of slightly tarted up version of the handheld what came before in them before something radical happens. Some call the GB/GBC a portable NES, the GBA and DS a portable SNES and this I guess means the 3ds is the portable N64.

Library to rival the DS. Android and IOS are maturing and have a lot of the devs that made the things I liked on the GBA and DS so I am looking to that, despite not having anything worth speaking of there. I truly do not care about most Nintendo first party and captive dev stuff, with the exception of Advance Wars and Starfy and both of those are pretty dead at this point. Time and time again though when I was doing things like https://gbatemp.net/threads/links-to-various-gbatemp-features-over-the-years.352851/ I would do a "where are they now" (even if only for myself) and Android and IOS were where it was at for a lot of those devs. "but the shovelware", what of it? Get a decent filter for the store and it matters not.
I would rather it be for a really nice and open platform but there is optimism and there is drug induced break from reality levels of optimism.

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

Next handheld
My hope.
Flagship android device. Them going third party developer, along with said flagship and maybe controllers (I don't think they make great controllers, they don't necessarily make bad ones though and more baseline acceptable controllers is nice).

My expectation.
At this point the NX is still a massive question mark but ignoring that I imagine they have another round of slightly tarted up version of the handheld what came before in them before something radical happens. Some call the GB/GBC a portable NES, the GBA and DS a portable SNES and this I guess means the 3ds is the portable N64.

Library to rival the DS. Android and IOS are maturing and have a lot of the devs that made the things I liked on the GBA and DS so I am looking to that, despite not having anything worth speaking of there. I truly do not care about most Nintendo first party and captive dev stuff, with the exception of Advance Wars and Starfy and both of those are pretty dead at this point. Time and time again though when I was doing things like https://gbatemp.net/threads/links-to-various-gbatemp-features-over-the-years.352851/ I would do a "where are they now" (even if only for myself) and Android and IOS were where it was at for a lot of those devs. "but the shovelware", what of it? Get a decent filter for the store and it matters not.
I would rather it be for a really nice and open platform but there is optimism and there is drug induced break from reality levels of optimism.

The only worry would be games heavily leaning on F2P tactics, specifically endless microtransactions. So far, this is what has separated dedicated handheld games from normal mobile games. I think I'd go along with a flagship Android device from Nintendo, but be turned off if much of the games become F2P. Perhaps there'd be a bigger library that way, but in my opinion, it would be lower-quality if the payments never end. In this manner, I'm kind of against the only current dedicated gaming handheld producer churning out clean Android devices. There's some benefit to having a big dedicated gaming handheld platform.

Nonetheless, devs will develop where they stand to make the most money. Before smartphones were a big deal, those developers that are now mobile game makers released on DS, because it was a cheap, easy platform to get something quick out onto. You used to see a lot of recycled games and movie-sponsored games there. Now you see the same thing on mobile app stores. I don't think we'll see a library quite as big as the DS, because the DS matured under different circumstances than the industry is under today. In that way, a Nintendo flagship Android device might just be the answer.

You've no doubt seen the NX "leaks" from Eurogamer. If true, and if previous reports of porting to the NX being incredibly easy are true, then I see Nintendo as trying to develop a more open ecosystem, but still under its own territory. So a proprietary OS. If said OS is able to port in games incredibly easily, especially from iOS or Android, then Nintendo may stand a chance at rivaling the DS library.

That's my $0.02.

 

[FAST6191]

Have we seen any Japan based company really "get" open development yet? If this recent opening up of the SDK was anything to by, and similar things we saw from Sony, then you might see a token effort but no follow through. Actually I would be impressed if we saw older Kindle levels of open. Android style open is not impossible from a legal or technical standpoint (obviously) but I am still in the "I will believe it when I see it".

I can see a return to C64/microcomputer style multiple tiers of prices, and presumably quality/longevity, in games for andrios and especially if Nintendo and co want to try to up the game of the market.

I am none too fond of the lesser free to play methods either, and it is not even as though they act as an idiot tax to allow my rather more frugal self to have a good time. Some can work but few seem to get there.

 

[DutchyDutch]

3DS + Flashcart is basically all of the above.

But I had a lot of memories with the DS. Playing SM64DS, Mario Party, Mario Kart with my friends was awesome.
Along with the Wii and Gamecube it's definitely very nostalgic to me, but I don't even have one anymore.

 

[Finn_]

In my opinion, the 3ds is the most underrated and the best console.
First of all, it feels like a portable Wii. Virtual console, multiple open world LoZ games, and smash bros build into this. Second, Nintendo finally implemented some form of online multiplayer capabilities. Lastly, the community has unleashed the pure potential of the console with CFWs, just puts it above all it's cartridge-based predecessors.

 

[Adam851]

Mine was and still is the DS lite. Good old time with my friends on Mario kart...

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[SapphireDaisy]

3ds because i like the graphics and the library of games

 

[LoovelyFrog]

For me its Nintendo DSi, Because it play RuneFactory and many harvestmoon series also playing pokemon which bring old childhood memories ( ahh dat feels )
Maybe if i change to 3DS it will be my next favorite console. Since i dont have one for the moment it's NDSi.

 

[Adam851]

I think 3ds is the best,because of backwards compatible

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[mechagouki]

DSi XL with GBC a close second.

The XL is such a solid unit, beautiful screen, huge game library (MKDS and Castlevania games standouts for me) and mine is Sudokuhaxed so I like it just for its rarity value.

GBC was first worthwhile colour handheld (yes Lynx/GG/Nomad were cool but battery life was awful and form factor bulky), GBC had backwards compatability, awesome exclusives (Zelda Oracle games, Pokemon Crystal, and the batteries actually lasted a long time.

 

[LeifEricson]

The GBA SP AGS-101 is Nintendos best handheld. It is compatible with all gameboy games and has a screen that still looks awesome today. All it's missing is the headphone jack.

I agree. What more could a man ask for in 2005 than a backlit SP!

 

[Jay Clay]

well, we are not talking about tech specs, so I would definitely choose my ds lite, it was my first touch screen device, so many good games and so many good memories.