Nintendo 3DS

[Wrestlevania]

Weirdest thing: apparently that's a single solid screen partially obscured by the casing, so the top screen is touch-sensitive now too.

 

If it is, it doesn't look like you'll be able to use it—there's a pane of clear plastic over it, unlike the lower touch display.

[Thrik]

Man, I am getting so tired of Nintendo's relentless cycle of models. It's getting to the point now where I can barely discern between what's an updated version of an existing console and what's entirely new. So this thing is basically a 3DS without the 3D, right? Or is Nintendo considering it a step onwards, and it could potentially have its own games which aren't on the 3DS? Jesus.

 

I mean for me this is fine because I can't actually see the 3D on the 3DS due to my weak left eye, although the form factor is weird. For home use it's absolutely fine, in fact having an unhinged pad like the Wii U pad is probably better in all respects — I know that I generally used my DS as flat as possible. But for slipping into your bag or a pocket it seems unsuitable at best.

 

If I had to guess, I'd say that this is for the parents who buy their kids a handheld but it's always used in a living room, bedroom, or car. In other words, it being ultra-portable isn't such a big deal.

[Sno]

Sno, thanks so much for the great Fire Emblem advice. I switched to normal/permadeath and while I think the game is too easy (at least in the early missions), it is much less frustrating. Two quick question--am I right in thinking that I should level a character to the level cap before switching classes? Also, are the stat gains at level up totally random?

The stat gains are random to point, there are invisible character growths that determine the likelihood of a stat growing on a level-up, and those growths are determined by a combination of the character's innate attributes and attributes bestowed by its selected class. (Growths are usually fairly easy to intuit, because while the growths themselves are invisible, their effects are not. What a character's current strengths appear to be will likely continue to be its strengths.)

As for maxing out a class before promoting, well... At least make sure you have all the skills you can get out of the class. (They don't always unlock at the same levels in each class, so be careful. There will always be two available unlocks per class, but a character will have five slots to equip learned skills. There's a lot of fun combinations of skills you can engineer through the promotions and reclassing system.)

Beyond that, it depends on the character. If the character is already particularly strong, it probably doesn't hurt to just promote them right away. There are class-specific stat caps, and they're quite low on the non-promoted classes. If a character is bumping up against those, indicated by highlighted stats on a character's stat sheet, go ahead and promote them.

If it's a character that's struggling a bit, the promotion can give it huge short-term gains, but promoted classes gain exp at a dramatically slower rate. It normally ends up being a bad move in long term. As such, i would normally try to max out this unit in its non-promoted class before applying a promotion seal.

Also, when you start finding class change seals, save those for promoted-to-promoted shifts. (Which become available at lvl 10 of a promoted class.) You'll also eventually find some books that permanently boost weapon ability, i'd recommend saving those to push promoted/class-changed units out of e-rank weapons. (Just a simple way to make it easier to take advantage of a character's newly unlocked weapon specialization.)

That's certainly not everything, but that should be the important basics. (Keep in mind that some units join you already promoted. Frederick, in particular, may seem awesome in the early game, but if you're playing well, he'll be outpaced by everybody else. Don't let him eat up all the exp early-on.)

[tegan]

It's specifically stated to be for kids, since you're not supposed to use the 3D if you're under 7 years old anyway. Notice that it's launching alongside Pokémon.

 

 

Man, I am getting so tired of Nintendo's relentless cycle of models. It's getting to the point now where I can barely discern between what's an updated version of an existing console and what's entirely new. So this thing is basically a 3DS without the 3D, right? Or is Nintendo considering it a step onwards, and it could potentially have its own games which aren't on the 3DS? Jesus.

 

This isn't really a Nintendo thing so much as an industry standard now. Let's take a look at last generation...

 

Wii: original, Family Edition, mini

DS: original, lite, DSi, DSi XL

PS3: original (arguably 2 different models, one with hardware BC and one with software BC), Slim, Super Slim

PSP: 1000, 2000, 3000, go, and E-1000

Xbox 360: original (arcade, elite, core, super elite, etc), S, that Xbox One-like redesign that nobody can find anywhere

and if you want to count them, a dozen different iPhones and iPads

[Thrik]

That's true, although with other manufacturers it always seems so obvious what's a new console and what's simply a rehash. I don't know if it's Nintendo's marketing, naming schemes, or what — but I have a really hard time keeping track of what exactly is what.

 

It can't just be me. I've come across more than a few people who thought that the Wii U was just another Wii model, and how many people really understand that the 3DS is a whole new console and not just a DS with 3D? And now there's the 2DS, further confusing that particular point.

 

It just seems like madness, and it looks like Microsoft is joining the fray with their naming of the Xbox 1. I mean One. Which I guess can best be described as the Xbox 360 2. Or the Xbox 3? 

[Sno]

I definitely developed a small twitch back when Nintendo decided to call the final revision of the GBA the "Game Boy Micro" (When it is, in fact, the only GBA that does not play Game Boy games.)

So yeah, maybe Nintendo needs to work on their naming schemes.

[tegan]

While I think they're not doing the best job of simultaneously juggling brand identity and making each product stand out through the DS/Wii name being attached to everything; I think that the perception that people are more confused by system names now is more a product of the way we communicate now more than the actual naming scheme. There were eight different products called the Gameboy.

 

 

(...original, Pocket, Light, Super, Color, Advance, SP, and Micro; for those keeping score)

[Thrik]

Well, that was stupid too. To this day I don't actually know how many distinct generations of the Game Boy there were.

[Sno]

There were three.

The Gameboy, the Gameboy Color, and the Gameboy Advance.

Some people would conflate the GB and the GBC, but those people are crazy.

[Yasawas]

I genuinely thought the 2DS was a lame joke when I saw it earlier but I see the point of it now, still far too expensive in the UK for what they're aiming for I think unless there's a bundle with Pokemon I'm not seeing. £150 would make it 50% more expensive than the original DS bundle with Nintendogs that won them Christmas that year, back when poeple had jobs and money to boot. It's weird they're still keeping the original 3DS going as well as that's not really much cheaper than the XL and the 2DS not far below that.

[tegan]

There were three.

The Gameboy, the Gameboy Color, and the Gameboy Advance.

Some people would conflate the GB and the GBC, but those people are crazy.

 

Those people include Nintendo themselves, which baffles me.

 

Although I also consider the DSi line to be in the same family as the DS line and can't really defend why, since it's even more different from the DS line as the GBC was from the GB.

[Sno]

The DSi was still DS hardware, just with a bunch of new stuff bolted onto it.

The GBC was actual new hardware with a new cartridge format.

The logic seems clear to me. DSi is a DS, GBC is not a GB.

[tegan]

In addition to the cameras, the DSi has more RAM and a faster CPU, and there were DSi-exclusive cartridge games (there weren't many of them; they were recognized by their white cartridges). If you count all the stuff on the DSiware store, it had loads of exclusive games. That's not much different from the Gameboy Color, which had more RAM and a faster processor plus an infrared port and colour screen but was otherwise identical to the GB.

[TheLastBaron]

For the X and Y buttons I meant that they're switched relative to the X and Y axes, not the 360 controller. It's scientifically counterintuitive.

[JonCole]

Guys, why are you talking about this completely new console in the 3DS thread? 2DS clearly != 3DS.

[Ucantalas]

I think part of the confusion with all the Nintendo iterations is that other consoles don't labour on the fact that the different versions are so different.

The PSP 1000, 2000, 3000, etc? You basically wouldn't know until you checked the serial number. The XBox versions? Still XBox360, just different versions.

But with Nintendo... every iteration is some BIG NEW THING. (But it still runs all the same stuff... except when its actually something new, like the Wii U...)

[tegan]

Here's a size comparison, in case anyone was curious.

 

[lobotomy42]

Maybe it's just me but something about this new form factor looks really stupid.  Maybe it's the curvy corners.

[Ucantalas]

I just don't like having an exposed screen. Its why I don't like smartphones, its why I was so jealous when my sister got a GBA SP. I just prefer being able to fold it up and protect the screens, so this just does not appeal to me at all.

(On the other hand, I'll be fair, its not exactly aimed at someone like me, so...)

[Twig]

Maybe it's just me but something about this new form factor looks really stupid.  Maybe it's the curvy corners.

I think it's ugly as sin. But well I don't think there's anyway to make a dual-screened device NOT ugly as sin without making it a clamshell.

[Gormongous]

I just don't like that the two screens aren't the same size. The absence of a hinge makes it really obvious and aesthetically unpleasing.

[Dewar]

I've always been bothered by that a little, especially considering the rumor that the 2DS actually only has one screen under the plastic, and parts of it are just being covered by the Bezel to give it a similar form factor to the 3DS.

 

Edit: I traced the article chain on that rumor back to http://www.usgamer.net/articles/oh-so-thats-nintendos-next-move

[Yasawas]

Speaking of scrolling shooters on the 3DS, Canada is still bizarrely excluded from the worldwide release of Kokuga. (The latest game from this dude.) I am still feeling a bit stung over that, i really wanted to play that.

You might know this already but I just found out you can apparently buy this on the Brazilian store if you change your region first. Each region requires its own wallet so you wouldn't be able to use any funds you already have on it but Brazil's handily lets you use card from any region whereas others require you to use one registered in that country.

[Roderick]

The 2DS? It looks preposterous. I loved the ability to flip open my handheld ever since the GBA SP. Losing that would be insufferable, but then the 2DS is clearly marketed towards kids.

 

You know, the 3DS continues to be an amazing system, but all these new iterations are irrelevant. At this point, after comparing, I've even decided to hold off of getting the XL version. The screen is just too fuzzy/pixely for my tastes; the sharpness of the original is not something I'm willing to give up. I'm fine with the size. A bigger screen would demand a higher resolution.

[Wrestlevania]

I'm not liking the interface layout either. If they'd made the lower screen a little bit smaller, they could have more neatly tucked in the controls next to it, nestling everything under the bigger main screen—it could even have been a nice echo of the original GBA layout, with the extra screen on top.

But if it is just one big panel, then that'll be why they can't do something like this. Having identical PPI on both screens is nice, I suppose, but also I distinctly remember the touchscreen being more muddy and less crisp than the main one on my 3DS XL? (I gave it to my eldest, and she's not here atm.)

Also, wtf is this idiocy?

“It even has the 3DS' twin camera on its rear so you can take 3D photos. These are displayed in 2D, naturally, but can be swapped over to 3DS via SD card to be viewed in three dimensions.”

That's just completely bizarre; I'm sure keeping the second camera wasn't expensive, but the process of viewing 2DS-taken photos in actual 3D is pointlessly overwrought. Almost no-one is going to waste time doing this—particularly for a nagging <7 year old constantly pestering their older sibling. (And have you seen the average photo a young child takes..?)