Forget Nintendo Switch Pro — there's still life in the 3DS

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Our eagle eyes go along sweeping across rumors and snippets of information that a Nintendo Switch Pro is probable in the works. The electric current Nintendo Switch is iv years old, and is reaching a level of technical maturity that could be alleviated with a refresh.

But as exciting as this is, the Nintendo news that'due south defenseless my center is how the Nintendo 3DS is still getting a physical game release this year. So while we have the Nintendo Switch Lite to take care of handheld gaming, it looks like there's life still left in the 3DS. And that'south a very proficient thing.

Nintendo Switch ii release date, specs, rumors and more
Desire a cheap Switch? See our electric current best Nintendo Switch deals
Plus: Nintendo Switch Pro could have a Joy-Con upgrade — here'due south how

The 3DS game in question is a remake of 1992 shoot em' up Andro Dunos Ii. It'southward also being released on the PS4, Xbox 1, Switch and Sega Dreamcast. It's not a game I know anything about or really have any interest in, as there are plenty of retro shooters readily available on PC or on the Xbox Series Ten via Xbox Game Laissez passer.

🚨 3DS RESURRECTION🎮 #Nintendo3DS📅 2021. The second breath of the 3DS is hither! PixelHeart is proud to announce the portage of Andro Dunos Two on the mythical portable panel of Nintendo! #PixelHeartLive🌐 Preorder are open here :https://t.co/2OnDeAkR0r movie.twitter.com/Y13g4wlK61March 27, 2021

Come across more than

Just the idea of the Nintendo 3DS gave me a dose of pseudo nostalgia. I got my 3DS Twoscore in 2016 following its European refresh a twelvemonth prior. This wistfulness falls curt of the total-fatty nostalgia I have when playing my original Game Male child and N64, withal. Even so, I felt something when Andro Dunos Ii was announced.

Information technology got me reminiscing about how proficient the 3DS was and why it seemed to thrive whereas Sony'south PlayStation Vita died. The 3DS was discontinued last yr, simply ten years later its release it'due south notwithstanding worthy of picking up in 2021.

Nintendo 3D-stress

My Nintendo 3DS Twoscore saw me through two tough times. In July 2016 I was made redundant from my first tech journalism task, just after I got a mortgage confirmed for my current home. I had to move out of London to salve coin on rent while I had no income but also while I was stuck in the limbo an flat buy going through the motions.

It was a stressful combination of moving from ane of the earth'south best cities to rural Wiltshire, with the overarching business organization of how the heck do I pay for a holding when I have no income. Given there's only so much applying for work and waiting for interview responses once can practice, I needed a distraction. Enter the Nintendo 3DS Xl.

And what a lark it was. Not only was the 3D effect genuinely smart in games like The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, the library of older N64 and Game Boy games — some of which I'd misplaced — were prolific. I got a lovely mix of mod handled gaming and nostalgia.

Then in 2017, after I managed to get a chore and my apartment sorted, I suffered a retinal detachment. Grim story short, I had to spend a week lying down on my side with silicone oil in my eye to press the retina back into place.

At present in that location's simply then much Netflix and reading one can do in a mean solar day. So having the 3DS with Super Mario 3D World to get through kept me, relatively, sane.

It's no surprise that the 3DS holds a special spot in my gaming history even though I came late to it in its decade-long lifespan (so far). Merely brushing that aside, I nonetheless think it's a slap-up petty console.

Handheld hero

I love the Nintendo Switch, only I feel it's a fiddling too large to exist a console y'all tin can simply popular in your pocket and conduct around. While the Switch Lite is meliorate for that, having a Switch that doesn't "switch" feels a bit like it's missing its raison d'etre.

So the 3DS XL makes for a great console you can throw into a bag or popular into a coat pocket. And thanks to its clamshell and rugged pattern, you don't take to worry too much nigh it taking a beating.

Information technology's likewise flush with some nifty features, including Street Pass for connecting with boyfriend 3DS owners, a neat dual-screen design — one of which is a bear on screen — a trio of cameras, and a stylus that makes navigating the chunky and sometimes clunky interface a lot easier. In terms of features on paper, the 3DS XL makes the Switch seem a little measly.

Of course, the Switch is innovative in other ways, though I feel the 3DS needs to be given the nod for seemingly inspiring Nintendo to further cook up handheld gaming innovations. Fifty-fifty if you lot don't subscribe to that, the 3DS was simply a very not bad handheld games console that seemed to survive in the face of smartphone gaming.

And I still feel it'south relevant today. Nintendo seems to be playing information technology rather safe on pushing out retro games to the Switch; it's released "Archetype" versions of the NES and SNES just won't port all of those games over to the Switch. Only with the 3DS, there's a whole suite of older games to play, notably Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora'southward Mask from the N64. As well included is a mix of Game Boy-era Mario and Donkey Kong games, and a personal favorite of mine, Wario Land 2.

Brush bated those gold oldies, and the 3DS still has some stellar games that like the same Zelda and Mario titles, likewise every bit Super Boom Bros. and Mario Kart 3DS. Sure, the Switch successors look better. But there'due south something keen nigh the 3D effect on these games and the more than pared-down graphics that makes concentrating on the activity a lot easier, at least for ol' one-eye Roland. In short, there's a lot to still savour here.

All that's not to say I don't relish the idea of the Switch Pro or even the Nintendo Switch 2, whatever form that may take. But I promise Nintendo quietly keeps supporting its online services for the 3DS even though it has ceased production of the panel, specially in the confront of the waning back up for the PS Vita. Declining that, I really would similar to encounter a Game Boy Classic or N64 Classic and more 3DS games on tie Switch. Come on Nintendo, help usa out hither.

More: Everything we know about The Witcher season 2

Roland Moore-Colyer is U.K. Editor at Tom's Guide with a focus on news, features and opinion articles. He often writes well-nigh gaming, phones, laptops and other bits of hardware; he'south too got an interest in cars. When not at his desk-bound Roland tin be found wandering around London, oft with a wait of marvel on his face up.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/opinion/forget-nintendo-switch-pro-theres-still-life-in-the-3ds

Posted by: mcminnforperfatim.blogspot.com

Forget Nintendo Switch Pro — there's still life in the 3DS