****The Nintendo 3DS Thread****

Si. said:
Just picked up a Modded 3DS XL. Anyone else still rocking one these days?
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I modded my 2DS XL over the covid days. But all the games I still play are my original carts.

But reason was to dump my Pokemon save file as the game randomly doesn't boot anymore. Didnt work :(
 
I heard due to the chip tech used on these things (and Switch games as well) if theyre not periodically powered up in a console, these chips can degrade over time, not the same as a battery, but due to a lack of voltage in the chips they can essentially bit swap if I remember correctly, as they're essentially rewriteable NAND, rather than ROM chips. The chips refresh themselves periodically/error correctly, when powered up and there are ways to sometimes restore a game using 3rd party tools, but not something everyone, even someone tech savvy, will always have access to.

I was planning to go through and open up all the games ive got sooner or later (as realistically even the sealed ones we got to play), and leave them running for 5 or so minutes each and just check theyre all fine.

That's going to happen rather naturally with the Switch games now Im wanting to play everything on Switch 2, but the 3DS doesnt get played as often (and when it does sometimes im using DS games or my R4) and dont want to leave it a few years and find some of the older cartridges have died due to lack of power up.

Sounds like maybe that is what has happened to your Pokemon :(
 
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The 3D feature does work well, especially on the N3DS/N3DS XL. It worked on the OG too, but the sweet spot was easy to lose, the N3DS was vastly better with the eye tracking.
Favourite game(s) wise, Tales of the Abyss was really good on the system, sunk a TON of time into Animal Crossing New Leaf (more content than New Horizons imo), Bravely Default and Fantasy Life were great - although sequels/remasters just came out on Switch 2, Zelda OOT/MM 3D are just...great, Metroid Samus Returns is amazing if you like Metroid, Pokemon is decent... there's a massive library, and that's before you even think about DS games which are also back compat on the machine.

Well worth a look at:

Best Games on 3DS - Metacritic

Metacritic aggregates music, game, tv, and movie reviews from the leading critics. Only Metacritic.com uses METASCORES, which let you know at a glance how each item was reviewed.
www.metacritic.com www.metacritic.com

And just look through the most highly rated games. Many of them are utterly fantastic.

Got my N3DS XL out right now charging, as running through the cartridges/opening/testing everything is my plan for this evening, if nothing else comes up. Really want to give the cartridges a chance to refresh a little, and make sure they're all still working OK; as if any of them have died, I'd rather know now when I might be able to find a replacement.
 
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Alexrose1uk said:
I heard due to the chip tech used on these things (and Switch games as well) if theyre not periodically powered up in a console, these chips can degrade over time, not the same as a battery, but due to a lack of voltage in the chips they can essentially bit swap if I remember correctly, as they're essentially rewriteable NAND, rather than ROM chips. The chips refresh themselves periodically/error correctly, when powered up and there are ways to sometimes restore a game using 3rd party tools, but not something everyone, even someone tech savvy, will always have access to.

I was planning to go through and open up all the games ive got sooner or later (as realistically even the sealed ones we got to play), and leave them running for 5 or so minutes each and just check theyre all fine.

That's going to happen rather naturally with the Switch games now Im wanting to play everything on Switch 2, but the 3DS doesnt get played as often (and when it does sometimes im using DS games or my R4) and dont want to leave it a few years and find some of the older cartridges have died due to lack of power up.

Sounds like maybe that is what has happened to your Pokemon :(
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It's only been confirmed to affect few games (persona Q and pokemon moon) because some 3DS game cartridges were manufactured cheaply and are more prone to degradation then others.
 
It was due to the Macronix nand iirc but reading into it, it sounds like although not confirmed, it sounds like all of the carts are susceptible, just some nand/carts are MORE susceptible.

I actually just ordered Persona Q so that'll be getting opened immediately!!

Edit: Ugh - the more I read into it, the more it appears a wider range of cartridges and games can be affected by NAND failure or solder failure. Given this, I will definitely test my entire collection and give them about 5 mins each with the system on, combination of idling on the desktop and a load etc.

Only downside is this is gonna take a while with around 80 games hahah

Worth it though if it avoids finding a dead cartridge later.

Edit 2: And I just found a random Mario Kart DS floating in my Samus Returns case. Metroid was also there, but WTF did that come from, I dont even remember lol
 
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Yeah, once the N3DS came along, the real potential of the machine was there, as the auto face tracking makes such a difference to using the 3D for longer stretches, or when in a vehicle for example IMO.
Although I was still blown away the day it came out even on the OG, I picked up Tom Clancy Shadow Recon as my release day titles, and when I switched 3D on, it felt like looking into a window or a diorama, its something that 2D graphics cant really replicate, and I'm not sure we'll see again, outside of VR headsets.
 
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The 3DS/DS were brilliant consoles. I still have my Samus N3DS XL sitting about a meter away, and our collection of games on a shelf in the room.
There are some excellent games there, many of which I've not got round to playing yet, both for DS and 3DS.
 
I had a few, the og, an Xl I think and the one with the extra analogue nub that was only used in two games? I think it was like the new 3-D XL and it came in the same size as the original and there was a large one.

I remember also I pre-ordered the fire emblem Limited edition blue one and cancelled it but Game sent it to me and yes, I kept quite about it.
Ocarina was probably my favourite game but I didn’t use 3d on it much, probably more when I got the XL but the picture wasn’t as good on that one.
 
Still have my 3DS, and use to use it a lot, but since I got an AYN Thor I've never touched it.. Playing 3DS games at 4x resolution with HD texture packs is fantastic.
 
Playing New Super Mario Bros 2 and 3D Mario Land atm, can play a few multiplayer games with the kids now too, they already had 3DS, we're playing MK7 and Bomberman, it all works really well.

Si. said:
Still have my 3DS, and use to use it a lot, but since I got an AYN Thor I've never touched it.. Playing 3DS games at 4x resolution with HD texture packs is fantastic.
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Never seen that before, looks awesome.
 
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Hugest_UK said:
Always wanted one of these but feel I have missed the window as prices for decent consoles seem awfully high now for what they are.
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Well, I wouldn't say awfully high for what they are. It was a fantastic handheld console that isn't made anymore with a great library :).
 
Yeah it’s probably me being picky as would want the new 3ds xl with the ips screen and they are more expensive then a switch and some approaching switch 2 pricing which seems a little crazy.
 
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Hugest_UK said:
Yeah it’s probably me being picky as would want the new 3ds xl with the iOS screen and they are more expensive then a switch and some approaching switch 2 pricing which seems a little crazy.
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Is that a modded version?

Edit: I just realised. You meant the IPS screens :). I think my MM 3DS has that.
 
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