Topic: Is now still a good time to buy a 3DS XL?

I don't know why, but the past couple of days I'm really, really torn to buy my first 3DS. I had every Nintendo handheld from the original Gameboy to the DS Lite, but the DSi kinda lost my interest, and the 3DS went by without making a huge impression either. But the black XL catched my eye when I first saw it, there just never seemed to be enough reasons to spend the money - especially after spending the money to buy a Wii U past year.

Question now is, with a console that's three years into its lifecycle that still costs almost as much as back then when it launched (the XL), is this really a good time to buy a 3DS XL or should I wait for some kind of offer / price drop / successor / whatever?

And bonus question: Since I buy most games digitally - is the store still as ugly as back when it launched or is it now closer to the Wii U eShop, á la a web interface type of store?

Thank you for any input!

The 3DS XL was launched in late 2012. So technically its only 1.5 years old and personally I don't see a successor coming soon. The average life cycle of a Nintendo Handheld is almost 7 years, the 3DS generation has not even reached its mid life cycle yet.

To answer your first questoin, now is a GREAT time to get a 3DS/XL. The amount of quality games on the system is too hard to resist. That is why I finally gave in and bought 2 3DSes for both myself and my wife. So far we enjoyed the heck out of it.

The E-shop in for the 3DS is nowhere near the Wii U version. However it works perfectly fine and the layout is pretty intuitive.

In my opinion, when you include the backwards compatibility with the DS, the 3DS has one of the strongest software libraries of any console in gaming history. But if nothing specific has caught your eye, you're better off waiting for a software bundle. Nintendo runs a few of them per year and you get your first game for free with a limited edition 3DS.

The 3DS eShop looks alright I suppose. Not sure what it looked like for the DS, but it has images, software information, videos, and all that stuff. You can look through categories or use the search function. It's quite user-friendly and intuitive for the most part, but it does lack a few features.

As for the successor, I wouldn't expect anything on the market until at least 2018. I guess only you will know if you're willing to wait that long.

If you're waiting for a successor you're probably going to be waiting another 3-4 years at the very least. Unless you're going to wait until Black Friday or something, you're not really going to get a discount and even those discounts were only about $30 the most. To get your money worth, I'd say try to get a bundle that comes along with a game you want and nice design.

This is actually a better time to buy the XL since you're a digital buyer. Lately, almost all major 3DS games have a simultaneous digital release when some of the earlier games weren't originally on the e-shop. The e-shop in my opinion is tricky. I When I got my XL it took me awhile to figure out the eshop because what they show you in the categories is pretty limited because they really only show you the most featured things. For example, if you click on demos they're only going to show you maybe the last 10-15 demos added to the e-shop. Anything after that you're going to have to search for yourself. If you choose to download demos later, they will only download in sleep mode (3ds closed) which I found a little annoying. It's not so bad for recently released games since they stay on the front page for quite some time. I found it easier to use nintendo's website to search and then scan the QR code to take you directly to the game in the e-shop or search the name yourself.

I have only had my XL since October but I've never regretted it. I've been eyeing the 3DS since 2012 but I put off buying it because I wanted to make sure it was going to be used. I'd suggest making a list of games you know you want to purchase before buying. This is what made me put off getting the 3DS in 2012. And ONLY you can say whether the system as a good library for you. As of right now the 3DS is very RPG and plaformer populated, so if those are two categories that don't interest you as much, I'd be cautious. People bring up system seller's but I never buy a system for just one game because that game won't last forever. I didn't buy one until I knew there were at least 5 games already out that I wanted. Even though it's backwards compatible I didn't really want to go through the DS library if I didn't have to.

Thank you all for the replies!

As for games I'm interested in - the great RPG library of the 3DS is basically the reason why I'm interested in the console. Pokemon X/Y, Fire Emblem, Bravely Default, Phoenix Wright and many other I don't know much about are games I want to play for sure. And if you can scan QR codes from the Nintendo website to find something in the eShop, it's alright, I suppose.

Seems like I'll wait for either a little bit cheaper deal or a bundle with a game to get just a little better value. I hope Nintendo does some kind of special offer soon enough.

I think there's still some Pokemon X/Y limited edition 3DS in stock, though you might have to pay a little extra for it.

Amazon is selling the red one for $228: http://tinyurl.com/lwkp7gj

Still a bit of a bargain considering that the game and system separately would be $240.

EDIT: Just noticed your location is Austria. Nevermind. But check around, you might be able to find a reasonable price for the Pokemon 3DS.

The Pokemon limited edition unfortunately does not include the game, and just for the design, paying a €90 premium is too much for me.

One option would be the Animal Crossing 3DS XL which is €20 premium and includes AC New Leaf, but I'm not a huge fan of that design.

Oh Nintendo, just give me a free game with my boring, old (but very sleek) all-black 3DS XL!

the 3DS is awesome and the XL is the best version the only downside if you prefer to buy digital is that Nintendo still doesn't have an account system so you'll lose all your purchases if your console is ever lost or stolen

At least they say it's coming sometimes (the account system). And as I know me, I'm much more likely to loose individual games than the console itself, which is part of the reason why I'm buying digital. The huge downside is that each and every Nintendo game costs €45 digitally while only costing between €30-€38 physically on Amazon ...

don't bother getting digitally any game you know you won't be playing often(unless it's digital only or by some weird unknown situation where it ends cheaper than buying physically)
it's really not worth it if you're not planning to play it anywhere and anytime

I am not happy with the build quality on my 3DS XL. Don't like the loose hinge (Even though it is by design I prefer the DS Lite type hinge). The circle pad I manage to wear out in less than 2 months just playing Mario Tennis. (Got it fixed by Nintendo but then stopped playing that).

Interesting ... I was quite happy with the build quality of my DS Lite, and even the Wii U Gamepad seems fine while feeling a little cheap. Is the 3DS XL actually that much worse? As for the hinge - it got three locking positions which should hold the display well enough, I suppose, so that shouldn't be a problem. Bigger problem could be the circle pad - any other thoughts on that?

my circle pad is still tight and good as new never had to repair and my over 150 hours on MH3U say it is good(I'm assuming the XL one is exactly the same as the circle pad on the normal 3DS ignore me if it isn't)

What?! Have you been using the console itself as a tennis racket?

I'm extremely happy with the build quality of my 3DS XL. The hinges and the circle pad are still going strong over 1 year later. And after using a 3DS XL for this long - I find it laughable using older Nintendo hand-held consoles (screen size).

Get yourself an XL - as soon as you start using it, you won't regret it.

@Veloster: Oh, I just did! Wasn't really planned to go that way, but hey... Made another topic for that. By the way, sorry for making two topics just for my personal 3DS buying advices, but I don't want to regret a purchase of a Nintendo console.

If you don't mind waiting, in less than a month there's going to be a sale on any 3DS. Buy one of six games advertised and get Pokemon X or Y for free.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/02/buy_a_3ds_xl_or_2ds_...

EDIT: That's assuming you live in North America. I should've pointed that out in my original post.

Nintendo doesn't have a habit of releasing new systems soon after the others. So if you're worried about the system becoming obsolete too soon, don't worry, they won't do that for several more years. Now, if you're worried about a better incarnation of the 3DS, that's always a possibility, but I wouldn't bank on it. Nintendo is erratic about such things, and with the 3DS there may never be a really huge difference in the next incarnations than the first, look at the 2DS for an example of what I mean.

So yeah, it's still a good time to buy a 3DS XL if you want one.

For DS games the best is the DSi XL. None of the awful scaling artefacts you get with the 3DS XL. I have about 25 I have hardly played because I cannot put up with that.

My dpad is also slightly more worn one side than the other. Which is a situation that took over 15 years to happen with a SNES controller which had much heavier use.

Thing that holds the stylus is much more loose than it should be. (Think that happened when Nintendo replaced the Circle Pad).

Nintendo's build quality is going downhill. Not even close to say a Motorola Tablet in the same sort of price range. Same kind of cheap junk you get in the noname chinese tablets and same kind of quality of plastic. The old £100 mid range palm pilots had a better touchscreen design.

It could be and should be much better for its price.

@unrandomsam
You must be pretty rough on your 3DS. I would literally have to try and break mine for that to be even close to happening. Also, the sylus itself it the thing that usually won't stay in the stylus compartment. My stylus fell out of the GamePad and I lost it, but then I put a new one in, and it fits snug, so you might want to replace your stylus if it's falling out.

Other than that, everything has been said. It will be a while before a new one and find a good deal.

@unrandomsam and as what @SCAR392 said, the stylus itself will wear out quite a bit, that is why there are a lot of inexpensive replacement packages for those everywhere. The "tab" that holds it into the unit is suspended on a very thin plastic bit, thus it cannot tolerate much replacing and pulling out. As to the rest, I concur with @SCAR392, you must be rough on the system. The original DS barely stood up to any use, even I noticed a ton of wear flaws on it and I am careful with my game systems. Nintendo has improved the durability a lot, considering how many things can go wrong with the units due to their design, I'm shocked at how tough the 3DS is.