Which handheld? 6 March 2016 at 4:12PM in Gaming MoneySaving 22 replies 4.7K views

Ames

I'm looking to get a handheld console for myself, but I'm not sure where to start so I was hoping some of you knowledgeable people might be able to help.

It's been a while *cough* since I played any computer games, and I believe things have moved on from Game Boy and Sega Master System.

I'd like to play puzzle games, and maybe easy platform games (are they even called that anymore? Does that kind of thing exist?).

So, petty much whatever the modern equivalent of Tetris and Super Mario Brothers is, as cheaply as possible.

TIA.

donnajunkie

i believe nintendo 3ds/2ds is the latest thing to get. i dont really think there are any others worth getting but someone clued up could come here and prove me wrong. there is the playstation vita but that is failing i think so i would avoid that. just go for the nintendo for handheld gaming.
there are smart phone games that you can play as well i guess if you own a smart phone.

DCFC79

There's also the PS Vita.

If you wanted Tetris and there's New Super Mario Bros 2 for the 3DS.

Argos have the 2DS with the Mario game I just mentioned for £86.49.

ineed

3DS has many puzzle and platform games so that would get my vote, I have several in the house and they are well loved especially for long trips.

I'd personally avoid a 2DS, screens can be easily scratched and not great for travel.

Johnmcl7

The PS Vita seems quieter these days, the 3DS isn't anywhere near as fancy graphically hardware wise compared to the Vita but I prefer the selection of games on the 3DS. Although I don't think there's many great puzzle games for the 3DS, it does sound more like what you're after particularly as DCFC has mentioned above you can get decent 2d platformers for it and some other great Nintendo classics.

There's three general types of the Nintendo console, the 2DS, the 3DS and the New 3DS - both of the latter come in normal and a larger XL version.

The 2DS was released for kids, it's a completely flat design that has no 3DS capabilities whereas the other 3DS devices all fold over with a clamshell design which I think is much better.

3DS/XL - the original 3DS lacks a few features from the 'new 3ds' but potentially you can get them a lot cheaper which makes them well worth considering.

New 3DS/XL (yes, after sales suffering from poor naming choices it is officially called the 'new' 3DS sigh) - This is a similar design to the original 3DS but has improved 3D and a second analogue stick on the right.

I still have an original 3DS XL and not seen anything that makes me want to buy a new 3DS XL although going forward it looks like they're going to release more stuff that only works on the New 3DS.

John

Ames

Thanks guys, looks like it's going to be a DS.

DJ, I do have a smartphone but it's a Windows one so not great for apps, especially offline ones.

DCFC79, I saw that deal at Argos, I think I might try and get a secondhand DS3 though. I've seen some on Cex for about £60, so I need to see how much secondhand games are.

ineed, good to know about the DS2 not being as durable, I'm pretty clumsy so even though I only want it for when I'm watching tv (I find it hard to concentrate on a programme if I'm not doing anything else) there's a good chance of scratches etc.

Ames

Wow, thanks John, that's made things a lot clearer. Is there much difference with the XL versions? I guess they're easier to hold and use?

bluenoseam

XL's about 30% larger screen than a 3DS if my memory serves me well, to me it seemed a huge difference but I dunno how much of that is "what you see". (If you catch my meaning, it just seemed huge in comparison) The games can vary wildly, you get the cheap third party stuff easy enough but if you're looking for the better first party stuff (Nintendo) then expect to pay for it. Good thing is Nintendo just announced a batch of SNES stuff coming to the virtual console which you can download.

missbiggles1

I'm not a gamer so I hesitate to add my two penn'orth but I play things like Candy Crush and Farm Heroes on a Kindle Fire and there are lots of similar things you can download also for free. The Fire's are selling for under £50 and I've put mine in a one piece, almost indestructible cover because it gets knocked on the floor by my animals.

Might be enough for what you want.

Bigphil1474

I'd second missbiggles suggestion. We've got a 3DS in our house (somewhere) - the kids wanted one. Unfortunately, the kids spend more time on my tablet than on the 3DS. Personally, I prefer playing free games via Android apps than paying for games for the 3DS. I've got a Sony Xperia tablet, but the Kindle Fire, or Tesco Hudl look pretty good, and when you add in the cost of games, the value for money definitely swings in favour of an Android tablet (or Apple if you are that way inclined).

Johnmcl7

Ames wrote: »

Wow, thanks John, that's made things a lot clearer. Is there much difference with the XL versions? I guess they're easier to hold and use?

The XL versions are a good bit bigger and feel a good size to me, it's worth checking if any shops like Tescos have them in stock so you can have a look.

The phone/tablet gaming is a fair point as even though there's a lot of utter garbage on the mobile platforms there are some really well designed games, particularly puzzlers that cost pennies. For some game types, the lack of physical controls can be an issue particularly for platformers and RPG's.

John