Is the 3DS the best Nintendo console ever?

[TheH2s]

That's the first question...do you think the 3DS is the best console Nintendo has ever created? I am leaning toward yes. In fact I said that to people yesterday that I think its my favorite Nintendo console. The eShop, SwapNote, 3D games, backward compatibility, streaming video...you can't get much better than that!

Second question...does Nintendo need to put 3D in every handheld they make going forward? I kind of think they do. I love the 3D and I'm not sure I would want another Nintendo console without 3D.

Thoughts?

[FatFace83]

For a handheld console then YES! for the games installed and Find Mii software and the great games already out and many more to come then yes it wins hands down for me. the 3D for me is like an added bonus, I enjoy it a great deal, it's not a game changer but visually I love it, some games just look better with it turned on.

[Battlestriker123]

I'm beginning to feel so. There's so many great games on the thing, rivaling that of N64 (which is currently my favorite). I love it! And I too love the 3D. That slider is always cranked ALL THE WAY UP for me!!

[Carbondog]

Best portable ever? Hell Yes!

[Mako]

I don't think I would call it their best console ever...just yet. However, I think it is pretty safe to say it is their best portable console ever, when you compare everything it does to their past portables. The only thing missing are some of those big games (namely Pokemon), fantastic battery life like past portables, and some other minor things.

[Mirr0rR3flection]

Currently for me...YES!

It beats my Wii hands down right now. ^_^

[Broken_Cartridge]

Best console? I don't know, it's too early to say, but it definitely is the best portable in my opinion.

[TheMarc102]

The Nintendo 64 was the best Nintendo console ever; plus the 3ds is a handheld not a console.

[WarioT]

Out of all the handhelds nintendo has made the 3DS has the most features and amazes all in glasses free 3D seriously when I heard of the 3D I never saw a single 3D movie in my life then I heard this one didn't need special eye-wear. I puke rainbows hearing about it

I love the 3rd party support
The AR games
First-party
Camera with video
3D games
Eshop(even though I can't really buy a thing there)
Being able to play DS games


I don't even own a camera and a video cam so I wanted one even more badly

YES a BIG yes for me

[bobafruit]

Not yet, the only real way to know is after it has built up a library of great games.

[AtomicBean]

It's definitely shaping up to be their best handheld, by far. We'll have to see what the future holds for new games, but I'm confident it will continue to be great.

Now the Best Console award...that still goes to the SNES if you ask me!

[Waluigi]

I don't know about the best handheld ever...

GB was mostly forgettable with a few gems
GBC was great, a lot of great games and hidden classics
GBA was fantastic, so much quality in such a little time, probably still the king
DS had many great games and hidden classics as well, probably on equal footing with the GBA in terms of quality

3DS isn't really a standout, yet. All of the great games are in Japan, the eShop is being horribly mishandled outside of Japan, lack of fulfilling 3rd Party support... Nintendo games are top notch, still, and Streetpass is fantastic.

As long as Nintendo keeps up, and 3rd partys get their stuff together and make games/localize them, it could become the best. For now, it's just ok. I eagerly anticipate E3 to see what is announced for it... there was close to NOTHING last E3.

[CrispyGoomba]

Best console/handheld from Nintendo ever? No. Consoles will always dominate handhelds, imo.

Best handheld from Nintendo? Not quite.

In order for the 3DS to be the best handheld or the favorite out of all the consoles and portables, it would have to have the best lineup of software. Brand new IP's, taking more risks with games (Hey, look at Luigi's Mansion...A game starring Luigi!; And Super Mario Sunshine with voice acting), and a good amount of third party support.

The eshop is great, however there's not a lot of VC or 3D games on there yet.
SwapNote is good, but seriously, where's the real messaging system?
3D games - Only a gimmick, nice addition and all, but having it on every system after the 3DS? I don't like that idea that much. The one reason why they would do this, is because of backwards compatibility on the next system.

[delpiero]

I do think it's incredible, almost magical, and criminally underrated. The visuals are outstanding. I never once think that the resolution is too low or something, it always looks great to me. That was my biggest shocker. The graphics on the 3DS are just out of this world, and the 3D truly is something incredible IMO.

[Aaronnoraator]

I've played it as much as my N64, and that's saying something. It's truly unique. I'm not talking about the 3D either.

[gtt]

no.

[linkgx1]

I think right now it's the most solid. I mean, they fixed all of the issues essentially and changed to disorentation very fast...wich is good.

I was pleasantly surprised with eShop and several other things when first launched. I mean, I can't really find much wrong with the little console. I just hope they updated to use Nintendo Network ID and then I'm set.

I think what did it for me was Resident Evil: Revelations. SUCH a good game. That's a TRUE console experience for the handheld. We also have Kingdomhearts, Starfox/Ocarina of Time Remakes, 3DLand, Mario Kart 7, Paper Mario. It's like what the GCN and Wii should have been.

[bomblord]

Best console ever? Not yet, it doesn't have the library.

[OmicronTurtle]

Define "best"?

For me nothing beats Super Nintendo and GBA

[MoldyClay]

Nintendo's Best console? No. Gamecube would get that vote from me. But by extension, this would make the Wii the best console ever, because you can play all of the Gamecube's library and most of the best N64, SNES and NES games (though obviously not all of them). And all the great Wii games. If it weren't for the fact Wii can do everything, I wouldn't consider it, because Wii U obviously trumps it, but it also can't play GCN games yet.

Best Handheld? I'd say yes. Only thing it really needs is to stop being so stingy on Virtual Console releases. Get more out there and bring GBA games.

[Jirachi]

1.3ds isn't really a console.
2.3ds is good but not as good ds or gamecube imo

[CM30]

Too early to judge. Yes it's been two years or so since the console came out, but we haven't seen what new Zelda game, what Pokemon titles, what Metroid titles, what Smash Bros game and what Kirby games will be released on it yet. It's a good start, but until a large proportion of Nintendo's major series have had at least one 3DS title, it's too early to judge whether it's actually Nintendo's best system.

[Zanreo]

Best handheld so far, yes. Now let's just get a bigger game library...

As for the 3D question, I'm not sure... I don't think that's needed. The 3D effect is cool, but not needed, I hardly ever use it myself. I'm ok with having it there, but it's not something that's "needed" for future consoles and it wouldn't be a huge loss if they did get rid of it. Though, it's likely they'll keep the option for backwards compabitility with 3DS games.

[Quetzalcoatl2k]

As much as the 3ds is kicking ass right now, that honor still goes to the snes (back when the majority of 3rd parties actually played nice with Nintendo).

Then again, the 3ds isn't really a console to begin with. But as a handeld, it's DEFINITELY getting there in time. But that's just me since I'm pretty damn excited for the lineup of games this year (shin megami tensei games, monster hunter, etc.).

[Jerome]

Best in terms of hardware capabilities for a Nintendo handheld?

Yes, that's fairly obvious.


Best in terms of native software library?

Not by a long shot. Also, it's not very ergonomic (on both the orignal and XL, pointed edges and a circle pad with poor grip that requires constant pressure make my hands ache when playing for extended periods), and the battery life is poor.

As for 3D being included in future Nintendo handhelds, I sure hope it isn't unless they use a totally different (and more efficient) method. The viewing angle is so terrible that I almost never use it, since the tiniest movement I make causes the screen to go dim, and anything more makes the image go wonky. Besides that, there's ghosting, shimmering edge artifacts, and it substantially shortens the already short battery life and cuts the effective resolution in half. I would have much preferred the system just having a higher resolution screen with fewer jaggies on everything. As it is, 3DS's screen resolution is annoyingly low, especially on the XL.