this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2026
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I bought a 3DS XL sometimes last year. It was under $200.

After seeing the surge in demand, I feel lucky that I bought it when I did. I also decided to take it out and play some animal crossing new leaf for the first time and I’m really enjoying it.

I sometimes wonder if I should have bought the “new” variant back then, but they were much more expensive and I’m still not sure if the performance improvements would have been worth it.

I’m basically just using not for ds and 3ds games, so, I’m guessing the power difference would not really matter.

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[–] Zedstrian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

The N3DS differences are:

  • Improved 3D consistency via face tracking
  • C-Stick (too small to be usable in my opinion) and ZL/ZR buttons
  • Limited number of system exclusives (Minecraft, Fire Emblem Warriors, Runbow Pocket, Xenoblade Chronicles, and digital-only games)
  • Games with N3DS enhancements (including Hyrule Warriors and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, with most improvements being faster loading times, C-Stick support, home menu access for certain games, and the ZR/ZL buttons)
  • SNES virtual console.
[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Also, if you have a hacked N3DS you can enable the overclocked speed in original 3DS games to make stuff like Pokemon games lag less. Going from 268MHz to 804MHz does make a difference.

[–] neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 day ago

Thanks! It seems that it’s not worth getting the new 3ds since I already have the base one.