What are you playing on your 3DS/DS right now?

Managed to get WarioWare Gold in the Argos sale and to my surprise my 3DS actually worked when I gave it a try so I played it until my battery went last night. I'm fairly sure this didn't get a great reception when it came out but I've really enjoyed it and I can safely say I'm ready for a new WarioWare on the Switch.

Haven't looked at the overall package so I suppose the problem might be there wasn't enough to it for the full price at the time as I've nearly finished the story mode in one sitting.

Its a kind of best-of, right? I dont remember people disliking it, just saying it didnt give anything new.

Yep, same with Rhythm Paradise Megamix and that Mario Party game they did. Combined with the heavy amount of remakes and such towards the end of the 3DS generation, it gave the impression that Nintendo were running low on ideas - or, perhaps, time.

Would have said it's because the focus was moving towards Switch development. Remakes of course are a bit less resource intensive, presumably even when they're not made with the same code since it skips some planning stages. Nintendo was getting flak as it was for the few new stuff it was releasing late in the 3DS's life like Samus Returns - which is a remake, yeah, but a pretty extensive one that reimagines it and adds a fair bit of new stuff.

Also yeah as has been said in regards to Warioware Gold, it was received well but there was some criticism levelled at it not feeling as fresh. I recall there was quite a lot of content - to be honest I think I stopped playing it well before I exhausted it. Had already played the DS and Wii Wariowares to death so I guess I had my fill already.

Do want to return to it eventually since it's great but I need to fix up my 3DS a bit first.

Don't get me wrong, I loved some of the stuff they released late on - you mention MSR, and there's also Balla-fave Ever Oasis and the remake of my favourite Mario & Luigi. You're probably bang on as to the reason too, and there's no shame in that - we're talking about games released after the Switch was, and the Switch had a blinding year.

It's probably time.

I was going to do a post after having a 3DS day and playing some Monster Hunter Stories, New Style Boutique 3, Metroid Federation Force, Yo-Kai Watch 2 and Fire Emblem Echoes.

I've not done that as I've been mainly using my 3DS whilst watching a podcast or something and Fire Emblem Echoes is dam good that I've not been able to put down to put something else in the cartridge slot.

On the 3DS though, after using this phone I'm typing this on, Switch and even the VITA which sure it's only a 540p screen but great quality along with size that the 240p screen of the 3DS would be awful.

Sure I've used what would be worse screens like a Wonderswan not to long ago but those I sort of just look past because retro or nostglia where 3DS is just last gen.

Yet Fire Emblem look's great especially the anime cutscenes, the issue with the 3DS even on my New 3DS XL is the load time to the OS and loading anything for the first time especially the eShop.

Talking of the eShop, it's dead as in hardly any deals and very little of the way new games that I think Persona Q2 is on the first page of new games.

Even though I've only played the one game, my view of the 3DS in 2020 is almost in the same way as a retro console, buy and play physical single player games and that's about it. Such as I'm doing with Fire Emblem and the games I mention to begin with along with ones I might look to play.

Sure I've not tried Mario Kart 7 which I reckon would be active but I would think very few games are online, just like the eShop.

2017 was the final year for the 3DS in my opinion. We got our last 3DS Pokémon game, some bigger releases like Metroid Samus Returns, Monster Hunter Stories and Fire Emblem Echoes, but I remember seeing a line-up of 2018 3DS games and it was literally just Atlus games. I'm not surprised the eShop is sparse - why should Nintendo bother keeping up with it when it's effectively been a dead machine for two years?

Not Nintendo but you'd think some sort of 3rd party, this year we've had 5 games (more in Japan) come to the VITA already a console on paper is even more dead.

Now not saying these are quality games along with the audience for them being #VITAisland, just even if the 3DS had like 1.5m active users, would still seem possibly worth looking at if the VITA is.

The Vita didn't have a successor though. The Switch, no matter how much Nintendo might have tried to pretend otherwise, was a successor to both their portable and home console lines. I reckon there's not much audience, although I'm sure we'll get some 'alternative' developer coming up with games for it 20 years down the line because 'only stereoscopic 3D and two screens could truly allow their vision to unfold' or summat.

Yeah I know it's a tad different but why I said a small percentage of the overall 3DS as not all would have jumped over to Switch. I guess most left on 3DS active, I guess would be kids with 2DS not bothered about the eShop.

I do think think 3DS could get a second life, like you say, might be a tad harder because Nintendo and making carts.